Joe De Los Santos

Joseph De Los Santos, 63, of the Sanger area enlisted in the Marine Corps and went straight to Vietnam after basic training. Santos was in Vietnam in 1967-1968 and took part in the Tet Offensive. He was a commander of an Ontos, a light armored tracked vehicle that carried six recoilless rifles and other weapons. He received 14 combat decorations that include the Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Cross of Galleons.

He told his interviewer about his decision to enlist in the Marines:

"My good friend that lived across the street was in the Marine Corps. When he came home on leave--he was [in the local] reserves. Also, (when) he came home on leave he had worn the dress blues. That just totally won me over. All my family on my mother's side was all Army, the whole enchilada. I have had uncles in the Army in World War II and uncles in Korea... All of us are Purple Heart winners, all of us are combat decorated, and one even got the Navy Cross. I was the only Marine."

Basic training was not what Santos expected:

"When you join, you're not a Marine until you finish boot camp. Boot camp is initiation into the club; you don't get called a Marine until you finish boot camp. It was like any other boot camp, a lot harder than I expected...The pressures that are given to us came in handy later. I totally support and believe in what they do."

Santos remembers how he felt when he first arrived in Vietnam:

"Scared. No weapons. All you think in your mind is what we called the VC. They were going to attack us and we did not have a weapon. That stayed in my mind, also. I had to wait a couple of days to get checked in to a unit. Then they gave me a weapon, a grease gun (a type of automatic weapon), which is pretty good in close arms. I would rather have an M14 or later M16."

Santos described his deployment to Vietnam:

"I went to Da Nang. I was in what they call an Ontos unit, a little track vehicle with six 106s on it, four .50-caliber and a .30-caliber machine gun...I was an Ontos commander in combat. I became what they call a permanent float. What that means is that you have two battalions of Marines on board ships. And where ever there are firefights or action they landed. So every time we landed we knew we were going to see action. We were on what was called a permanent float because during my time there they disbanded the Ontos unit but they kept them on the float. I was the only one--last of the Ontos people in Vietnam."

Santos will never forget being in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, the massive attack by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese on every major urban area in South Vietnam:

"The Tet...Probably the worst period to be in Vietnam January, February of '68. (They) attacked every spot in Vietnam. They knew they weren't going to win but by sheer numbers it convinced the world we should no longer be there."

Friendships in the service were hard to keep, Santos said:

"You see in movies where the people you go with are the people - it's a natural bond. So if they get killed or wounded it affects you. . . . It's just very difficult when the new guys came in to get to really want to be their friend. You sort of - I didn't really want to be that close to them because I knew if they died I would be affected. It's still really hard for me to talk about it - I'll talk to another Marine...but I don't normally talk about it."

Santos remembers the engagement he was awarded for:

"Yeah, the Bronze Star was for a two-day engagement on the 28th of January '68 and the 30th. Two engagements, really I was put in for the Silver Star but ended up with the Bronze Star. I remember very vividly on the 28th-- again a lot of rocket fire coming in. Being in the vehicle and if the rocket hits directly, it's over. But other than that we are pretty well protected. It was a pretty good kick..."

Marine life is something Santos would like to keep in the past:

"The one thing I have always been able to do is put my life behind me when I retired. I think I have done pretty good. I really didn't think about life; you don't go into combat thinking that you're going to get a Bronze Star or this or that. You just react, so really the medals we get rewarded are a joke; because it just comes natural, you just do it. You don't think about what you're going to get...it just happens. So I was this crazy young guy. Now married got more responsibilities; I kind of wonder how I would be now under fire if that occurred again. With all these other obligations now; how would that affect me? I ain't going to find out. [Laughs]"
 

MCVTHF, 707 S.W. 350th Ct., Ste. #1 

 "There's been some question of including historical material that doesn't apply directly to Tank or Ontos units. Our response has been to remind the Track Community that we were almost never employed on "our own". That is, we were attached to or in direct support of the Grunts. Most often any Tank or Ontos action was reported on the Grunts' Command Chronology and not by the Tank Battalions' Command Chronology. So, for archive work its the Infantry records that are the most complete. Additionally, unit awards were given to the infantry units and to their supporting arms. So, for example, if you were attached to 3/7 when it was awarded an NUC or a PUC, you would probably qualify. If you were on the float with SLF "B" which was awarded RVN Gallantry Cross for 21-24 Dec '67 action, you'd rate that award. And, one more point - often we never knew or may have forgotten - the Infantry unit we were attached to and seeing names, places, and dates may jog memories."

