At 0700 ground attack aircraft bombed the camp and this was immediately followed by an artillery bombardment. Bravo Company attacked the camp with Armoured Personnel Carriers. When they got there they found that the airstrike had not been on target. The Nogs had bugged out as soon as the airstrike came in. Air reconnaissance showed fresh tracks leading north.

Well hello Roy ... guess where ole 7 Platoon was during all this excitement ... yep in an ambush position north of the camp ... come on Charlie we are waiting for you. We had heard the bombardment and listened to the chatter on the radio. We knew that the airstrike had missed (good one guys) and that the enemy were heading north. We stayed in our ambush position, quite as mice. By lunchtime there was still no sign of the Nogs and we were getting a bit frustrated ... was this going to be another no show. We ate lunch and settled down for a peaceful boring afternoon. Just after 1300 the first of the Nogs showed up. We made contact with the two scouts ... but that was about it. We left our ambush position and searched the area. From the sign that we found the rest of the Nogs had split up and Di Di Mau'd out of there. They must have been getting sick of us by now ... wherever they went we were continually harrassing them ... why were we pulling out? Neither the NVA or VC could match us in combat, they couldn't set up anywhere in Phuoc Tuy without us shooting them up, we were lords and masters of all that we surveyed ... so why were we pulling out?

The enemy in the camp were identified from documents as C2 Company, D445 Battalion and the D445 signals platoon ... I guess they sent some interesting signals back to the rest of D445, like Uk Da Loi still here and still fighting ... surprise, surprise Charlie!

We continued searching around Xuyen Moc but without finding any further sign of D445, 3/33rd or 1/274 Regiments. Even the local Xuyen Moc guerillas had gone to ground ... no one wanted to play anymore.

On September 14 we returned to Nui Dat and then to the sinful delights of Vung Tau. Boodgie, Dixie and I had a routine in Vungers by now. The first night get pissed, get laid, get pissed, get laid, get pissed and shack up for the night with your favourite bar girl.

Mine was named Lau and I picked her because she wore the national Vietnamese costume rather than try to tart herself up as a western styled hooker.

The next morning we would meet at a French Restaurant down by the beach. It was surrounded by a brick wall topped with barbed wire and was in an area that was off limits to us. But it was beautiful and quiet in here ... for once we could get away from the noise, the bar girls, the beggars and the smell. Here we sat at tables with starched white table cloths with gleaming silverware being served by immaculately dressed waiters who had been trained by the French. The cuisine was French and it was exquisite. We would spend the morning recovering from our previous days excesses, sipping Perrier water and French coffee with our croissants, jam and cream. We must have looked a sight dressed like members of a street gang, but our dining companions at the other tables, dressed in their immaculate suits and ties seemed to accept us. Our dining companions by the way were the local mafia and NVA and VC officers ... you see Vung Tau was also a R&C destination for the enemy as well ... that's why this area was off limits to us ... this was the NVA & VC's Rest & Recovery area of the town ... but bugger it, they had the best restaurant and we figured that they could share it with us. After lunch we headed back to the bars and crammed as much sin as our wallets and stamina would allow, before hopping in a Sig Lo (cab) for the ride back to the Peter Badcoe Club and then onto Nui Dat. Sometimes if our excursions had emptied our wallets, we would jump out iof the cab just before the camp, scale the fence and run like hell back to our lines ... with the calls from the cab driver "Uk Da Loi you cheap charlie" echoing in our ears and the MP's trying to chase us down. Ah back to the bush for us ... this city was a bit too much for us country boys.

On the way back to the 'Dat we used to laugh about our exploits in town. I remember there was a break in the weather as we rode up the highway in the back of open trucks ... it was warm and sunny, and apart from our hangovers we were feeling at peace with the world. It was good to be alive ... wait one Uk Da Loi, wait one ... D445 had been unable to establish a presence in Phuoc Tuy, but big brother 3/33rd North Vietnamese Army Regiment was going to have one last crack.