I posted a version of this previously but on the anniversary, thought I'd post it again.
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My most memorable Christmas remembrance: The Christmas season is a joyous, festive time of the year and I have many happy remembrances of Christmases past. However, my most memorable remembrance of the holiday season is not necessarily my happiest.
My Recon Team received its Frag order for the next patrol on the evening of
25 December 1967. The next day we prepared for a 5-day recon patrol and on the morning of 27 December we were waiting on the LZ for the helos. We were scheduled to be the second insert of the day on the morning of 27 December but the team going into the first recon area location took heavy fire, wounding two before they could even get off the birds so the mission was aborted and flew directly to Charlie Med with the casualties. The helos were also hit and needed emergency repairs so our insert was delayed until early afternoon. When we finally were inserted and the helos departed, all was quiet. We moved as quickly as we could up the finger of the hill to a point where we set up an OP to observe enemy activity in the valley below. At that time, we didn't know that the NVA were conducting a massive buildup for the Feb 1968 Tet offensive and we were a bit surprised by all the enemy activity in valley below. We called in several artillery fire missions on the NVA and it didn't take them long to figure out where the artillery spotters were.The hill was actually a long narrow peak which was part of a group of peaks and valleys in the Que Sons and the hill was oriented rather northwest to southeast. Our actual observation point was on a large, vegetation-free rock outcropping on the side of the forested hill on the southern face of the hill from which we had excellent view of a large portion of the valley. At about 1630, I had just relieved one of the other guys on the spotter scope and he was moving back up to the top of the hill where the rest of the team was. He had just disappeared from view when I heard a 3-round burst of an Ak-47, after which the whole northwest portion of the hillside erupted in gunfire. The other Marine with me and I grabbed our gear and sprinted back to the harbor site.
I broke into the clearing just after my good friend, LCPL Ronald Frederick Kitzke (of Wawatosa WI) went down. He'd been leaning forward looking for movement down the trail when the NVA point man brought his Ak-47 up and fired a three round burst; all three hit Ski. The force of the impact threw him backward and onto the ground. As the "Doc" rushed to Ski, I dispatched the NVA with my shotgun, then went to Ski as well. Two of the rounds had gone through his open mouth and exited the back of his neck on either side of the spine. The third hit him in the upper right chest and it exited the middle of his back.
An airborne FAC was diverted from another mission, was overhead within about
10 minutes, and began directing artillery and fixed wing air support on the NVA surrounding us and their reserves in the valley below. CH-46s tried to get in to extract us but they were again shot up and had to abort and more air and artillery was called in. It was now getting dark; it had been some two hours since Ski was hit and Doc had not been able to control the bleeding. The NVA were preparing for a final assault to roll us up when an AC-47 gunship showed up. The mini-guns finally broke the NVA assault and another flight of helos came and we were able to get out.Normally two helos would be used with half the team on each but, in this instance with the still extremely hot LZ, only one was going to land and we were all going to get on it. The helo didn't circle or anything; he just came straight in and settled on the little hilltop with the front of the helo hanging out over the slope while we walking wounded carried Ski and the badly wounded aboard and we lifted off on a straight line for Charlie Med. On the way to Charlie Med, Ski succumbed to his wounds and loss of blood in my lap on the floor of the helo.
Ski and I went through Boot Camp and Infantry training together. I even spend a couple days of my leave with him before we reported back to Camp Pendleton for Recon School together and then deployment to Nam together. We were good friends and I will never forget that day; nor will I ever forget Ronald Frederick Kitzke.
This is my feeble attempt to remember him and honor his memory on the anniversary of his loss.