Vietnam War Marine Corps Operations and Significant Events for Decembers

Note: If you can recall your month(s) of December in Vietnam, please write to us and tell us your story. Were you on the float w/SLF "B"? Attended a Bob Hope USO Show? Sat down for a traditional turkey dinner on Christmas Day? Broke open a cold can of "Limas and M/Fs"? Had a beer (or 2) to welcome in the New Year?

13 Dec, 1967 - BLT 3/26 ordered to reinforce Khe Sand

15 Dec, 1968 - 3/7 commenced search and destroy in Operation Citrus

20 Dec, 1965 - Operation Harvest Moon ended for Task Force Delta (2/7, 3/3, 2/1)

                        More than 400 VC KIA

21 Dec, 1967 - SLF "B" awarded RVN Gallantry Cross for 21-24 action

December 7, 1968 - March 9, 1969 - The 1st Marine Division Task Force Yankee conducted Operation Taylor Common in Base Area 112 southwest of Da Nang, accounting for extensive North Vietnamese casualties.
Significance: Incorporating mobile helicopter and firebase tactics used by the 3rd Marine Division, the 1st Marine Division entered the North Vietnamese base areas, destroying much of the enemy main force logistics buildup and clearing the 2nd NVA Division elements which had taken refuge there.

Flame Tanks/B 23

By L/Cpl Guy Wolfenbarger

Bravo Co., 3rd Tanks, 67/68

On September 5 I got word to be ready to move out the next morning to relieve flame tank F-21 that had lost air pressure.

Mike Co. 3/26 and an escort from Bravo Co. Tanks left Camp Carol in the rain. I met up with F-21 and Bravo 25 on the road outside of Charlie 2, and Bravo 25 took the lead back to the CP.

The church yard where 2nd Platoon Bravo 3rd Tanks had been working with 1/9 was the bad lands. I had worked it ea rlier in July with Alpha Co. 3rd Tanks in .Operation Buffalo. Since then I had been in the area 4 or 5 times. The brush was real thick and the rice paddies over grown.

On Operation Buffalo on July 6, we took out a Catholic church at Thon Tan Hoa known as the Four Gates to Hell. The church yard was a land mark for the NVA to sight in on.   Nah Toa An Hoa was on everybody's map. Why anyone would set up a CP there is beyond me.   2nd Lt. Drnec was new in county and had not seen action or been in this area before.

The night of September 6, was quiet. The next morning a good friend from Columbus, Sgt. Larry Flora, threw a mud ball at my tank as he was going by. He gave me a thumbs up and that's the last ti me I saw him alive. 2nd Lt. Drnec made me mount my 50 cal. back in the cupola. When it's in the cupola it was worthless mounted on its side with only 50 rounds of ammo. Lt Drnec didn't get the big picture. A flame tank only has a 30 cal. and 60 seconds of napalm. With the 50 cal. mounted on a tripod on top the tank commander has some real fire power.

India Co. 3/26 made contact before 1200. I got word from B-25 to move out, but stay in behind his tank. 2nd Platoon B Co. tanks was a heavy section: 3 gun tanks plus a flame tank F-23.

2nd Lt. Drnec called and wanted to know what I was doing. I saw the lead tank start to mire down in the paddy, so I stayed on high ground. That he headed straight out into the paddy was not good tank tactics. I20didn't answer him on the radio. I stayed on high ground. The gun tanks fired a few rounds, and mortars started raining down. I dropped my 50 cal. out of the cupola and mounted it back on the tripod. The gun tanks moved on through the paddy and made it into the tree line. As we got word to start to pull back, I saw NVA in the brush.

By LtCol Ray Stewart, USMC (Ret) 

  HQMC News

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USMC ONTOS REUNION ~ May 2013, Details to Follow.