You were there at the precise time that all of this happened.....??
Yes. “There” being with the three boat group that went up the canal that day. I spoke to Kerry a few minutes after this particular portion of the action took place.
The twin-50 gunner (Fred Short) would have liked nothing better than to shoot that VC, but the safety bar surrounding the gun tub prevents the gun from depressing to that degree.
Keep in mind that the VC was initially in a hole, just off to the right of the boat — quite close, perhaps 20 ft or less.
So it was left to the M-60 guy (Tommy Beladeau), but his gun jammed after a few rounds. But Tommy did hit the VC in the leg . . . but he got up and took off, with the B-40.
As I said, what happened is in the after-action report.
Doug Reese
PS. What kind of plane? What part of VN?
To answer your second question, yes, that’s me.
Doug Reese