Against.the.Odds.S02E03.The.Magnificent.Bastards.of.Dai.Do
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00:00the
00:10the
00:30the
00:38they were
00:42i was thrown into a courtroom
00:44and i reacted to one desperate situation after another
00:53it was close in killing
00:56i saw one marine club and NVA soldiers to the ground with an empty rifle
01:00snatch up that soldier's AK-47 kill him and two more with the same rifle
01:06these were the finest young marines that you could ever witness
01:18it was a battle to the death on both sides of that fight
01:24you fought to their death
01:31by February of 1968
01:34the surprise Tet Offensive has failed militarily for North Vietnam
01:40but the scale and audacity of the attacks shock America
01:45and shatters any illusions of a promised light at the end of the tunnel
01:50Tet had proven that while the NVA could not defeat the U.S. militarily
01:56they no longer needed to
01:59with America's public support for the war teetering
02:02if they could mount yet another bold attack
02:05then they might turn the American public decisively against the war
02:09their next critical target will be the spark that ignites the epic battle of Dai Do
02:21Dai Do lay on the north bank of the Beau View-Crois Viet rivers
02:30and it occupied a critical location because it was close, very close to the major
02:37combat support base that the marines had, actually that America had
02:43in the northern part of South Vietnam
02:47sprawling and vulnerable
02:50the crucial depot provides ammo, supplies and medical support to thousands of
02:55American troops fighting in the northern tier of South Vietnam
02:59making it a prized target for the NVA
03:02it sits just across the Ku Viet river from a small group of deserted hamlets
03:07all surrounding the main village of Dai Do
03:11under the blind eye of South Vietnamese arvorn forces
03:14the Viet Cong have secretly built a massive maze of bunkers and gun positions
03:19pointed directly at Dong Ha combat base
03:23connected through interlocking tunnels
03:25the entire fortress area is covered in a thick layer of lush vegetation
03:30that conceals its deadly inhabitants
03:41on the morning of April 30th
03:43after weeks of operational secrecy
03:46the NVA make their first mistake
03:49giving away their presence
03:59an over-anxious NVA gunner at on lock
04:01opens up on a navy riverboat killing one sailor and wounding others
04:07for NVA commanders
04:09it is an unbelievable and critical blunder
04:13turn course, one eight
04:20now remember at the start of this battle
04:23I didn't know who was in there
04:25but I had this feeling in my gut
04:35lieutenant colonel Weiss sends captain James Williams and 125 men of hotel company
04:41to investigate along with 50 men of Foxtrot held in reserve
04:46waiting for them
04:47is a massive force of NVA
05:12so whoa, wait a minute
05:18more enemy in there than we expected this wasn't three or four men this wasn't a
05:21rifle squad this was a sizable force
05:27we started putting plenty of fire on these two positions
05:41we started putting plenty of fire on these two positions
06:06after two hours of close in killing
06:09hotel company clears the small hamlet just across the river from the U.S. base
06:14the fight has left one third of hotel's marines
06:17either killed or medevacked out
06:20they have no idea of the true NVA threat they have stumbled onto
06:29confident his marines can clear the rest of the villages
06:33lieutenant colonel Weiss calls for an airlift of golf company
06:36positioned eight miles away at Nijha
06:39to support his 80 men of Foxtrot
06:55the enemy
06:56took that position under fire with a tremendous amount of artillery
07:00to try to lift them out by helicopters would have been suicide
07:14with no chance of golf company arriving in time
07:17and fearing further delays will give his enemy time to reorganize
07:21lieutenant colonel Weiss unaware of the massive force awaiting him at Daido
07:26sends in the two platoons of Foxtrot
07:29they immediately come under heavy fire
07:38the enemy force was much much too strong
07:41that left Foxtrot company out into the open area exposed to fire
07:48so they were in a precarious position
07:52I was beginning to worry now because I had expended all my resources
07:59on the enemy
08:16my regimental commander shows up in a small boat
08:19and says hey we gotta continue the attack I said
08:23with what?
