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Lawrence Dane Woods
Captain
B CO, 229TH ASLT HELO BN, 11TH AVN GROUP, 1ST CAV DIV, USARV Army of the United States Hartford, Connecticut February 15, 1937 to June 24, 1966 LAWRENCE D WOODS is on the Wall at Panel 8E, Line 90 |
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In memory of Capt. Lawrence D. WoodsFrom those who served with you. Thank you for your sincerity, your friendship, and your leadership. When we found out that you were killed in Vietnam, we all felt the loss of a good Company Commander and friend. God be with you, Captain.
SP4 John Strgar 08 June 2002 Capt. Lawrence Woods: KIA June 24, 1966 The 24 of this month of June will mark the 36th year of his death in Vietnam. June 24th also marks the birthday of his brother, Bob. He is now 74 and is a veteran of the Korean War. Bob and I have exchanged several e-mails and through our discussions, I discovered that you were shot down 9 times with the 10th being the fatal crash. You never gave up! Many years have passed and I still remember that you were a good Company Commander back at Headquarters Co. 3 Bat. 35th Armor in Bamberg, Germany. I will always keep you in my prayers and will reflect kindly on a man who looked out after the troops. Also, I'll never forget that you promoted me to SP-4/E4 on my birthday - Feb. 13, 1965.
You never gave up and neither will I.
June 20, 2003 Another year has passed and I still remember a good Officer who took care of the troops back in Bamberg, Germany, 4 Armored Div, 3rd Bn, 35th Armor. How I wish I could turn back the hands of time and live in the past for just a few minutes. I, and several of the others, never had the opportunity to say "Good-by" when you left. Although you were a Captain, you always took the time to talk to the lower ranking enlisted men whenever you could. I think we all appreciated the fact that you were approachable and easier to talk to than many of the other officers. It is now 37 years that you have been gone and time has a way of passing quickly by. Those of us who were young and lived back in the 60's would have given little or no thought to their mortal life's conclusion. I would like to think that when my time comes, I will ask Saint Peter "Where is Captain Larry Woods?" and he will say "He's giving flight training to all the new angels and will be with you shortly."
Take care Captain and may God bless you.
Sergeant John Strgar U. S. Army 4th Armored Div. Bamberg, Germany 1963-1966 11 S. F. Gp. Abn., U.S. Army Reserves, Tampa, Florida 1967-1969 810 Military Police, U.S. Army Reserves, Tampa, Florida 1969-1973 JStrgarJ@aol.com |
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Larry was a true professional and was admired by all he served with. He was a highly experienced aviator and leader. He was a "Let's do this together" type of leader, never asking his subordinates to do anything he would not do himself. I served with him as a member of B/229th. He is still sadly missed by his friends. The Army lost a true asset when he left us in 1966.
From a friend and fellow aviator |
A Note from The Virtual WallQL-1, the main highway from Saigon to Hanoi, mostly runs along the coastal plain - but in some places mountains get in the way. Tuy An is one of those places; large hill masses crowd down to the sea, isolating the valleys to the west of the hills. The Special Forces base at Dong Tre was only about 18 kilometers (12 miles) due west of Tuy An, but getting from Tuy An to Dong Tre requires going around one sprawling mountain and through a pass between two others. The SF camp had been subjected to intermittent attacks during the spring of 1966 and intelligence reports indicated there were perhaps two VC battalions holed up in the hills between Tuy An and Dong Tre. In the third week of June 1966 two companies of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry were inserted mid-way along the Tuy An-Dong Tre road on a search-and-destroy mission.Alpha 2/327 was given the eastermost insertion point, about 11 KM east-southeast of Dong Tre, while Charlie 2/327 was inserted in the pass about 8 KM east of Dong Tre. The plan was that Alpha 2/327 would move northwestward to the road, then west along it until the two companies were joined. While Alpha swept the area, Charlie was to move northwards up the slope of Hill 258, the southern peak of a large hill mass. Both companies were inserted without opposition on 18 June. They established night defensive positions, with Alpha 2/327 planning to begin their movement toward Charlie on the 19th and Charlie planning their move up Hill 258. As Alpha began their move northwest on the morning of the 19th they could hear sporadic gunfire from the pass area. As the day wore on, it became apparent the VC were going to oppose Charlie's move up Hill 258. Towards nightfall both companies were ordered to establish NDPs. On the 20th, Charlie began an early move up Hill 258 - and found themselves in trouble with dug-in VC troops. Alpha was directed to speed up their movement toward Charlie and did so, arriving at an abandoned hamlet called Trung Luong at about noon - just about 2 kilometers east of Charlie's company base in the pass. As Alpha 2/327 was moving into the hamlet they were taken under attack by enemy troops. Radio traffic on the battalion net made it clear that Charlie 2/327 was taking a pounding on Hill 258 - and Alpha no longer was in a position to help them. Bravo Company 2/327 tried an insertion on the Hill 258 crest but heavy antiaircraft fire forced the helos to deposit the infantrymen further to the west than planned. Charlie Company was directed to reverse course and make for their company base in the pass. With both Bravo and Charlie off the VC-infested areas of Hill 258 supporting fires - air and artillery - could be brought to bear. Seventeen US soldiers from A, B, and C Companies died in the fighting on 20 June, Private Fuller among them. At about 7:30 PM reinforcements arrived in the form of two companies from the 1st Bn, 8th Cavalry which were inserted - without opposition - on the crest of Hill 258 ... the VC had withdrawn from their positions. Although the cavalrymen were able to join up with the paratroopers, 2/327 wasn't out of trouble. VC attacks on 21 and 22 June against 2/327 positions in the pass resulted in 14 more dead - and it was no consolation to know that the VC losses were far greater. The 31 men from 2nd Bn, 327th Infantry who died in the fighting around Trung Luong between 20 and 22 were
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