Richard John Boehm

Sergeant
C CO, 1ST BN, 46TH INF RGT, 196 INF BDE
Army of the United States
23 June 1951 - 28 March 1971
Mandan, North Dakota
Panel 04W Line 085

196 INF BDE
46TH INF RGT
Combat Infantry

Richard John Boehm

Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Richard John Boehm

18 Aug 2005

REMEMBERED

by Tom Rader
thrader@btinet.net

A Note from The Virtual Wall

On the night of 27/28 March 1971 Fire Support Base (FSB) Mary Ann was occupied by 209 Americans from several units of the Americal Division:
  • HHC 1/46th Infantry;
  • C Co 1/46th Infantry;
  • a Recon Platoon;
  • elements of a Mortar Platoon;
  • two 155mm howitzer sections, 3/16th Arty; and
  • twenty ARVN artillerymen.
At approximately 0230 hours, 28 March 1971, the VC mounted a coordinated mortar and sapper attack. Almost simultaneously with the mortar attack, sappers employed satchel charges and rocket propelled grenades (RPG) to penetrate the FSB's perimeter. Americans in the perimeter bunkers hunkered down until the explosions from the mortar rounds, satchel charges, and RPGs had subsided, but by then the sappers had breached the trench line and were inside the base. Once inside FSB Mary Ann, the sappers struck over half the bunkers.

By the time the VC withdrew, 30 American soldiers were dead and 76 wounded. According to the Department of Defense's casualty database 12 of the 30 dead were killed by friendly fires; the Army's TAGCEN file amplifies that by attributing the deaths to artillery fire.



The point-of-contact for this memorial is
one who remembers,
Tom Rader
thrader@btinet.net



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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 18 Aug 2005
Last updated 06/03/2010