08:27with hotel and Foxtrot tied down outside Daido
08:31the regimental commander rushes in yet another
08:34marine unit Bravo company with a hundred men mounted on amphibious tractors
08:41within minutes
08:51they are pinned down by an onslaught of overwhelming small arms
08:55machine gun, mortar, rocket and artillery fire
08:59it quickly stalls their attack on the outskirts of the village
09:11come on
09:19by 5 p.m. what had begun as a routine search and destroy mission
09:24has escalated into a protracted slugfest
09:27engaging some 250 marines spread across multiple battlefields
09:31fighting an enemy that appears to be everywhere
09:35I was thrown into a cauldron
09:39and I reacted to one desperate situation after another
09:43I knew that we had been duped
09:46somehow I was slowly untying it
09:50piece by piece and every time I got untying one piece
09:54I saw a more difficult puzzle to solve
09:58the fog of war
10:01has concealed from Lieutenant Colonel Weiss and his 250 marines
10:05a horrific secret hidden in a fortress of bunkers
10:09are a staggering 10,000 North Vietnamese soldiers
10:13their critical mission to launch yet
10:16another attack that will prove to the American public their resolve
10:20and willingness to kill America's sons indefinitely
10:24all that stands in their way is a small band of marine brothers whose courage
10:30skill and audacity must meet head-on
10:34a superbly trained and motivated enemy that outnumbered them 40 to 1
10:38the little-known battle of Dai Do
10:42is fast becoming one of the most significant and epic battles of the entire
10:46Vietnam War
11:04less than three months after America is shocked by the bold Tet Offensive
11:18the NBA had planned yet another surprise attack
11:21this time on the critical combat base
11:25across from Dai Do but their plans are being spoiled by roughly
11:29250 marines who have unknowingly stirred a
11:33hornet's nest of some 10,000 NVA
11:46from the start of that battle I was flying by the seat of my pants
11:50we never knew what the size of the enemy force was we didn't know how well they
11:56were fortified
11:57and we didn't have any idea of their major objective
12:01I depended upon the capabilities and
12:05my faith in the men that I was serving with
12:11when the battle started I was aboard a ship, USS Iwo Jima
12:14PA system sounded medivacs inbound
12:17it's kind of a chilling message when you know what it means
12:21when we saw
12:24there were marines of our own company, hotel company
12:28we didn't have body bags in those days, they were just covered with ponchos
12:32the best we could do for them
12:34I think you can imagine my feeling at the moment
12:37I was in the wrong place, I needed to be ashore
12:41and so that's where I went, I jumped on a helicopter
12:44and headed back in
12:52after 24 hours without sleep
12:58the exhausted men of Gulf Company finally arrive on the battlefield
13:02they have brought with them two desperately needed tanks
13:05led by the battle-hardened Jay Vargas
13:08he has no idea the ferocity of the coming engagement
13:12will earn him the Medal of Honor
13:16Lieutenant Colonel Weiss immediately prepares them to fight
13:20we plastered that place with supporting arms
13:37the two platoons that initially started the assault were pinned down
13:41shortly after entering the village of Dido
13:50Vargas himself then led his reserve platoon through those two platoons
13:55and increased the penetration and
13:58he and his three platoons actually cleaned out the whole
14:02area of Dido
14:08however just about the time they had finished their assault
14:12they came under a counter-attack
14:18by this time his company is whittled down
14:21so I ordered him to
14:25form a tight perimeter, dig in and hold on to what he had
14:29I didn't want to commit hotel company, I saw it would be useless
14:35the situation was really fairly desperate
14:40sitting 20 miles away
14:45the 180 men of Echo Company finally get the call to join their brothers
14:49in the desperate fight at Dido
14:52things changed rapidly
14:55and how they changed made us
14:59feel much different
15:03people were excited it was like their first date or something like that
15:08they were eager to get into the battle
15:11things started to change emotionally inside of you
15:14nervousness, I was scared
15:17I knew things were bad and that came through the radio
15:21our brother Marines from the 2nd and 4th Marines were tied down
15:26and we wanted to get in there and do what we could to help
15:29we were ready to fight
15:33the word came, saddle up
15:37we grabbed as much as we could, oranges or apples
15:41shoved them in our pockets and we started down the road
15:52with night time closing in, the few hundred exhausted Marines
15:55still have no idea they're attacking some 10,000
15:59NVA and delaying their enemy's secret plans to bring America
16:03to its knees
16:05the ferocious fighting has done little to dampen the spirit of the young Marines
16:10but the coming storm will push them to the breaking point
16:13in a desperate struggle against an enemy determined to turn the tables
