SGT Peter Burr Hedlund, Cedar, MN on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

The following description of the events of 07 Feb are taken from the Command Chronologies of the 1st Bn, 11th Marines, the 11th Marine Regiment, and the 5th Marine Regiment:

On 29 January B Battery, 1/11, had been relocated to a position west of Nam Ho on the west side of the Huong River, south of Hue City. The battery was resupplied by motor convoys originating at Phu Bai. At 1400 hours, 07 Feb an 18-vehicle resupply convoy departed B Battery's position to return to Phu Bai. About a mile and a half north of the B Battery position, one of the vehicles hit a mine and a second either struck a mine or was hit by a 57mm recoilless rifle round. At this point, three vehicles were ahead of the stricken trucks when the entire convoy was taken under heavy attack by enemy fires from the high ground on either side of the roadway. Two ONTOS 106mm gun tracks were in the lead, and convoy commander Captain Ronald H. Brown, the 1/11 Logistics Officer, was riding one of them. According to the 1st Tank Bn Chronology,

"Ontos A-11 and A-13 [1st Plt, Alpha 1st AT] supporting a convoy, received heavy small arms, automatic weapons, mortar, and recoilless rife fire. Grenades and satchel charges were thrown at the vehicles. A-13 received one grenade and one round of recoilless rifle fire resulting in one USMC KIA and one USMC WIA (med-evac). A-13 had returned 106mm fire before being hit. A-11 received one direct hit of recoilless rifle fire causing two USMC WIA (medevac). A-11 returned machine gun fire before receiving two more hits from a recoilless rifle resulting in one USMC KIA."

The description above refers only to the ONTOS crewmen; Captain Brown also was killed at this time. According to the 5th Marines report, all officers, senior NCOs, and medical Corpsmen with the convoy were killed or wounded in the opening minutes of the attack. The surviving Marines formed a defensive perimeter, returned fire with personal weapons, and called for assistance. Army helicopter gunships arrived overhead by 1500, but a low overcast both limited their effectiveness and increased their vulnerability; two were shot down, although without known fatalities. At the same time, two ground reaction forces were formed - Bravo Battery sent out a force consisting of a platoon from Charlie 1/1, two Army "Dusters", and men from the battery itself, while HQ 5th Marines sent a reaction force consisting of a company minus supported by two Army quad-50s.

Although the force from Bravo Btry had only a short distance to go, that distance was well covered by enemy troops and the Marines were not able to link up with the tail end of the convoy until 1715. The 5th Marines force, coming from Phu Bai by truck, was itself ambushed and was delayed while the Marines dismounted and broke up the ambush. This force linked with the head of the convoy at about 1800.

The cost to both American and enemy forces is unclear. The 5th Marines Chronology says 15 Marines were killed and 26 wounded, while the 1/11 Marines Chronology puts the count higher - 20 Marines and soldiers killed and 39 wounded. The enemy is known to have lost at least 25 dead, perhaps more.

The following Americans are either known or believed to have been killed as a result of the ambush:

As noted above, Sergeant Hedlund was wounded in the ambush and died of his injuries two days later. He was preceded in death by his mother Elizabeth Hedlund (1910-1962) and survived by his father, Albert Hedlund (1901-1983), brothers Hale A, Emil A, Leo I (1943-2016), Eric J and sister Ann M. Hedlund. Thomas and his parents are buried in Cedar Cemetery, Anoka County, Minnesota.