The "Lieutenant James Schlax" Story  

Paratrooper – Platoon Leader

First Platoon, Company A  

 

 

     Lt. James Schlax, 21-year-old platoon leader, 1st Platoon, Company A (1967-68), native of Chicago, Illinois. Jim entered military service on February 21, 1966. He took Basic Training in March 1966 at Fort Polk, Louisiana, followed by AIT at Fort Rucker, Alabama. His Jump School training was completed in April 1967 at Fort Benning, Georgia, followed by Officer Candidate School (OCS) also at Fort Benning. Jim was assigned to the 3-506 directly from OCS in April 1967 as an original Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon, Company A (see platoon picture below). Jim deployed with the battalion in October 1967 for the trip to South Vietnam, arriving at Cam Ranh Bay on October 25, 1967. He was wounded in “The Battle at Ca Ty River” on February 19, 1968.

     After ten days of fierce fighting during the Tet Offensive of 1968, the situation at Phan Thiet and throughout Binh Thuan Province became relatively quiet between February 9 and 17, with only scattered enemy contact. Events leading up to the Battle at the Ca Ty River began late in the afternoon of February 17, when the MACV War Room in downtown Phan Thiet received an urgent message alerting Binh Thuan Province of the possibility of another countrywide attack on major cities, ARVN, and U.S. Forces by the Viet Cong and NVA Forces.

     At precisely 0255 hours the next morning—February 18—the enemy launched a second major attack on the city of Phan Thiet. The battle in the city continued throughout the day, and this second wave of enemy attacks in the continuing Tet Offensive was gaining momentum. The city was heavily infiltrated with well-armed Viet Cong, Chinese advisors, and some NVA regulars. Intelligence expected the enemy to remain in place and fight.

     Meanwhile, Company A gathered for a briefing on their mission for the following day—February 19. Captain Gaffney told his platoon leaders that their mission would be to conduct a foot movement from LZ Betty to the Ca Ty River, followed by a river crossing, then a search and control operation up the peninsula. Company A would serve as a blocking force to prevent the enemy’s attempt to flee the city of Phan Thiet to the west.

     At 0800 hours on February 19, the order came for Company A to move out from LZ Betty. Their foot march toward Phan Thiet led them onto a dirt road leading down to the south bank of the Ca Ty River. The Currahees finally reached the banks of the river at approximately 0930 hours, where they halted to await preparatory fire prior to the actual river crossing.

     The entire company crossed the river without incident and moved up and out of the flood plain into the edge of a banana grove. After several more minutes of preparatory fire, Captain Gaffney ordered Company A to move out in column formation toward the northern edge of the banana grove. Lt. Schlax’s 1st Platoon made a sharp right turn to the east, paralleling the banana grove and an old graveyard adjacent to a series of dry, barren rice paddies. First Platoon moved as the point platoon through the graveyard for a short distance, then stopped for noon chow. 

     During the early afternoon of February 19, 1968, 2Lt. Jim's Schlax and his 1st Platoon, Company A made first contact with a large enemy force outside the city of Phan Thiet, which became known as the 'Battle at Ca Ty River'.

     After their chow break, Lt. Schlax’s 1st Platoon prepared to move out. According to Lt. Schlax, “We began to move out and were following a rice paddy dike and hedgerow that was parallel to the river. The platoon had advanced less than ten meters into the open paddy, and from my position behind the pointman, I saw movements in the tree line across the way in front of us.” First Platoon had moved out only a short distance from the river when it came under enemy fire. In response to the first burst of enemy fire, Lt. Schlax gave a warning and dropped to the ground. As he looked up, the bullet rounds were hitting all around him and were making loud “cracking” sounds near his head. Lt. Schlax recalls, “I rolled to one side, leaving my rifle laying on the ground so that I could signal my men to spread out and direct fire on the tree line to our front. When I reached back for my rifle, it ‘jumped’ as enemy bullets kicked up dirt beside and underneath it. As I looked across the field, I saw bullets ripping through the dirt as they hit the ground all around my men.” Everyone began moving back toward a fence that they had just crossed. Some of the men ran and others crawled as they desperately made their way back to a small "hooch" behind them. Lt. Schlax and his RTO, Pfc. Dennis Carberry, finally reached the cover of the small "hooch" and began to return fire against the enemy. In an attempt to assess his platoon’s situation, Lt. Schlax slowly moved around the corner of the mud "hooch". He was instantly hit by an enemy bullet that tore through his right leg about midway between his knee and hip. The sound of battle soon became a feverish roar. 

     Back down the line, 1st Platoon Medic, SP4 Mark Jones soon heard the call for a medic echoing down the line of men. He cautiously made his way through the column toward the heavy rifle fire. Medic Jones recalls, “When I reached the Lieutenant’s position, everyone was down and burning ammo for all they were worth. Lt. Schlax sat leaning up against a mud hooch as he directed fore over the radio. His pants were drenched with blood, and his face reflected great pain.” Medic Jones managed to secure a battle dressing to the bullet wound in Lt. Schlax’s leg. “The lieutenant wouldn’t sit still,” says Medic Jones. “He continued to move up and down the line with his arm around my neck for support, directing his men back to a nearby rice paddy dike.” Eventually, a perimeter was secured for the “dust off” on the other side of the graveyard toward the river. “We had pulled back a short distance and were waiting for the medevac to come in to get Lt. Schlax,” says Medic Jones. “He had lost a lot of blood and was near collapse when the ‘dust off’ finally arrived, and we placed him on the helicopter. All of us in 1st Platoon felt a great personal loss when he left us, but at least he was safe for time being, even though we were not so fortunate.”

     The initial contact involving Lt. Schlax’s 1st Platoon had been quite brief, lasting only about five minutes. Following the initial enemy contact, Captain Gaffney ordered the platoons to fall back toward the river to allow TAC Air to “do their thing”. After about two hours of strafing and constant ordnance pounding the enemy positions, Company A once again made an advance toward the dug-in Viet Cong. The squads of 1st Platoon were not able to get on line with Lt. Alexander’s platoon, as they left the cover of the graveyard; consequently, Weapons Platoon took the brunt of the main enemy attack.* First Platoon had received its share of enemy fire as well, but was spared the anguish that Weapons Platoon suffered by being caught out in the open with no defensive cover. The Battle at Ca Ty River finally subsided as darkness began to fall on the battlefield. By 1900 hours, the last of the wounded were being medevaced from the area. The battle claimed the lives of eight Currahees and left twenty other Currahees, including Lt. Schlax, wounded.

*Be sure to read Lt. Joe Alexander's Purple Heart Story to be added soon.

     From the Aid Station at LZ Betty, Lt. Schlax was medevaced to the 24th Evac Hospital in Saigon. When his medevac chopper arrived at the 24th Evac Hospital, it was under rocket attack.  After a short stay there, he was flown to Japan for surgery on his leg. After spending about three weeks in Japan at the 249th General Hospital.  He returned to the States for further therapy and recuperation at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri.