We salute Lieutenant James “Jim” Magouyrk, 22-year-old platoon leader and native of Los Angeles, California.  Jim enlisted in the military service on June 19,1964 and took Basic Training at Fort Ord, California in June-August 1964.  He attended AIT at Fort Knox, Kentucky.  In August 1967, he attended Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia and was commissioned an Infantry Lieutenant upon completion of OCS in February 1968.  In October of that same year, Jim attended Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Shortly after completing his airborne training, 2Lt. Magouyrk received orders for Vietnam and arrived in country in December 1968.  He was eventually assigned to the 3-506 at Phan Thiet, where he assumed command of 2^nd Platoon, Company C, commanded by Captain Joseph B. Jones III.   

Two months and two days after assuming command of his platoon, young Lt. Jim Magouyrk would earn our Nation’s second highest award for valor second only to the Medal of Honor in the “Battle at Outpost SARA” on February 12, 1969.  The following is a factual account of the events concerning 2nd Platoon, Charlie Co. in the battle, including Lt. Magouyrk’s personal recollections of a day in his life that he will never forget.   

     In the early morning hours of February 12, elements of the Viet Cong 450^th Local Force Company guided the Sapper Companies of the Viet Cong 186^th Main Force Battalion, the 240^th NVA Battalion, and the 840th Main Force Battalion in an attack on Outpost SARA, located on Highway QL-1 northeast of Phan Thiet.  Lt. Magouyrk, platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, Charlie Co. was the Battalion duty officer on the night of February 11 and was monitoring the radios when the outpost was attacked.  His platoon was the scheduled reaction platoon for February 12, and Lt. Magouyrk knew that this meant an eventual call for movement to assist at the contact area. 

     An hour later, Lt. Magouyrk and his twenty-one-man platoon were on the chopper pad and ready to be airlifted to the vicinity of Outpost SARA.  There would be three lifts of seven men each for the short trip north of Phan Thiet.  Lt. Magouyrk recalls, “About a minute out, Blackhawk (Bn. Cmdr. LTC Manuel A. Alves) came up on the radio and told me that we were facing about a battalion of VC/NVA and that we were going to be put down on a hot LZ right in the middle of the enemy, with a promise of immediate backup.  The tactic we were employing was a classic technique for fixing the enemy in one position while reinforcements are brought up to eliminate them—we called it ‘dog pile on the rabbit’.  The tactic itself didn’t bother me near as much as the fact that we would be practically surrounded by a whole battalion of enemy.”  

     The "Polecat" slicks from the 192nd AHC carrying the Currahees of 2^nd Platoon touched down on the designated LZ and were greeted by stiff resistance from the well-entrenched enemy as they off loaded onto an open rice paddy.  Corporal Billy Frank Harper, 19, from Cleveland, Mississippi was immediately hit in the leg; and Lt. Magouyrk knew that they had to get to adequate cover and away from the open LZ.  The heavy enemy fire seemed to come from all directions, and the only visible cover was a ditch along the edge of the rice paddy to the north.  As the platoon scrambled to cover, Lt. Magouyrk was wounded by shrapnel from an exploding B40 rocket. 

     Second Platoon had combat assaulted right into the teeth of an enemy ambush, not more than ten meters from a banana grove where most of the enemy were entrenched.  The ditch offered the Currahees adequate cover; and fortunately for them, the enemy had not covered it by fire.  It was still quite a heated exchange of fire, with hand grenades and rifle fire being volleyed back and forth amid the constant mortar and rocket explosions.  The Currahees of 2^nd Platoon suffered more casualties, as they continued to be helplessly pinned down in the ditch at the edge of the rice paddy. 

