It is a transcript of one he sent to me as his best friend that he wrote on January 19, 1968, on Third Marine Division (REIN), FMF, Vietnam stationery about a patrol to 881N, only days before the siege began.  Assigned to Company B, 2nd Tank Battalion, Camp Lejeune, I was in Tank School at Camp Pendleton when I received the letter.  Hopefully you will trust me to have faithfully copied his words.  Please consider placing this letter on your website (2nd Lt. Charles J. "Chuck" Schneider's Letter to 2nd Lt. Courtney L. Tucker, USMC) as a valuable addition to the history of the battle.  I know I have several other letters as yet undiscovered in my disaster of a library here at home.  As I find them, I will provide them.  Thanks in advance. 

Courtney L. Tucker, former Captain, USMC, 1802, 1967-1973
961 Stevens Road
Tully, New York 13159
315-696-4646

"Dear Court;  Just had a most interesting day.  Our patrol was heading due north along the ridge toward our patrol objective.  2 squads, platoon commander and me and the air controller.  We made point to point contact at the "X" (on a hand drawn map in the letter).  Unfortunately they saw us first and fired at our point.  2 men were hit, one through the groin and one through the back and side.  We were pinned down by a heavy volume of automatic weapons fire (AK47's) and RPG's (rocket launchers). 

I called in arty and while I was waiting, fired a few bursts with my M16 - the elephant grass was so high you had to stand up to fire.  Then as you dropped down again the grass around you started getting cut with bullets.  Once a round hit 5 inches in front of my face, spraying dirt in my eyes and mouth.  One machine gunner stood up and fired a long burst from the hip - too long, for a sniper shot him right through the eye.  As the first arty rounds came out, we caught heavy fire from our left from a ridge line they'd used to envelope us.  I got another radio and started calling in 81 mm mortar fire to our left, thus forming and upside down L of fire.  Under cover of this we pulled back, dragging our dead and wounded to a makeshift LZ one knoll back.

I counted 10 bodies and others saw bodies fly in the air during the arty strike.  Fires started in the grass caused secondary explosions of small arms, grenades and RPG's so I know there were more dead in that grass.  Adjusting fire was a precarious proposition since I had to stand up for a second to see the rounds impact.  Every time I did I'd draw fire.  So I'd pop up, see the rounds then drop to a squat and leap left or right as far as I could, the bullets churning up the turf of the place I would have been had I dropped straight down.  We got them (Marine dead and wounded) to the LZ and called in Huey gunships, and when they were done we called in a jet strike - Sky Hawks - right on target with Napalm and rockets.  It was beginning to get late, but we were ready to go back after them.  Regiment called us back so we came in.  Just another day in the Corps.  The official report reads in part: "due to the nature of the vegetation, visibility was severely limited and the small arms fire fight was in essence a standoff.  Outstanding use of supporting arms proved decisive.  Best Always, Chuck"