Leslie John LantosSpecialist FourD CO, 2ND BN, 35TH INF RGT, 4 INF DIV Army of the United States 16 July 1942 - 03 April 1968 Ten Sleep, Wyoming Panel 47E Line 052 |
|
The database page for Leslie John Lantos
"Not for fame or reward, not for place or for rank,
A memorial from a college roommate, |
A Note from The Virtual WallOn 01 Apr 1968 D Company 2/35 Infantry was airlifted into an area near Hill 1062, northwest of the fire base at Polei Kleng, where enemy contact had previously been made. D/2/35 received mortar and sporadic small arms fire and was withdrawn to allow air and artillery strikes. On 03 Apr 1968 Companies C and D 2/35 were inserted with the intention of clearing the Hill 1062 ridgeline. However, D Company"got to the same location and walked directly into a NVA ambush. I was in 2nd platoon, the point platoon that day, and within minutes after the first shot, we had 4 KIA and several WIA. Lost immediately were Gary Watson, Ted Sandidge, Leslie Lantos and Joe Quirion (all riflemen, not sure of their ranks). These were the first four men in the 1st squad. The first 3 men in the 2nd squad were wounded at the same time, these were Packer (? first name), Gerald Kelly and myself." - Romain Voeller, D/2/35th InfC Company also ran into trouble after they were inserted into a landing zone just northeast of Hill 1062: "We moved along the ridge about 400 meters and started up 1062 as they approached the top the 1st Plt was ambushed by NVA who were well dug in and heavily bunkered, and by the end of the day we had 4 KIA and several WIA. We lost SSG David Carl Thomas, SGT Philip Lorne Konigsfeld, SP4 Edward Day, and SP4 William Joseph Frey." - Ben Youmans, C/2/35th InfOnce again the troops were withdrawn to allow further air and artillery strikes. When they returned on 05 April, they again encountered stiff resistance along the top of the ridge and once again withdrew to allow air and artillery room to work. The next assault on the morning of 06 April was unopposed - the NVA had abandoned the hill top, which had contained a regimental hospital complex. The men who were killed in action on 03 April were
35th Infantry |
Top of Page
www.VirtualWall.org Back to |
With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 08/10/2009