Rock County, WisconsinBiographies"David Lee Drought" |
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DAVID LEE DROUGHT David Lee Drought was born January 12, 1946 and served in the US Army. He entered in Vietnam on November 12, 1967 and was attached to the Ninth Infantry Division, C Troop of the 3rd Squadron of the 5th Cavalry (C/3/5 of the Ninth). He was killed in a combat ambush on December 31, 1967 shortly before his 22nd birthday. David had been trained as a Combat Infantryman and had quickly risen to the rank of Sgt. C/3/5 CAV was a US Army unit Synopsis: Two platoons from C Troop departed Blackhorse about 0300H and were ambushed about six miles south on QL 2 going to Vung Tau. Their mission was to escort the third and final convoy of 60 vehicles belonging to an aviation battalion from Vung Tau starting about 0900H. MAJ Mahler, the squadron XO, writes that at about 0400H on a straight stretch of road between two slight rises, the lead tank was hit by a rocket that instantly killed the driver. The vehicle spacing was 200 yards. The lead tank of the second platoon was hit and the last track in the column was blown up by a command-detonated mine. In ten minutes it was all over. The ambushing force had hidden in the clumps of fallen trees that remained, ironically, from the effort to clear the road edges of growth for 100 yards on both sides to prevent the enemy from lurking in the undergrowth. The enemy had been in this deadfall, no farther than ten yards from the road edge, and at that range, they could not miss. MAJ Mahler carefully outlines several of the 'mistakes' that collectively contributed to this event. Of the 45 troopers who had been out, 25 were WIA and 11 KIA. Three of the dead, from the last track, were beyond recognition and had to be listed as MIA because their remains could not be positively identified (David Drought was not one of these three). Miraculously, many of the wounded had suffered only burns and would be coming back to duty in a day or so. Of the two tanks and nine ACAVs (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles) in the column, one tank and four ACAVs were good only for salvage. He does not list the aviation units that provided medevac and other support for the recovery effort, but one can assume D/3/5 Cav (an Aviation Unit attached to the Ninth Infantry) was involved. The Commanding General of the 9th Infantry replaced the squadron commander three days after this event took place. The source for this information was Ringed in Steel by Mahler, pp. 72-79.  |
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