YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

Chi Lang was situated in a dangerous, contested border zone. Any training
venture away from camp was subject to becoming a frightening battlefield
between Cambodian trainees and hardened Viet Cong regulars, with predictable
results, although the Special Forces had considerably more faith in the
abilities of the Khmer troops than they had had in the Vietnamese CIDG unit
they had formerly trained. The situation was worsened by the serious friction
between Detachment B-43 and the former CIDG Vietnamese troops at the camp. The
Special Forces made no secret of the fact that they felt the Khmer troops were
superior to the ARVN border rangers, whom they considered hoods and thieves.
The Vietnamese officer, Maj. Hoa countered by refusing to punish any Vietnamese
caught stealing from the Americans.

In January 1971, Capt. Purdy's team and the Khmer battalion-in-training
conducted a field exercise at Nui Ta Bec, five miles northwest of Chi Lang.
1Lt. Gerald F. Kinsman, the tactics committee instructor, accompanied the
was then lost and McCarty's shouts to him received no response.
battalion's 3rd Company cadre, Lt. James J. McCarty and Sgt. James A. Harwood.
On 15 January, the three Special Forces troops were escorting the company's
24-man reconnaissance platoon, which was awaiting the arrival of the 8th Khmer
Infantry Battalion, coming to replace them in the field.
The platoon was moving downhill through thick bamboo on the slope of Hill 282
(Nui Ta Bec) northwest of Chi Lang and 2 miles from the Cambodian border, after
searching several large rock outcroppings of Nui Ta Bec. Sgt. Harwood was in
the lead, 1Lt. Kinsman was in the middle, and McCarty to the rear of the
platoon. At this time, the platoon was moving in column formation. Suddenly the
pointman came under automatic weapons fire, engaging the platoon in a firefight.

Harwood radioed 1st Lt. James J. McCarty that he was crawling up toward the
point, and was receiving direct fire from the front. Communications were then
lost with Harwood, and McCarty's shouts to him met with no response. McCarty
then approached Kinsman's position at the front, and saw Lt. Kinsman standing
in an open area saying he had been hit in the stomach. When he reached Kinsman,
McCarty found him lying on his back in a bamboo thicket. He had been shot in
the stomach, just to the side of the navel with an exit wound in the back, and
was lying in a large pool of blood. McCarty tried to administer aid, but his
weapon was shot away, and he was wounded himself. He tried to drag the
unconscious 1Lt. Kinsman from the area, but enemy troops were approaching and
he had to hide. McCarty did not see Harwood.

McCarty's radioman was wounded in the leg as he frantically radioed Sgt.
Stamper at the base of the hill. Maj. Leary, the Detachment B-43 commander, was
overhead in an O-1 aircraft and relayed the request for immediate assistance to
Maj. Hoa at Chi Lang. Hoa claimed all of his units were "busy" and no response
was possible. Leary summoned a battalion from the 9th ARVN Division next, but
by the time they arrived, the fighting was over. In addition to the Cambodian
casualties, both Lt. Kinsman and Sgt. Harwood were missing.

McCarty was later evacuated. Harwood was classified Missing In Action, and
Kinsman, because of his severe wounds was classified as Killed/Body Not
Recovered. Every detail of their loss is classified, and unavailable to the
public after nearly 20 years.