I found the website in December 2005 through a "google" search for FSB Russell. I was interested to know if any history had been written on the Feb 25th sapper attack.

I was in E/2/4 from November 1968 through May 1969 mostly serving as the 1st platoon commander. I left echo in early May 1969 because I was tapped by Division to fly around with a team from G-2 giving presentations on sapper attacks to units in the field. I guess they figured that since I had experienced one, I was a likely candidate to do that thankless and humiliating job. They wouldn't send me back to the company so, to get out of that job, I volunteered to fly as an Aerial Observer working for 3rd Mar Div G-2 but assigned to VMO-6 in Quang Tri. The training was all OJT. My fellow AOs and I, mostly 0302s and 0802s, flew in the back seat of OV-10s and O-1s calling in artillery and naval guns. Our pilots marked targets for air strikes and fired 2.75 and Zuni rockets and 7.62 mm machine guns. I ended up with 104 combat missions. To get that assignment I had to agree to extend my tour for six months but ended up leaving on time anyway because the 3rd Mar Div was pulled out in late 1969.

I rotated back to H/2/2 at Camp Lejeune and applied for flight school in late 1970 while on a Med Cruise. I went on to fly F-4s, served 20 years and retired from the USMC in 1987. Since 1988 I've been a pilot for Continental Airlines and will face mandatory retirement from that job next September on my 60th birthday. Astonishingly, in my remaining years in the Corps I never came across a single Marine that I served with in Viet Nam... I have always regretted that.

I discovered the LZ Russell website mostly by accident and was blown away that it even exists, let alone the detail and excellence of its content. My guess is that a few artillery guys are behind it and my hat is off to you. Needless to say it brought back a flood of emotion and angst that I haven't felt in a very long time. The names of my fellow platoon commander Todd Watt and Bill Hunt (who was KIA during the sapper attack) were the only two on the roster that I recognized for sure. I sent Todd an email but it may have been an old address since he never replied. There are several echo company guys on the roster listed as having been there on Feb 25th but, for the life of me, I don't recognize the names... certainly none from my platoon or any of the other officers or company staff. I guess time has taken a toll on my memory and, no doubt, I have sub-consciously relegated much of that day to deep, inaccessible places in my mind. I was tremendously impressed with the level of detail in some of the accounts posted on the website. I wish I had kept a journal of my Vietnam tours but that practice was discouraged. Someday I would like to post my own memories of the sapper attack. I want to be as accurate as possible and need time to collect and organize my thoughts. If I'm honest with myself about the events of Feb 25th, I guess I feel I could have and should have done a better job in preparing my platoon for a possible attack and responding to it when it came. This has bothered me privately for many years.

I have several old photos of guys in E/2/4 including Todd Watt, Joe Betta, Capt Hill, Capt Hitchens, Gunny Huck (I believe his name was Pedro Balignasy), Gunny Hunt and many others. Some were taken when Russell was being constructed and some were taken when we were there in Feb. Others were taken while out on various patrols and operations. If they would be of value to the website, I'll scan them and email them to you.

Semper Fi and may God bless all Marines,

Karl Schroeder

January, 2006