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On 14 September 1969, D Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, or as it was known by its call sign Armed Savage, along with soldiers of E Company, 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, call sign Deadly Raider, were ambushed by a North Vietnamese Army regiment on road 311 near Phuoc Binh, South Vietnam. Presented here are remembrances of three soldiers killed in the battle on road 311, written by Lt Colonel Andy Hudson, then the commanding officer of Armed Savage, call sign Armed Savage 6. The remembrances of Private First Class John Halladay, call sign Deadly Raider 1-6 India, 1st Lieutenant Micheal Thomas, call sign Deadly Raider 1-6, and Sergeant Donald Skidgel, call sign Armed Savage 3-3, explain who the young soldiers were, where they were, and what they were doing before and during the battle. Along with the poignant stories, are partial audio recordings of the battle made by an orbiting Cobra gunship pilot, Captain Gayle Jennings, call sign Cavalier Red 1-6, who provided aerial rocket and strafing attacks for D Troop during the battle. Also included are transcripts of the audio recordings, a list of the battle participants and their call signs, maps of the area of operations, an image of a copy of the D Troop operational report for September 1969, submitted by Armed Savage 6 to Division headquarters, and candid photos of D Troop soldiers. This site was created for those troopers, both living and deceased, as a tribute to their story of duty, courage and sacrifice.
Richard D Hudson
Coppell, Texas
April 2022
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