Back to US Army Art   NAM DONG STANDOFF Original 11"x 15" Graphite/Pencil Drawing The Ho Chi Minh Trail, a complex and extensive network of jungle paths, extended many miles from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to enter South Vietnam and many strategic border crossings. Along this maze of paths, tons of weapons, ammunition, and food were transported south to the insurgent Vietcong guerillas. The Nam Dong Special Forces camp straddled one of these crossing points, in an isolated valley next to the Laotian border, thirty-two miles west of Da Nang. Its strategic location made it a thorn in the side of the insurgent cause. On 5 July 1964, Captain Roger H. C. Donlon and his 12 man A-726 Special Forces Team held the perimeter of that vulnerable fortress with a small local force of 60 Vietnamese and Nung tribesmen. On that night was forged another link in the chain of heroic actions seen in Vietnam. Two reinforced Vietcong battalions had massed in the jungle darkness....preparing to attack! Shortly after 0200 hours (2:00 AM), a mortar barrage poured into the defenses....just before 900 main-force Vietcong guerillas rolled over the outer perimeter. This scene shows members of the A-762 Team (5th Special Forces) withdrawn into their mortar pit, heavily pressed from all sides. SSG Woods, who had been asleep, came to the "party" clad only in GI shorts and pistol belt. Shortly after 0400 hours, flares began lighting the sky as a flare ship (airplane) arrived from Da Nang. In spite of their excessive losses (most of the local force), including two Americans, these stubborn "Green Berets" held until daylight. Ten of this nation's highest medals were given for their valor. Captain Donlon received the Congressional Medal of Honor....the first awarded to an American in Vietnam. Roger H.C. Donlon ultimately retired, years later, as a Colonel, U.S. Army. On a recent trip to Vietnam, he related to Artist Frank Thomas, Colonel Roger Donlon took the opportunity to meet and discuss the events of that fateful night with the former North Vietnamese Colonel who commanded the Vietcong Force that fateful night on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.