Walt Philbin Remembers (continued)
When we got a target identified I recall Lt [Alan] Green leaning out of the hole with a bullhorn, exhorting Marines to get on the guns and return fire.
I remember thinking, in the middle of all the terror, “where the hell did he get a bullhorn?” and then, “Jeez, he’s a textbook Marine out of a John Wayne movie.”
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It was so surreal.
I remember being very happy and thankful he was there and doing his thing.
1stLt Alan Green used a megaphone to rally the mortar platoon on LZ Margo. Photo courtesy of Alan Green.
Soon after the attack began, 81s FOs embedded in the grunt companies on Margo heard Cpl Gary Engman's calm voice on the radio asking for grid coordinates to return fire. Photo by Alan Green.
The 81s Platoon Fights Back
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I dove for the hole, what good it was.
I remember it probably wasn’t long but it seemed like forever and there was this smell of gunpowder in the air.
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I remember Cpl Gary Engman, Rod’s [Cpl Eloy “Rod” Rodriguez’s] assistant in the 81s comm section asking anybody to try to get a fix or a muzzle flash or something because we couldn’t fire back if we didn’t know where they were.
