More Gentle Heroes

April 11, The reservoir had growth of tall grass and reeds around the edge and masses of Vietnamese lotus floating on top of the water. A thin layer of fog was suspended over the watery milieu. Emilio could hear frogs croaking as he approached the pond. Handing his M60 to Abbate, the young Marine removed his Ka-Bar knife from its sheath and with knife in hand, slipped into the murky water. He was sure he had seen something stirring among the growth at the water's edge.

Moving quietly, De La Garza eased his way around the side of the pond. Feeling his combat boots squish in the soft sticky mud on the bottom of the pool, he barely rippled the water as he moved. Then, without warning the Marine lunged into the reeds, disarming a young Vietnamese man dressed in black and taking him prisoner. As the VC was being brought to shore, he began to struggle and resist. Abbate and Peterson put down their weapons and waded in to assist hauling the enemy soldier out of the water. Nearing the shore, the man pulled out a hidden grenade and removed the firing pin. Only De La Garza saw him. Yelling "Grenade!" he threw himself on top of the enemy soldier and grabbed hold of the arm with the grenade, forcing both the man and the grenade back under the deeper water. There was a horrendous blast, knocking down Abbate and Peterson, and filling the pond with a turbulent mixture of mud, blood, and gore. Birds in the surrounding trees screamed in protest, and members of the rifle squad came running in response. Jimmy Huff and the squad "doc," Navy corpsman HM3 Sam Lyles were the first to reach the scene.

by Gary B. Blackburn

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