Swift Sword
The True Story of the Marines of Mike 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967

Monday, 4 September 1967Marine Lance Corporal Jack Swan crested the face of a bare, rocky knoll inthe Que Son Valley of South Vietnam. Following Swan were the 164 Marines ofMike Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division. Theirmission was to locate and rescue two understrength and isolated companiesof felow Marines who were under attack by the North Vietnamese ArmvThe sight of a quiet and serene rice paddy and shrub covered valley greetedSwan. Too serene, he thought, as he caught sight of a trembling bush. "I thinkI just saw that bush move!" he shouted. "If it moves again, shoot it!" his squadleader commanded he bush moved Swan hired. and the hush went downThen hell on earth broke loose.Rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 fire, mortars, and machine guns engulfedthe exposed Marines. The vaunted 2nd NVA Division, six thousand, five hundredmen strong and expertly camouflaged, had sprung their well-laid trap.Instead of coming to the rescue of their embattled comrades, it was now themen of Mike 3/5 who were about to be annihilated. Burdened with a rifle, theM16, that would often malfunction, how could they hope to beat back a vastlysuperior foe bent on their destruction?Outnumbered, out-gunned, and exposed, would any of the men of Mike 3/5 survive?