To Say Goodbye ... In Memory of the Fifty-Nine ... Till We Meet Again

The Charge Of The Light Brigade (Poem)
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Narrative poem written in 1854 about the Suicidal charge of the Light Brigade, over open terrain, by British forces at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimen War.
247 of the 637 men in the charge were killed or wounded.
Tennyson, poet laurete of the United Kingdom at the time of the writting of the poem, write the poem in only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle.
Tennyson praises the Light Brigide, while mourning the futility of the charge. Each stanza tells the story with a delicate balance between nobility and brutality.

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

October 17, 1967

**** I devote an entire chapter about The Battle of Ong Thanh, in my book - - Why Didn't I Die: A Memoir of PTSD - - **** It took me nearly twenty-five years to identify those who were in the battle and add a nearly minute-to-minute account of the battle based on many interviews.

Thanks to the following for their great contributions in putting together this account of October 17, 1967:

Santiago Griego, David Laub, Paul Scott, Jimmy Scott, Jim Kasik, Clark Welch, Clarence "Bud" Barrow, Jim Shelton, Mike Gormley, Larry McDevitt, Dave Berry, Tom Hinger,Michael Arias, Joe Platosz, Douglas Cron, Gregory Landon, Peter Miller, Faustin Sena, Mike Troyer, Roy Key, Gerald Thompson, Joe Devine, Ronald Gore, Thomas Waldron, Mike Kotowski, John Fowler, Larry Beckwith, Robert Burbridge, Thomas Colburn, Robert Gomez, Bill McGath, Frank McMeel, Donnie Hodges, Ray Phillips, George Smith, Michael Taylor, Frank Wilhelm, Doug Ikerd, Thomas Howard, Harold Wactor, Johnny Rupert, David Probst, Randy Brown, Jose Valdez, James "Mike" Stubbs, and a very special thanks to my good buddy Mike Dinkins who spent thousands of dollars and months of his time on this important project
- Thanks To All Of You from Fred Kirkpatrick! -

- Battle of Ong Thanh -
During this little known battle of the Vietnam War, 155 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, were ambushed by 1200-1400 VC's hiding in tall trees and lodged inside well-fortified bunkers.
The overwhelming assault included rifle fire and RPGs from trees, machine-gun fire from the ground and explosions from claymore mines.

- For the Record -
I developed the Black Lion website in 1986 and posted the first writtings about my experiences with Charlie & Delta companies called Pointman under my personal website.
A Pointmanis the lead soldier for a company. In other words, there is no one in front of you.

On October 8, 1967, I was Delta's Pointman. I was interviewed by a very tall lady that was later shown on TV back in California.
on October 17, 1967, SIX MEMBERS of my squad (Reece, Wilson, Schroder, Megiveron, Jones, and Lincoln) were killed. Three other close friends from Charlie company (Gilbert, Tizzio, and Willie C. Johnson) would also die.

In 1988, Mike Dinkins (Charlie & HHC 2/28th 1967) as a graduating student at the Evergreen State College, began writting his thesis on the ambush of the 2/28th on October 17, 1967.
Mike spent many, many, hours researching the Battle of Ong Thanh. Mike contacted many of the officers involved, developed the ambush list, secured the Combat After Action Interview Report, the morning reports, and Jim Kasik's handwritten notes.
I later expanded and corrected the ambush list and contacted, and was contacted, by many Black Lions who provided much more information and photos from that time frame.
In the year 2000, David Maraniss contacted me from my writtings on my personal website and interviewed many survivors and family members that were Killed in Action.

Alpha Company - (65 Men - 22 KIA)||- Delta Company - (81 Men - 27 KIA)|| - Command Group - (10 Men - 10 KIA)||


		In Memory of: "Black Lions" KIA October 17, 1967

		United States Army "Alpha" "Delta" "HHC" 2/28th Battalion - 2/28 Infantry Regiment 1st Infantry Division