16:18on the war in Vietnam
16:33by the morning of May 2nd
16:48less than 500 tenacious Marines
16:52continue their bloody assaults, taking ground
16:55and killing an enemy that numbers into the thousands
16:59with the hard-won enemy fortifications at Dong Han
17:05and on lock in Marine hands, their next immediate necessity
17:09is to seize the remainder of the fortifications at Dai Do
17:12but with Hotel, Foxtrot, Bravo and Golf Company
17:16holding their critical positions, they are in need of reinforcements to take Dai Do
17:23within the midst of this critical situation
17:28the 180 men of Echo Company under the command of their skipper
17:33Captain Jim Livingston finally arrive on the battlefield
17:36they are ordered to take Dai Do in the hopes of breaking the back
17:40of their enemy. Failure could mean the loss of the entire battalion
17:45leaving nothing to stop the NVA's plan to overrun the critical supply base
17:49at Dong Han. The bloody Marine assault
17:54will be one that none of them will ever forget
18:13It gets to be about 520 and I get a call
18:16from the skipper and the command was
18:20fix bayonets and I
18:24literally took the handset and I looked at it and I went
18:28okay. I could hear the guys behind me reaching in
18:33grabbing their bayonets and hooking them up
18:42180 bayonets clicking across that morning
18:46and hearing that sound was a very, very significant
18:50sort of feeling for each one of those Marines
18:56Your intensity as Marine
18:59all changed. Everything inside of you
19:02changed. Your blood started pumping right away
19:16When I said
19:24move out, they moved out
19:27across an open rice paddy, you know with no cover and concealment
19:32and it was just bare chest going up against a hell of bullets
19:36These were the finest young Marines that you could ever witness
19:41The whole northern perimeter
19:46lit up. They started firing machine guns
19:49they started firing rockets, they started firing RPGs
19:57Two assault platoons got within just a few yards and just got totally bogged down
20:02because of the significance of the casualties
20:04We were taking casualties
20:07big time. There were a hundred bunkers that were occupied by
20:12North Vietnamese and they were shooting right directly at us
20:24Most of the young Marines who got killed in that particular episode of the battle
20:28were shot in the head. That's how close we were to them
20:31It was a battle to the death on both sides
20:35of that fight. You fought to the death
20:43As the battle began to bog down
20:46I knew it was one opportunity we had to penetrate that significant bunker locations
20:52We launched a reserve platoons attack on a very narrow front
21:01We were able to penetrate that line of bunkers
21:06and that was the key to it
21:08You had to get a penetration point, you had to break through
21:12The North Vietnamese were good fighters
21:15but they were focused in one direction across that rice paddy
21:19They could react to the left and to the right
21:23and we rolled them up big time
21:30Meanwhile, over to the right of Echo Company, Vargas
21:34he only had about 60 men left
21:36They jumped out of their holes and they started fighting
21:43They fought like hell and together Echo and Golf retook Dai Do
21:49and we had that village again
21:56Echo Company never lost a fight and they were not going to lose that fight
22:00and they won that fight decisively
22:04But the consequences were significant in terms of loss of Echo Company lives and capability
22:12When it was all over, out of the 180, there were only about 35 Marines
22:18that were not either killed or wounded at Echo
22:28In order to keep the pressure on the enemy
22:31I had ordered Hotel Company to move around the left flank of Echo Company
22:37and attack the next village, which was Dinh To
22:44I was watching our Marines as I waited along with them, ready for the next fight
22:50We'd been up in that country for almost three months
22:54They'd just finished the battle for Dong Van
22:56and sent one third of their number off killed or wounded
23:00and they knew exactly what was ahead of them
23:03We were going to attack another fortified position, 75 of us this time
23:07They knew the NVA would fight
23:09They knew they'd have to be routed out one by one
23:12and although in the end we'd be in their positions walking over their dead bodies
23:17there'd be a lot less than 75 of us around for the celebration
23:21They knew all that
23:23and when we stepped out of that little clump of woods that was our attack position
23:28looked across the paddies at our objective
23:32there wasn't one second's hesitation
23:40As we closed on the village, within a couple hundred yards, the NVA opened fire
23:49Every time they shot, somebody went down
23:58We broke into a run
24:02As soon as we hit the first line of trenches, the fortifications were unbelievable
24:07We'd seen fortifications before but never seen anything this extensive
24:11It flashed through my mind at this point, how long have these guys been here?
