Henry
Colavita
Colavita
CPT · HQ ·
Known as "Rocky"
In-Country Service
1968 – 1969
Home of Record
Belleville, New Jersey (born); raised for a time in Honolulu, Hawaii, and largely in Arlington, Virginia
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Primary sources: Henry Joseph "Rocky" Colavita obituary (Pierce Funeral Home, Manassas/Haymarket, VA, Dec 2023); Hellgate Press author biography; his own memoir, "Company Grade: Memoir of an Angry Skipper" (Hellgate Press, 2015) — read secondhand via the VVA Veteran's "Books in Review II" synopsis (Tom Werzyn, Mar 2021) and two Goodreads reader reviews, not the book's full text directly (see admin notes); and an oral history interview recorded 18 Jan 2016 by NMAW.org / Americans in Wartime Experience's "Voices of Freedom" project, hosted on Vimeo (45 min), substantially transcribed by hand by Michael this session (roughly 7 of 45 minutes remaining as of last update) and later released as a "Voices of Freedom" podcast episode (Mar 2022, not reviewed).
1966
Promoted to Captain
Recovered stateside, promoted to Captain, became the War College Commandant's aide
His wounds were serious enough that he was sent home to recover. Once recovered, he took a posting at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was promoted to Captain in the summer of 1966, and served as Aide-de-Camp to the 29th Commandant for the next 15 months — roughly summer 1966 into late 1967 — before once again volunteering to return to Vietnam.
1966-01-28
Purple Heart
Wounded during Operation Masher/White Wing — first Vietnam tour
Volunteered for duty as an advisor to the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Brigade (MAAG advisory detachment), stationed near Saigon, during his first Vietnam tour (1965-66) — not yet part of D Company or the 1st Cav Division. Seriously wounded on 28 Jan 1966 — by mortar fragments, hit in the neck, shoulder, arm, and leg — while out in the field with an ARVN company as part of Operation Masher/White Wing, the joint 1st Cav Division / ARVN Airborne Task Force operation in the Bong Son area, Binh Dinh Province, and earned the Purple Heart Medal. Per a reader review of his memoir, his best friend SP John Milender was killed by a sniper moments after kneeling beside him to offer encouragement as he waited to be evacuated — a loss Colavita reportedly carried guilt over for decades.
1968
S4
Returned to Vietnam, initially served as battalion S4
Returned to Vietnam for a second tour and initially served as S4 (logistics officer), 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, for about 3 months — during which the battalion moved to III Corps — before moving into D Company command.
1968-10
Company Command
Took command of D Company, 2/8 Cav — "Angry Skipper-6"
Took command of D Company, 2nd Battalion (Airmobile), 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in October 1968 — confirmed by his own oral history account — succeeding CPT Audis Garner (see soldiers/garner-audis), who had himself succeeded CPT Rodney Grannemann earlier in 1968. Carried the radio callsign "Angry Skipper-6." First operated from LZ Joe, then LZ Rita (through the battalion's 30 Jan 1969 relief there), then the battalion CP moved to LZ St. Barbara, a non-1st-Cav base where the company did ambushes only. Proposed full-company ambushes along trails, aiming for a new site every night; the company became "exceptionally good" at it, and its main mission became supply interdiction. Command end date not yet fixed (working estimate: April or May 1969).
1968-11-18
Company Loss
PFC Michael Cromie killed in an engagement
Per Colavita's own memoir, PFC Michael Cromie was killed in direct contact with the enemy — hit by RPG fragments — early in Colavita's own command of D Company. Likely (though not confirmed) the earlier, unnamed loss Colavita's book references when it calls SP4 Ahern "Delta's next casualty under my command," eight days later. See soldiers/cromie-michael.
1968-11-26
Company Loss
SP4 Raymond Ahern killed — rocket attack on LZ Rita
Per Colavita's own memoir, SP4 Raymond Ahern, the RTO for the company's supporting artillery Forward Observer — one of Colavita's own men, per his memoir, not an outside attachment — was killed when his bunker took a direct rocket hit during the night on LZ Rita, eight days after Cromie. See soldiers/ahern-raymond and events/operation-sheridan-sabre-1968-11-26.
1968-12
Reflection
A new commander's candid admission: not yet knowing his own men
Per Colavita's own memoir, he was still fairly new to command that fall and did not yet know many of his soldiers well. He recounts, with evident embarrassment, asking a platoon leader where PFC Cromie was — having not seen him in a while, and wondering if he was on R&R — only to be told that Cromie had been dead for a few weeks. Exact date not given in the memoir; placed here as an approximate marker sometime after Cromie's 18 Nov 1968 death. See soldiers/cromie-michael.
1968-12-04
Company Loss
Three men killed in a feigned Chieu Hoi ambush — "Chicken Valley"
Per Colavita's own memoir, D Company was linking up with Charlie Company at a captured enemy cache — the march during which the men nicknamed the area "Chicken Valley" — when Charlie Company reported a group of NVA under observation who appeared to want to surrender. Delta's White Skull platoon closed in to take prisoners; the NVA had no intention of surrendering and ambushed the approaching soldiers, killing SP4 Willie Jones, SP4 Donald Stoltz, and SSG William Williams before the ambushing NVA group was itself wiped out. A joint Delta/Charlie perimeter then survived a massive all-night mortar and ground assault with no further KIA, before the site — briefly suspected of being the COSVN headquarters — was struck by a B-52 Arclight the next day. See events/operation-sheridan-sabre-1968-12-04 and soldiers/jones-willie-gerald, soldiers/stoltz-donald, soldiers/williams-william. Full transcript: see the document colavita-henry-verbal-account-dec4-1968.
1969-01-28
Bunker Complex Contact
Bunker-complex fight near LZ Rita — the night Pipher and Eskridge were killed
While on a search-and-destroy patrol out of LZ Rita, D Company walked into an unmapped bunker complex and immediately returned fire. Colavita called in Army helicopter gunship support rather than Air Force or artillery, judging it more accurate at close range. The company held its perimeter and stayed in contact all night — taking wounded who could not be evacuated until morning — and the enemy broke contact and disappeared at first light. This action is believed to be the one that killed SP4 Carl Pipher and CPL Warren Eskridge (see soldiers/pipher-carl, soldiers/eskridge-warren, and events/operation-sheridan-sabre-1969-01-28), which until now had no firsthand account attached to it. Full transcript: see the document colavita-henry-verbal-account-jan28-1969.
1983
Retired
Retired from active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel
Closed a 20-year Army career that included two Vietnam tours, an aide-de-camp posting at the U.S. Army War College, command of D Company, 2/8 Cav, a Pentagon staff assignment, and service as Provost Marshal, Berlin Brigade.
2023-12-25
Passed Away
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Henry Joseph "Rocky" Colavita, Jr., dies at 82
Passed away after a short illness near his home in Haymarket, Virginia, surrounded by loving family and friends.
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