CAP 1-3-2 was overrun on May 8, 1970 by elements of the 21st NVA battalion. Their CAP commander, Sgt. Zammetti was unable to respond when the attack started and L/Cpl Dave Frenier, the second in command, rose to the occasion in true Marine Corps fashion, and led 1-3-2 throughout the night as they fought and soundly defeated the enemy despite being vastly outnumbered.

The 1st CAG Daily Activities SPOT Report for 8 May 1970 is as follows. Entries in parenthesis were handwritten on the report after it had been prepared.

This attack was erroneously noted in the 1stCAG May 1970 command chronology, as being four days after the combined operation with 1-3-9.

The command chronology wasn’t correct about the attack being four days later, unless the combined operation with 2 and 9 was May 4 because the attack definitely happened on May 8 as can be evidenced by the date in the personal awards for Miguel Keith, Dave Frenier, Ronald Pina, and Gary Kovach, the SPOT report for May 8, and personal testimonies.

Frenier (1-3-2) and LeBlanc (1-3-9) have stayed in contact since returning home from Vietnam. Frenier asked LeBlanc to write about what he remembered as LeBlanc was on 9 George and along with James MacKnight, served as 2’s radio relay with CACO 1-3 during the battle. LeBlanc’s email of February 4, 2001 follows.

Okay, here I go with what I remember about May 8, 1970, the night CAP 1-3-2 was attacked by a large force from the 21st NVA Regiment that was augmented by VC. I hope this proves worthwhile. 

MacKnight and I were the two Marines on 9er George on May 8, 1970. We were both in the bunker manning the radio as the relay for CAP 1-3-9. 

Your CAP, 1-3-2, had positioned itself such that it didn’t have radio contact with our company headquarters, CACO 1-3. In fact, the only American unit 1-3-2 had contact with was 9er George. MacKnight and I were your radio relay that night. 

Sometime during the night, I want to say around 0200, the enemy attacked 1-3-2. The enemy substantially outnumbered CAP 1-3-2, including the Popular Forces platoon associated with the CAP. 

The contact was heavy right from the start, and as I remember it, the CAP Commander wasn’t able to respond. I don’t remember MacKnight or I ever communicating with him. He was there, but must have gone into shock or something. I remember some others from 1-3-2 on the net, but they were communicating with you. 

You were the Marine we communicated with in 1-3-2 because you unhesitantly took charge of the CAP when it desperately needed competent leadership. Quite a feat for a Lance Corporal or for any Marine for that matter. It seems that all of the communications that we received that were to be forwarded to CACO 1-3 or to Fire Support Base Stinson were from you. 

I do remember listening to every word of radio communications that went on with the CAP. I also remember having a difficult time convincing CACO 1-3 that you guys were under attack, not to mention under attack by an enemy force much larger than the CAP. They definitely couldn’t comprehend what you meant by the enemy force being a large one. I remember telling you that CACO 1-3 wanted to know how large the enemy force way. It seemed picky that they came back a couple of times to find out how large when you kept telling me that the enemy was everywhere, not just to the front or side, but everywhere they could possibly be. They just didn’t get it. 

No units could get to your location until first light. That included CACO 1-3, CAP 1-3-9, soldiers from the Americal Division, and other PF units. That left the 10 or 12 of you coupled with the PFs to fight for your lives until support could get there in the morning. 

MacKnight and I relayed your requests for artillery support to Stinson. You would give us your needs and we would relay it to Stinson. It seems that we spoke directly with Stinson because the situation was that urgent. 

We also coordinated air support for you in the forms of helicopters and Snoopy. You directed the helicopters on when and where to illuminate the area. When Snoopy arrived on site, you took over and directed it to where the enemy was. Seems like there was a spotter aircraft on site at some point in time, probably when Snoopy was on site. 

Dave, I distinctly remember (and I’m sure MacKnight would agree) you being so in control of yourself and the CAP as a whole. Scared, but in control of yourself to the point that your voice was calm in the midst of all hell having broken loose – a hell that others, including myself, can’t and don’t care to even imagine. To think that a squad of Marines and a platoon of PFs were attacked while in a village without the benefit of any perimeter defense by a much larger element of the 21st NVA Regiment is hard to comprehend and even harder to comprehend when it is taken into consideration that the friendlies lost only a handful and the enemy lost more than 40. You did what few others could have done. 

I seem to remember that when daylight came the helicopters started working on the enemy as it fled the area. 

The CAP literally survived the attack because of your leadership. I have no doubt about that. None! I don’t mean to take anything away from any of the others, but you were the key to the other Marines living through the night. No doubt about it. 

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I missed anything, which I’m sure I did. 

Dave, as always, God bless you. 

(Additional information not included in the previous email follows. CACO 1-3 personnel had a going away party for one of their sergeants who was rotating back to the States the night of the attack. LeBlanc remembers CACO 1-3 wanting to know where the enemy was and Frenier telling him to tell them to the effect, “They are everywhere. They are so close that I’ll put one of them on the radio if they want to talk to them.” CACO 1-3 understood better when they received that message and became more responsive.)

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Corporal Ronald C. Pina (MCSN: 2466510), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Fire Team Leader with Combined Action Platoon 1-3-2, III Marine Amphibious Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. During the early morning hours of 8 May 1970, while Corporal Pina's platoon occupied a night defensive position adjacent to the village of An Diem in the Binh Son District of Quang Ngai Province, the Marines and Popular Forces soldiers came under a vicious ground attack from a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force comprised of approximately 150 soldiers, supported by intense automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire. During the initial moments of the assault, Corporal Pina's defensive position was the object of concentrated hostile fire and he was wounded in his left foot. Continuing to fight however, he alertly saw an enemy grenade land nearby, endangering the life of another Marine. Reacting instantly, Corporal Pina dived forward, grabbed the grenade and hurled it back at the hostile soldiers, thereby saving the life of his comrade. Observing a wounded man fall forward of the defensive perimeter, he then raced across the fire-swept terrain and, seemingly heedless of the enemy rounds impacting around him, dragged his companion to a covered position. While aiding in treating the wounds of the casualty, he was informed that a mortar position was short of ammunition and, on three separate occasions, boldly traversed the hazardous area to ensure the complete re-supply of the emplacement. Observing two companions attempting to retrieve a machine gun and a grenade launcher from another defensive position, he rushed forward and, although nearing exhaustion from his protracted efforts, and his wound, assisted in moving the weapons back, then, utilizing the machine gun, placed himself at a dangerously exposed vantage point from which he delivered devastating fire at the North Vietnamese Army soldiers and forced them to fall back and to retreat. Determined to exploit the hostile contact to the maximum, Corporal Pina, despite suffering intense pain from his wound, fearlessly led a counter attack on the withdrawing enemy, forcing them into such a disorganized retreat that they left behind their dead and abandoned numerous items of equipment. By his courage, aggressive fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger, Corporal Pina inspired all who observed him and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

Action Date: May 8, 1970

Service: Marine Corps

Rank: Corporal

Company: Combined Action Platoon 1-3-2

Division: III Marine Amphibious Force

Silver Star