Bandido Charlie Calendar

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BANDIDOS RECEIVE AWARDS FOR ACTION IN VIETNAM

“Reports on 10 August 1969 of a large NVA force moving from theirsanctuary in the Fish Hook area West of Loc Ninh, Vietnam caused a need for immediate action. Bandido Charlie’s 2nd Platoon, led by LT George Perabo, air assaulted into the area and engaged the enemy. The ensuing fight scattered the NVA forces and yielded 5 prisoners who provided good information regarding enemy plans.

On 12 August, acting on the intelligence from those prisoners, LTC Ken Cassels led Alpha and Bandido Charlie companies plus Delta company, 5/7th Cavalry from the 1st Air Cavalry Division to the rubber plantation West of Quan Loi. A multi-Battalion size force from the 272nd Regiment, 9th NVA Division, dug in with anti-tank and aircraft weapons was waiting.

The ensuing 11 hour battle was a ferocious Infantry fight without any supporting air, artillery, or gunship assets allowed. St the end of the day the NVA were driven from the field, back to their Cambodian safe haven.

In such a battle, over a battlefield covering several square kilometers of tree covered rolling hills, many heroic actions, by soldiers of both forces, go unrecognized. This fight was no exception. Fortunately, because of the platform provided by our Bandido Charlie Association, enough eye witness testimony became available to begin a process to see if long overdue awards for heroism could be approved for six Bandidos. The process took three and a half years culminating with the following awards being approved:

These awards will be presented by the Commanding General, First Infantry Division, or his designated representative based on deployment contingencies, in the 16th Infantry Regiment area at 10:00 AM, Friday, March 9, 2012, Ft Riley, Kansas.

The Command Team of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry has invited any Bandidos, who wish to join us there to welcome our modern day Bandidos home from their recently completed tour in Afghanistan with the Joint Special Command and to celebrate the award of these long overdue medals to our Vietnam era Bandidos. The 16th Inrfantry Ball to welcome these soldiers will be held at 6:00 PM, Friday March 9, 2012 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Manhattan, Kansas.”

Bandidos Forever!!

"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted at their best; men who suffered and sacrificed, who were stripped of their humanity. I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military. But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life. They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me. It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one another. As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure that when I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades. Such good men."

Quoted  from "These Good Men" by Michael Norman

This book is out of print, but some copies are available here: Amazon