OPERATION MACARTHUR, THE BATTLES AT DAK TO - Corregidor

E-17 th Cavalry continued as the Brigade Reaction
Force. Mobile Strike Force elements from PLEIKU and
CIDG elements from DAK TO continued patrolling
activities in AO HAWK and AO FALCON. At 0825
hours, the MIKE Force OPCON to the 2-503d Infantry
engaged an unknown size NVA force resulting in 1 MSF
WIA.
Troopers of E-17 th Cav bringing on the hurt. (173d Web)
Execution:
On 11 November, elements of 2/503d, TAC CO, B
and D Co’s, an 81mm mortar section and an attached
173d Engineer platoon, air assaulted onto a hilltop 3
miles from the Cambodian border. They had negative
enemy contact.
George Bruce Gunn, D/1/503, KIA 11/11/67
Glenn Dirk Kerns, B/2/503, KIA 11/11/67
Larry Martin, D/1/503, KIA 11/11/67
Edwin J. Martinez-Mercado, C/1/503, KIA 11/11/67
Charles Franklin Riley, A/1/503, KIA 11/11/67
Gary Francis Shaw, A/3/319, KIA 11/11/67
The battle of Dak To was the longest and most violent
in the highlands since the battle of the Ia Drang in 1965.
Enemy casualties numbered in the thousands, with an
estimated 1,400 killed. Americans had suffered too.
Approximately one-fifth of the 173d Airborne Brigade had
become casualties, with 174 killed, 642 wounded, and 17
missing in action. As the battle built toward its climax, the
173 rd Airborne Brigade conducted aggressive sweeps of the
area around Dak To. On one of these sweeps, on 11
November, troops from C Co, 1/503 Infantry, were
engaged by North Vietnamese regulars. Four men – PFC
Edwin Martinez-Mercado, PFC Gary Shaw, PVT John
Stuckey and SP4 Robert Staton – were seen to have been
shot during the engagement but they could not be
recovered. When the area later was searched for
casualties, their bodies were not found. They were classed
as “Missing in Action, Body not Recovered”. Shaw’s
actions on 11 November were sufficient for him to be
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but it would be
nearly 30 years before his death on the battlefield could be
positively confirmed. In 1996, it was reported that a DoD
investigation of Shaw’s case uncovered new evidence:
Officials were able to find two medics who were in a battle
with Pfc. Gary Shaw near Dak To on Nov. 11, 1967.
There, while trying to help fellow soldiers who were shot,
the young soldier was hit by a hail of enemy gunfire,
according to the letter from the U.S. Department of
Defense. Investigators were able to find records showing
Private Shaw took part in the Battle of Dak To. During
the battle, several soldiers who were hit by enemy gunfire
say the young private was a hero, carrying them safely
from enemy fire. For those deeds, Gary Shaw was
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry,
with his family members accepting the award for him in
1968 at the University of Toledo. A year ago, the defense
department went to work on the case. They talked to some
of the servicemen who said they were rescued by Private
Shaw. But then they got a break: A medic, who
apparently was not interviewed before, said he
remembered Private Shaw. “The medic also recalled the
young private was hit numerous times. A former sergeant
remembered Private Shaw being hit by enemy AK-47 assault
rifles in the chest and back. A senior aide then checked
Private Shaw for any signs of life, said the letter. The aide
said that ‘Private Shaw was unmistakably dead.’”
From the Toledo Blade
by Staff Writer Michael D. Sallah, 1996
Robert Milton Staton, Jr., 173d Eng. Co., KIA 11/11/67
John Steiner Stuckey, D/1/503, KIA 11/11/67
D+18 (12 November 1967)
Mobile Strike Force element OPCON to 1-503d
Infantry made OPCON to 2-503d Infantry. MIKE Force
Company from DAK TO OPCON to 4-503d Infantry.
Task Force 1-503d Infantry continued search and
destroy operation in AO CONDOR and policed the
battlefield. At 1105 hours, TF BLUE engaged an
unknown size NVA force in bunkers resulting in 3 US
KIA, and 6 NVA KIA.
(continued….)
2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter / November 2012 – Issue 47
Page 22 of 125