ROBERT L HOWARD

On 30 December 1968 this colonel was fighting in Southeast Asia, facing an overwhelming force of North Vietnamese troops, all while severely wounded

- MICHAEL E HASKEW

There was little hope that Private First Class Robert F Scherdin was still alive. He was last seen wounded and under heavy fire, and an accompanying Montagnard soldier had been unable to move him.

Scherdin was lost during a covert US Army MACV-SOG mission behind enemy lines in Cambodia on 29 December 1968. The role of MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group) was to conduct hit-and-run raids from Vietnam into neighbouring Cambodia and Laos, hopefully disrupting enemy operations at the height of the Vietnam War. Within hours of the engagement, a mission was mounted to find Scherdin, but the situation deteriorated quickly.

Another jungle fight

Men of Hatchet Force, specially trained in secret search-and-destroy operations and the rescue of missing soldiers, boarded helicopters and sped toward the scene of the previous action. Second in command was decorated combat veteran Sergeant First Class Robert L Howard – he was sure that this fight with the North Vietnamese would be a stern test.

Minutes after the helicopters reached their designated landing zone, the rescue team came under intense fire from an enemy force of at least two companies. Howard was stunned when a grenade showered him with hot shrapnel and destroyed his M-16 assault rifle. His platoon leader had already gone down, seriously wounded.