Not Leaving Them Alone
The following letter was written by PFC Thomas W. Vollmar in support of a Silver Star nomination for Lt. William Bott. Bott received the Silver Star in 2016, forty-five years after the events it describes. Minor spelling and punctuation have been cleaned up for readability; the content is otherwise unaltered.
PFC Thomas W. Vollmar – Acting Supply Sergeant, D Company CP, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
1454 W. 11th Ave Escondido, CA 92029
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing this letter to document and support the recommendation that William Bott be awarded the Silver Star.
I served with Lt. William (Bill) Bott in Vietnam with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in April 1971. Even though I did not report directly to Lt. Bott, I knew him well enough and respected his ability to lead and guide his platoon (Rifle Range was his platoon's name). I knew many members of his platoon, and they were very loyal to Lt. Bott and trusted his leadership. I served at the Company CP (Command Post) as acting Supply Sergeant under Captain William (Bill) Neal, even though my rank was PFC E-3. I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Lt. Bott on many occasions during company briefings, and found him to be a very good leader and person who cared about his men.
On April 20th, 1971, Delta Company came across a very large, well-fortified, and heavily equipped NVA unit. Delta Company — most notably Range — took very heavy casualties: three dead in the initial fight, with another soldier dying the next day. There were numerous wounded, including Lt. Bott.
To summarize the fight: one of our patrols had spotted four or five NVA soldiers bathing in a shallow stream. The squad was on the south side of the stream and opened up with machine gun and small arms fire, killing at least one enemy soldier. Their machine gun jammed, so the patrol was ordered to rejoin their platoon.
During the fight that followed, Range was ordered by Captain Neal to cross to the north side of the stream and move slowly to the east. The CP and Cat Platoon were on the south side of the stream. We moved out to the east and hadn't gone very far when Range radioed that they had spotted a hooch, or outhouse. Captain Neal ordered Range to back off; however, it was too late — all hell broke loose on the north side of the stream. We were taking AK-47 rounds on both sides of the stream, with the heaviest fire on the north side. Range was hit with Chicom claymore mines and B-40 rockets. Every man in Range's forward element was wounded or dead.
We — CP and Cat — were on the south side, taking AK rounds and pinned down by the volume of fire the NVA was putting out. We could hear our men screaming in pain, and they needed help. Our medic on the north side needed assistance. The medic assigned to the CP froze and would not cross the stream, so I grabbed his medical bag and ran across to try to help Doc Brothers, Range's medic.
I witnessed the carnage the NVA had inflicted on my fellow troopers and friends. I saw Lt. Bott — he was wounded in the left arm, but he was still able to fire with his good right arm, and he was directing his platoon on where to take up defensive positions. The fight was still fierce, and Lt. Bott, despite his serious arm wound, showed exceptional courage, leading his men and encouraging them to keep fighting.
At that point I carried one of the more seriously wounded men to the rear of Range's position and then continued on to the south side of the stream to drop him off. I crossed the stream again to bring back more wounded. We tried to encourage Lt. Bott to cross the stream and have his wound taken care of. He refused, saying he was not leaving his men alone without any leadership. As the firing up front began to die down, I carried one more wounded man back to the evacuation point.
By then the medevac helicopter was hovering overhead, and we had to use a jungle penetrator to get everyone out. I started directing the medevac from the ground — the most seriously wounded first, down to the least wounded. Two helicopters came to evacuate our wounded. I tried to get Lt. Bott on the second one, but he refused to leave what was left of his platoon. His platoon had suffered heavy casualties — 80% or more — and he wanted to stay with his men and encourage them to keep fighting. We finally got Lt. Bott on a helicopter the next day, so his left arm could be properly treated.
I don't know why Lt. Bott was not awarded any citation back in 1971. Most of the men who received Bronze or Silver Stars were given their awards at a ceremony at the forward fire base about a week later. I believe Lt. Bott should have received the Silver Star back then. Please reconsider, and award Lt. Bott the citation he has deserved for many years.
Sincerely, Thomas W. Vollmar Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) 1970–1971
