Bunker Complex Sweep — High Saddle, Binh Tuy Province
Summary
On June 24, 1971, D Company, 2/8 Cavalry assaulted a large NVA bunker complex and supply depot located in a high saddle southeast of FSB Fontaine in Binh Tuy Province. The operation was ordered on short notice by the new Battalion CO, identified only as "Blagg," after a Pink Team reconnaissance aircraft took fire from the position the day prior and called in CS gas and artillery. Company commander Capt. Bill Neal had just returned his men from R&R in Vung Tau.
Range Platoon led the sweep. PFC Kirk Davis, ordered under a large rock outcrop by platoon leader Lt. Frank Guidara, discovered a recently killed VC whose body had been concealed there. The complex proved to be an extensive NVA logistics installation — a clothing factory with three Singer sewing machines, large quantities of rice, flour, salt, and yeast, and a significant arms and ammunition cache including SKS rifles, B-40 rockets, and Chicom grenades. The food cache included bags stamped with the USAID logo.
Echo Recon was called in to assist with extraction of the cache over the following days. No D Company casualties are recorded for this operation.
Context and Contested Details
Date: Neal's account and Davis's essay both place this in June 1971. The editor's note in the Walking Point newsletter, combined with Harold McGrew's calendar, pins the firefight to June 24 and the cache discovery to June 25. This is the best available date and is treated as known.
martin-michael: Listed as a contributor in Davis's essay closing note alongside Guidara and Neal. He appears in the April 20 event as Skull Platoon leader. Whether he was still in that role by June is unconfirmed — flagged as an open question.
The cache was large enough that Echo Recon came in to help extract it over several days. If you were part of that extraction, or know which other platoons swept the complex, we'd like to hear from you.
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