24:19And about that time the enemy counterattacked
24:28We took about a half a dozen casualties immediately up front
24:32and we stalled
24:36We began to hear them to our flanks, almost to our rear
24:42It was a bad spot
24:44The NVA were ready
24:46They were reaching for our belt
24:48and when they came again, it was clear we were going to have a desperate situation
24:58The urgency of Hotel Company's radio transmissions is recognized by fellow Marines
25:04One of them is Captain Jim Livingston
25:07He has only 30 men left from almost 200 who assaulted Dai Do that morning
25:12But Marines take care of their own
25:16In one of the most selfless acts of courage in a battle full of heroes
25:20Jim Livingston rallies the tattered remains of Echo Company to their feet
25:25They gather what's left of their ammo and without hesitation, head once more into battle
25:31For three bloody days, less than 500 exhausted Marines
25:58The Marines continue their relentless attacks against a staggering force of some 10,000 NVA
26:05They are unknowingly delaying their enemies' critical plans for a surprise attack on the scale of tech
26:13But despite the overwhelming odds, the Marines are taking ground and killing their enemy
26:22Golf and Echo Companies have overrun NVA fortifications and are holding
26:27Foxtrot and Bravo Companies, attempting to medivac their wounded, are also holding their hard-won positions
26:35Hotel Company, with barely 50 men left, are stalled by overwhelming odds halfway through Den To
26:42It is clear to anyone with an earshot of their urgent radio calls that they are at risk of being overrun
26:50One of those listening is Jim Livingston and what is left of Echo Company
27:02In the previous days fighting alone, Echo has lost 150 of their brothers, killed or critically wounded
27:10Now, all that is left, some 30 men, bleeding with serious wounds of their own
27:17have been rendered practically combat ineffective
27:23Echo had not received any orders whatsoever to be involved in this fight
27:29I made the decision at that point, Echo had to get re-engaged because I was very concerned about Hotel Company
27:38and maybe the fact they may be in a position to be wiped out
27:42I told my Marines to pack up and we're going to assist Hotel Company
28:13We ran forward under intense fire
28:25I told Scotty Prescott, Echo's coming, I could hear Prescott, yeah, he's shouting, yeah, and he yelled back and forth, Echo's coming, Echo's coming
28:35And I looked around and behind us, I saw Captain Livingston and a couple dozen Marines coming at us through the smoke and the dust
28:45They never looked better, I could have kissed them
28:51Everybody in that battalion knew Jim Livingston and they knew what a fighter he was
28:55and boy, they figured, if Livingston's coming, we're okay
28:59The North Vietnamese were throwing every capability they could at us
29:05They were fighting for their life and we were fighting for our life
29:11They were still moving when the next counterattack came
29:16It seemed like all these NVA soldiers coming back, there was NVA all over the place
29:22I saw one Marine, NVA soldier to the ground with an empty rifle, snatch up that soldier's AK-47, kill him and two more with the same rifle
29:32It was close in, kill it, it was close in, kill it
29:37I got hit with one of the weapons that we utilized to shoot down airplanes, North Vietnamese turned it on me, got hit in the leg
29:56They were in a position where Livingston then got hit
29:59I got hit with one of the weapons that we utilized to shoot down airplanes.
30:04The North Vietnamese turned it on me and shot me in.
30:08My radio operator killed him.
30:14Finally, I told the tank commander,
30:16I'm down.
30:18I don't think we're going to survive out here
30:21just because of the sheer numbers of the threat against us.
30:26I ordered them to bring the wounded with them,
30:30but to pull back tactically.
30:35Skipper told us, move back to the edge of Dido.
30:38He had been wounded, and we started to pull him out,
30:41but he says, get everybody else first.
30:45My order was, bring the wounded, leave the dead.
30:50Let's get out of here.
30:56By 3 p.m. on May 3rd,
30:58the five ravaged companies of 2-4
31:01have fought their way into the village of Dido.
