Members of 4/47 9th Infantry Division remember, reflect on life, those lost

Situated near Ap Bac Village in the Long An Province of Vietnam, the soldiers of Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry were slogging through a couple hundred yards of open rice paddies when they stumbled into chaos. It was the day after Father’s Day, June 19, 1967.

“Alpha Company walked into a batallion-sized ambush,” said Powell resident and Army veteran Jim Heller. “In the first 10 minutes, 95 percent of them were killed. That is a huge, huge loss.”

Lieutenant Heller and his fellow soldiers in Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, were the closest to Alpha Company’s position and scrambled to provide support. Nicknamed the “Tornados” — in honor of platoon Sergeant Johnny “Tornado” Jones — the men knew every minute counted.

“We were fortunate in that we were attacking a known position,” Heller said. “We knew they were there. Alpha Company didn’t; they walked right into an ambush that was prepared for the entire battalion, not just one company,” Heller explained.

Whereas a company might be made up of 80-250 soldiers, an Army battalion can consist of between 300 to 1,200 soldiers.

“We spent a lot of time evacuating the wounded, going out into rice paddies and getting shot doing that,” Heller said.

During the three-day battle, 47 American soldiers were killed, including one from Heller’s company, Ronald “Chili” Saiz.

“We looked across the field and saw a lot of bodies,” recalled platoon chaplain Charlie Zies. “A jet came in to drop a bomb. The bomb dropped, but the pilot had been blown up in the blast. Then a helicopter came in to pick up the wounded; the second helicopter came in and was shot down.”

Zies was carrying ammunition for Saiz, an assistant machine gunner, and followed him to a clump of palm trees.

“As Chili went through the other end of the tree line, he was shot,” Zies recalled. “He fell and I said, ‘Crawl back to me.’ He said, ‘Charlie, Charlie, hold my hand.’ I held his hand, his body started quivering and then he died. I yelled for a medic and one ran across the field.”

Nearly every member of Heller’s platoon was wounded in the battle, including Heller himself.

“When I got hit, I had just gotten back to the chopper with some of the wounded,” he said. “There was a huge explosion, an artillery round probably, and I woke up back here in the states about three weeks later.”

The scar on his face, a wound that required more than 500 field stitches, is Heller’s legacy; a reminder of the men lost and wounded and the reverberation of war.

“It’s what happens, unfortunately,” Heller said. “You play a dangerous game, and people get hurt. There are consequences.”

This past June 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Ap Bac. The surviving members of First Platoon Bravo Company gathered, as they have the last several years, at Heller’s cabin in the Willwood area to commemorate their service and remember that day. They also gathered to renew and refresh the bond they share with one another as a true band of brothers, one that began for many of them during basic training.

Most of the Tornados were drafted in May 1966 and went through basic training in Ft. Riley, Kansas. The men then began Advanced Infantry Training, a highly specialized program for their operational designation — the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. They received their orders in December ’66 and departed in January 1967.

“Thanks to Tornado Jones, these guys were ready,” Heller said. “They had become highly proficient in group and individual tactics. They came to know each other. ... They developed a deep caring for each other and their mission.”

Most of the attendees arrived the weekend of Father’s Day, and they gathered at the Irma Hotel Sunday night in Cody for a reunion dinner.

“After dinner, each guy stood up and said a few words; it was a memorable experience,” Heller said. “We’re all so close; these are brothers. Shakespeare said it best: ‘For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.’ That’s what these guys represent to each other. I’ve never had a bond like I have with these people.”

The 12 members of the Tornados gathered the next morning at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial for a short service and remembrance. Making the experience even more memorable was the appearance of Don and Mark Saiz — “Chili” Saiz’s twin brother and nephew. It was the first time at the reunion for both.

Squad leader and event organizer Dave Persson talked of the significance of the date, calling it the “very worst battle any of us saw in Vietnam.”

“We lost one person from our platoon that day,” Persson recalled. “The whole battalion lost about 47 total. It was a terrible day for the 4th of the 47th.”

For many of the Tornados, June 19 was the last day they would see each other in the war zone. Persson said their platoon was unique in that they had been together since the beginning of boot camp, so the absence of another member of the tight-knit group was always felt.

“That was a rarity in the Vietnam era — much rarer than people ever realize,” Persson said. “We served more like the people that trained in WWII. Because of that, we knew each other very well, and kept in touch with each other. It’s a good family of vets, and it’s always a joy to see them.”

The ceremony at the memorial was highlighted by the recitation of names by platoon chaplain Charlie Zies of the Tornados killed in action during the war, as well as a stirring recollection of “Chili” Saiz’s bravery on his final day. After that, the men spent the rest of the week exploring the area, meeting up at Heller’s cabin at the end of each day.

“We all decided this was the best reunion we’ve ever had,” Heller said. “Out there at my place on the Willwood where things were quiet, there were no agendas, no one had to go anywhere for food. We had great food, great company; it was just wonderful. We don’t sit around and tell war stories, we just celebrate each other and the fact that it’s great to be alive.”

Heller paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he continued.

“One thing that we found out over there, and what we didn’t realize until years later, was what a friend was,” he said. “A friend is a person that would be standing by your side, even if he knew it was going to cost him his life. These guys? These are all my friends.”