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[How]ever, for the purpose of this study, the importance of landing zone PAT stems from the fact that Air Cavalry units were able to react with terrific firepower and extract their men from almost untenable positions when necessary. The aerial rocket artillery had fired 576 rockets in support of this action and two armed Chinook helicopters had delivered eight tons of ordnance on possible escape routes. Tactical Air had done a magnificent job of supporting the ground forces with a total of 42 sorties. What could have been a disaster turned out to be an effective assault, killing 73 enemy while only losing 11 friendly troops. Two major enemy units had been flushed out of hidden positions and a major antiaircraft position had been destroyed.

The skirmish at landing zone PAT was the major encounter with the Viet Cong during the reconnaissance in force of the Song Re Valley. This reconnaissance was a preview in miniature of major operations of the 1st Cavalry in subsequent years. We had learned to establish a fixed-wing base near the assault area and save our precious helicopter sorties for short-range missions. Song Re Valley was an excellent rehearsal for what was to come.

As a commander I could not help but be struck by the never-ending inventiveness of the U.S. soldier. In my experience the average soldier in Vietnam was as good as, and, in many ways, better than, his World War II predecessor. He came up with new solutions for new problems in a new environment almost daily. One example was the use of the Chinook as an "ad hoc bomber."

The Viet Cong had developed tremendous underground fortifications and tunnel systems throughout Binh Dinh Province. Many of these fortifications could withstand almost any explosion. Riot agents were introduced to drive the enemy from his tunnels and force him into the open. During Operation PERSHING the 1st Cavalry dropped a total of 29,600 pounds of these agents from CH-47 aircraft using a simple locally fabricated fusing system on a standard drum. Initially the drums were merely rolled out the back of the open door of the Chinook and the fusing system was armed by a static line which permitted the drum to arm after it was free of the aircraft. Using this method, a large concentration of tear gas could be placed on a suspected area with accuracy.

Napalm was rigged and dropped in a similar manner during this same period. A single CH-47 could drop two and one-half tons of napalm on an enemy installation. Naturally, this method