31:06Lieutenant Colonel Weiss, still unaware of the massive horde they are up against,
31:10prepares his men for yet another push
31:12in the hope that reinforcements will arrive soon.
31:16But for the weary Marines
31:18who have already paid dearly for their tenacity,
31:21the worst is yet to come.
31:25My regimental commander called me and said,
31:27we got to keep the pressure on.
31:29And I said, with what?
31:31I said, we're out.
31:33I said, we've run out of steam.
31:35I just lost two of my best company commanders.
31:38The third one was killed,
31:40and the others aren't in very good shape,
31:42and I'm not feeling too good myself at this point.
31:46He said, Weiss, I'll tell you what, I got some help for you.
31:49He said, we've got an Arvin battalion, mechanized battalion.
31:53They move with armor protection,
31:56and they have a lot of firepower.
31:58They'll support your attack.
32:00They will attack with you.
32:03Well, that was the plan.
32:05It didn't work out that way.
32:08The South Vietnamese Arvin men
32:10are still fighting the enemy.
32:13The South Vietnamese Arvin mechanized battalion
32:16has been rushed in to provide support
32:19to what is now just 250 Marines,
32:22dangerously low on ammunition, men, and supplies.
32:26Desperate to continue their attacks,
32:28the Marines have little choice
32:30but to accept the Arvin into the fold,
32:32even though they are known to be unreliable
32:34under heavy combat conditions.
32:37With the firepower of the assisting South Vietnamese,
32:40the Marines prepare for a bold and risky new attack plan.
32:48The 250 Arvin troops and tank support
32:51will move up the west side of a narrow stream
32:54and provide protective fire
32:56ahead of the 120 men of Gulf and Foxtrot companies.
33:00Moving by foot, the Marines will attempt
33:02to push the NVA out of the stronghold
33:05and into the open where they can be destroyed by Arvin tanks.
33:10Timing of the attack is critical.
33:12Without the protection and firepower of the Arvin armor,
33:15the Marines will be exposed to the full brunt of enemy gunfire.
33:36Five, four, three, two, one.
33:40As we moved forward,
33:42first we heard the fire from our friendlies on the right,
33:47and then the heavy fire from the tank stop.
33:53Then we started to experience automatic fire from the left,
33:57and it was hitting in amongst us.
34:00And at first we thought,
34:02that's our Arvin, they're not staying far enough ahead of us.
34:07But when I put my binoculars over on the left,
34:10I looked over there, and by God, they were enemy soldiers
34:14moving in large numbers from our left flank.
34:18Where in the hell was the Arvin, I thought.
34:21I called the liaison officer on the radio, no answer.
34:25They were not there.
34:28The South Vietnamese Arvin troops the Marines have been forced to rely on,
34:33either from fear of the NVA,
34:35or by corrupt Arvin officers in alliance with the NVA,
34:39have abandoned the Marines,
34:41exposing them to blistering gunfire from three different directions.
34:46Hundreds of fresh, well-armed North Vietnamese soldiers
34:50swarm in and surround the 125 Marines.
34:58What happens next will not only exemplify what it means to be a Marine,
35:03but will go down in Marine lore
35:05as one of the greatest against all odds miracles of any battle.
35:28On May 3, 1968, the 1 8th Marines, bent on preventing a repeat of Tet,
35:34have been forced to rely on the support of South Vietnamese troops
35:38who have failed to come to their aid at a critical moment of the battle.
35:42125 Marines are now outnumbered and surrounded by thousands of NVA
35:48swarming in for the kill.
35:52I happened to be right alongside Vargas and his radio operator.
35:56I said, Vargas, we've got to pull back.
35:58There's no way we can hold on here.
36:00Bring in our wounded with us and we'll come back and get our dead later.
36:08Vargas called in artillery right on top of us.
36:12We started to move back.
36:14As I was about to get out of the trench, I got hit on the side
36:18and I was unable to move.
36:21At that point, I was hit by a helicopter,
36:23and I was in a lot of pain.
36:26I couldn't move.
36:27I was on my knees.
36:29I was in a lot of pain.
36:31I was in a lot of pain.
36:34I was in a lot of pain.
36:37I ran out of the trench, I got hit on the side and I was unable to move.
36:44Captain Vargas wounded three times in the last three days,
36:48and for the fifth time in three months,
36:50grabs Lieutenant Colonel Weiss by his flak jacket and drags him to safety.
