Lloyd Smith
28 May 1969

by
Tim Currie

From the In Memoriam page:
"SSgt Forrest LLoyd Smith from Columbus, GA (Fort Benning) was killed 28 May 1969. He had been in-country for 41 day, was 27 years old and died from fragmentation wounds near Long Khanh. He was serving as a TC and platoon sergeant of the 2nd platoon. He was killed in the initial burst of fire of a massive ambush in which the entire company, in fact most of the squadron, was involved. .Panel 23W - - Line 11"

I was the loader on D24 that day. SSG Smith probably saved my life and the lives of the rest of the crew by his last act as he died almost instantly that day. When hit he climbed out of the cupola - I'm sure he knew he was already dead, but he cleared the cupola which enabled me to fight the tank. He had been wounded the evening before, but had refused medical evacuation.

This was while the Squadron Commander had broken up the Tank Company and put a platoon with each Cav Troop. D Company's 2nd Platoon was leading a Cav Troop (C Troop, I think) in double column. SP5 Jim Webb was TC of the lead tank of one column. 

We didn't know it until too late, but the entire platoon was INSIDE a well hidden dug in enemy camp when the fire fight started. I don't think we'll ever know exactly what happened, but is seems the enemy had decided to hide and let us pass them by. In any army there is always the one soldier who doesn't get the word. That day the one soldier who didn't get the word was a perimeter sentry. As Jim and I were able to piece things together afterward, Jim's tank came up BEHIND the sentry who was clearly visible in that direction. Jim saw an armed NVA soldier and fired -- suddenly the whole world opened fire on us from all around.

The area was more forest than the scraggly "jungle" we usually operated in. Plenty of trees even a tank couldn't just knock down -- and almost no way for the ACAVs or Sheridan's to maneuver except directly along the path we had already made with the tanks. That made things mighty lonely in our neighborhood (not to mention the ACAV that put most of a box of fifty cal into my bustle rack).

As I recall, one tank took an RPG through the gun shield, lost both coax and main gun. I think another managed to expend all the main gun ammo in the turret. I don't remember exactly what happened to everyone, but for at least a while my piece of that fire fight consisted almost entirely of just two M48A3 tanks, who were too damn far apart, in the midst of a lot of unpleasant strangers. And one S.O.B. flying around in a helicopter trying to direct individual vehicles over the radio.

The rest of the Squadron arrived just about the same time that I was medevaced in a loach.