BRICE H. BARNES
Patriot, Chapter 1919
Army, Vietnam
Brice H. Barnes was
born at Fort Ringgold, near Rio Grande City, Texas in 1941. His family
lived in San Antonio during his growing-up years and Brice graduated from
Highlands High School there in 1959. He enlisted in the Texas Army National
Guard in 1963, subsequently volunteered for active duty and was selected for
Officer Candidate School (OCS). He completed OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia,
in 1965, received his commission as Second Lieutenant, Infantry on September
25, 1966, following which he attended the Jungle Warfare Course and other
training, and then was ordered to Vietnam.
Brice arrived in-country May 18, 1967 and served his
first full-year’s tour with 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry
Division. His initial assignment was as a platoon leader in Company B, but;
after he was promoted to 1st Lt in September he was placed in command of the
battalion’s Scout Platoon. It was at the beginning of TET-68 when the most
memorable action of his career occurred and that resulted in his award of
the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. This is a brief
account of that very long day’s action.
On the morning of January 31, 1968, after securing the
move of the battalion tactical operations center to a position near the II
Field Forces Headquarters, Lt Barnes’ Scout Platoon responded to a medic’s
call for assistance to a platoon that had run into trouble entering “widow’s
village.” This village of widows and orphans of Vietnamese soldiers located
just across Highway 15 opposite from Field Forces Headquarters had been
infiltrated by a large enemy force without being detected. Since it was so
near, they arrived within a matter of minutes. Lt Barnes came upon the four
M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers of the Infantry Platoon at the edge of the
small hamlet. One of the infantry tracks was in the road blocking the
entrance to the village and there was no one in the commander’s hatch. The
commander had been killed and others had been wounded as they were trying to
form a fighting position beside the disabled track. The fight for “widow’s
village” then ensued.
Lt. Barnes brought the Scout Platoon up on line with the
Infantry Platoon and, not using indirect fire support because of the numbers
of women and children in the village, they moved forward together by fire
and maneuver and took a ditch line to their immediate front, eliminating the
enemy fighting positions there. After sweeping through that area and with
him believing it clear, two North Vietnamese soldiers (NVA) suddenly
appeared within 10 feet of Lt Barnes. He shot one, and having emptied his
own weapon, knocked the AK-47 from his other opponent’s hands, and took him
prisoner. After overrunning the enemy’s outposts, the attack was continued
with a series of successive sweeps forward. During the action Lt Barnes was
credited with personally destroying an enemy recoilless rifle and machine
gun position, about which he dismissively says, “I just got lucky with a
LAW.” At one point, a panic stricken Vietnamese woman with two small
children appeared on the dirt road directly to his front and then froze,
unable to move, so Lt Barnes rushed forward and with small arms fire kicking
up the dust all around them, brought all three of them back to safety behind
one of the personnel carriers. Later in the morning two Cobra attack
helicopters began circling overhead. The Cobras were newly arrived in
Vietnam and the Scout Platoon did not have their radio frequency or call
sign. Lt Barnes resorted to hand-and-arm signals to the gunship pilots and
managed to direct them in making effective firing passes. Finally, several
hours later, elements of 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry had been airlifted in
and positioned on the far left flank and a final assault then pushed through
the village. All eight of Scout Platoon’s ACAV’s (armored cavalry assault
vehicles) and the two M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers of the Infantry
Platoon were put on line with dismounted troops in between and they all went
forward together with all weapons firing suppressive fire. In less than ten
minutes all resistance was crushed and the fight for “widow’s village” was
over. Medics and MP’s arrived and took charge of treating casualties and
securing the more than thirty NVA taken prisoner.
After clearing “widow’s village” the Scout Platoon was
ordered to move to assist Company C that was in heavy contact with NVA
forces around Bien Hoa Air Base. The route to Bien Hoa took them through Ho
Nai village, a cluster of tightly packed shops, stores and hootches along
Highway 1. Before the platoon’s eight tracks cleared the village, they were
caught in a murderous ambush. The platoon was cut into three isolated
groups, each confronting its own numerically superior enemy force firing
heavy machine guns and rocket propelled grenades (RPG’s). In the lead
element, Lt Barnes received fragmentation wounds to the neck and an injured
right shoulder and right knee from an RPG round, and the Medic, Keener, took
a severe head wound attempting to reach casualties in the middle group. In
the rearmost element, Major Ray Funderburk, 9th Infantry Division Public
Affairs Officer (who had linked up with Scout Platoon in “widow’s village”
and had hitched a ride) directed the fires of the Scouts there against the
enemy attack that was threatening to overrun their small force. SSG Robert
Schultz dismounted and attacked and destroyed successive NVA machine gun
emplacements before falling, mortally wounded.
Fighting house-to-house, the lead element successfully
linked up with the middle element, retrieved and treated the wounded. A
Dust-Off was called in but was then ordered away when the helicopter
encountered intense ground fire on final approach. The extraction process
continued with the linking up with the trail element and then calling in
helicopter gunships to knock out one remaining enemy RPG position. With the
way clear, Scout Platoon rejoined the battalion and that day’s action was
over for them. The following morning they returned to Ho Nai and recovered
the body of SSG Schultz. Vietnamese Catholic nuns, from a church across the
street, had placed a beautiful lace handkerchief over his face. The body
was brought out on Lt Barnes’s ACAV.
In that day’s actions, among the 40 men in the Scout
Platoon and two attached Medics, three were later awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross, six were awarded the Silver Star, twenty-two received the
Bronze Star Medal with “V” device, and more than twenty Purple Hearts were
awarded. The platoon suffered three killed in action and four of the
wounded in action required medical evacuation back to the U.S. Later
reports revealed the enemy force was a battalion of the 88th NVA Regiment
augmented with Viet Cong and their losses in “widow’s village” and at Ho Nai
were 110 KIA and 33 POW’s.
For a more detailed description of that day’s fighting,
Brice Barnes
has provided an eight-page narrative in his own words, and you may view that
by clicking on this link. (Battle
for Widows’ Village, Tet 1968). For
readers who wish to examine a wider perspective, a great deal of Lt Barnes
material is presented in Chapter 12 of the book, “Battle for Saigon,”
by the acclaimed author, Keith Nolan.
The citations for the Distinguished Service Crosses
awarded to Staff Sergeant Robert W.
Schultz and to
1st Lt Brice H. Barnes
may be viewed at this link.
2nd
Battalion 47th Infantry In Honor of Our Scout's
|
|
Brice Barnes returned
to the U.S. on normal rotation on May 17, 1968. He was promoted to Captain
shortly afterward, and then returned to Vietnam in February 1970 for a
second tour, serving as Commander, Company D, 199th Light Infantry Brigade.
Brice was discharged from
the active Army in San Antonio on July 31, 1973. He returned to service
with the Texas Army National Guard and progressed to command of a Mechanized
Infantry Battalion. In 1986, he left the guard, whereupon he joined the
Army Reserves. During Operation Desert Storm, Brice was on active duty at
the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California involved with the
preparation of reserve components units for deployment. In 1993, he retired
from the USAR in the grade of Colonel.
Brice Barnes has
been a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart since joining
Chapter 1919 in 2001. He and his wife Karen (KC), have five children (two
of whom are currently on active duty in the armed forces) and eight
grandchildren.
|