36:55He will go back in several times to rescue his wounded Marines.
37:01In their haste to kill the vulnerable Marines,
37:04the NVA have inadvertently exposed themselves.
37:07Fixed-wing and helicopter gunships respond immediately
37:11to the rare sight of so many NVA out in the open
37:14and roar in for the kill.
37:16The ARVN's failure to support leaves the Marines bloodied and reduced in numbers,
37:38but furious and still wanting to fight.
37:43They dig in and form a thin defensive line.
37:47They knew there were not enough of them to hold back a full-force NVA attack,
37:52but they were determined to make the NVA pay dearly when they came.
37:57They brace themselves for a fight to the death.
38:13The next morning, when they sent patrols out to see what was in front of them,
38:18the enemy had pulled out completely.
38:21They had moved out, we assumed, back into the demilitarized zone.
38:29The NVA had just disappeared. They were gone.
38:33The Battle of Dai Do ends as mysteriously as it had begun.
38:38But the answers and the reality of just how close America had come to yet another tent
38:44was quickly lost to the fog of war.
38:51It would take another 40 years for the NVA to regain control of the region.
38:57In post-war interviews with senior NVA leaders,
39:00the Marines learned that they had indeed fought against some 10,000 men of the 320th NVA Division.
39:08Believing that their strategic intentions had been discovered by the relentless Marines,
39:13the NVA retreated north during the night,
39:16abandoning their positions and retreating to the south.
39:20Lost at the time was the story of an understrength battalion of U.S. Marines
39:26who, against impossible odds, attacked and fought an NVA division to a standstill and retreat.
39:34Defended Dong Ha Combat Base, safe and sound,
39:38the NVA retreated to the south.
39:41Lost at the time was the story of an understrength battalion of U.S. Marines
39:46who, against impossible odds, attacked and fought an NVA division to a standstill and retreat.
39:53Defended Dong Ha Combat Base, saving countless lives,
39:58and spared the United States a strategic disaster.
40:02And Jay Vargas would be awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic leadership.
40:08Lieutenant Colonel William Weiss was awarded the Navy Cross.
40:14But on May 4, 1968, all that mattered to the men that saved Dai Do
40:19were the men who had given everything.
40:23A reporter on that final day captures the special bond of the men
40:28who would become known in Marine legend as the magnificent bastards of Dai Do.
40:35Sir, how are you feeling?
40:36I feel pretty good.
40:38How would you feel if you were commander of the best battalion in the world, huh?
40:42We hurt them pretty bad, but then they hurt us a little too,
40:45but you got to give a little to get a little, huh?
40:53Did you worry at all that you weren't going to get out?
40:55None of us thought we were.
40:57I can't believe we made it. It was hard.
41:00I was scared, so was everybody else, and we didn't think we could make it
41:03because we knew they were behind us and we couldn't run
41:05because every time we stood up, those machine guns opened up on us.
41:09Is this the worst fighting you've ever seen?
41:12It's the worst I've ever seen, yes.
41:17How has it been?
41:19Well, we went into it gung-ho, and we pushed them back a little ways.
41:26The fighting got pretty rough, and we pulled back.
41:32Did any of your friends not make it?
41:36That's affirmative. A lot of my friends didn't make it.
41:44The thing that I reflect on as being a recipient of the Medal of Honor
41:48is to remember all the young Marines who didn't come home,
41:52didn't have a chance to be fathers and grandfathers.
41:55This whole episode in my life inspired me to be a better Marine
41:59because I wanted to represent the values that they represented.
42:03I wear the award for them and in their spirit and in their kindness
42:08and commitment to the Marine Corps and to their country.
42:12What does the battle for Dido mean to us that fought it?
42:17I will say probably the overriding feeling for those of us
42:23who led Marines there is our undying respect and humility
42:30for their loyalty and their sacrifice.
42:34Who led Marines there is our undying respect and humility
42:41for their loyalty, their integrity, their bravery, their unselfishness,
42:49and their willingness to go well beyond what was expected of them.
43:04I believe that the men that fought there at Dido
43:11fought as well as Marines ever fought in their history.
43:15I'm proud to have been and still am one magnificent bastard.
43:34♪♪♪