Attempts to bring in the next series of lifts carrying 1Lt. Larry Terbush’s 1^st Platoon were futile; the lead "Polecat" slick (aircraft) received a hit as it approached the LZ, and the entire lift of four choppers passed over the LZ to the northwest.  The lead chopper eventually went down, but the remaining three choppers made a second pass at the LZ and quickly off loaded the men of 1^st Platoon.  1Lt. Wayne Thompson’s 3^rd Platoon were inserted some two hundred meters away from the original LZ where 1^st and 2^nd Platoons continued to be mercilessly pinned down by mortars, B-40 rocket fire, and machinegun fire. 

     By noon, the Currahees were still fighting a fierce battle with the well-entrenched enemy for control of the LZ.  Running low on ammunition and in desperate need of medevac choppers for the wounded in his platoon, Lt. Magouyrk decided to call in airstrikes. The lieutenant knew well that even a small error in distance could be disastrous for he and his men, but still he gave an azimuth for the jets to fly that was quite close and parallel to the ditch so that his men would not be on the gun-target line.  Lt Magouyrk recalls, “I threw a smoke grenade as far as I could and told the FAC (Forward Air Controller) to instruct the jets to hit the smoke and prayed that they would not miss.  As the pair of F-4 Phantoms came screaming in, some of the expended brass from their mini-guns was bouncing off our helmets.  Man those guys were good—they put those rounds exactly where we needed it!” 

     Lt. Magouyrk informed Cpt. Jones that he did not think he had enough men to take the banana grove considering the number of weapons firing at his platoon, and asked his commander for more fire support to soften it up more , and tried to get the tank platoon that was in the area over to help them out. "We took a couple of more casualties," says Lt. Magouyrk.  "The field first, SFC Jones and my own RTO, SP4 Alexander. SP4 Vestal Alexander looked bad, he had two holes in his neck, one on each side and couldn't talk. We were able to get them out pretty quickly. The 254th Dust-off was on the ball that day."

Shortly thereafter, Cpt. Jones took over the coordination of the fire support and tried to maneuver the rest of the Company over to the LZ.  He managed to get a resupply of much-needed ammunition to Lt. Magouyrk’s 2^nd Platoon, as well as the desperately needed medevac choppers for the wounded troopers.  Amid constant enemy fire, Lt. Magouyrk aided his men in loading up the wounded.  They felt very vulnerable as enemy bullets kicked up the dirt around them while they frantically dragged the wounded to the awaiting medevacs.  

     The battle with the enemy waged on, but the fire lessened somewhat by the middle of the afternoon.  Lt. Magouyrk decided to make a break from the ditch and attempt an assault on the enemy through the banana grove with Sgt. Bullock’s second squad.  They rolled out of the ditch and crawled to the edge of the banana grove.  On Lt. Magouyrk’s signal, each of the men pulled the pin from a hand grenade and lobbed several grenades in unison into the banana grove.  The lieutenant immediately stood up and advanced alone into the enemy-infested area armed with his M-16 and hand grenades. 

     Lt. Magouyrk was quicker on the draw than the first Viet Cong he encountered.  After he shot the Viet Cong, he noticed an RPD machinegun in an adjacent hole nearby.  He slowly moved over, reached up and grabbed the barrel of the machinegun, ripping it out of its firing position.  A few feet further down, Lt. Magouyrk noticed another enemy fighting position and crawled to the edge of the bunker, lobbing in a hand grenade.  A B-40 rocket launcher flew out of the bunker, followed by a blue hat. 

     The young lieutenant gave the order for the rest of the men to advance, and the small squad stood up, charging into the banana grove.  Lt. Magouyrk recalls, “I had gone about four or five steps when the enemy fire increased.  I saw a VC with an AK-47 off to my left about five feet away, but my rifle hung up on a banana tree and I couldn’t get to him.  He shot my helmet off, my rifle out of my hands, and I felt like a horse had kicked me in my left arm.  I fell to the ground, stunned.” 

     Intense enemy fire forced the small squad of Currahees to fall back to the safety of the ditch.  Even though Lt. Magouyrk was badly wounded in the arm, he managed to crawl back to ditch with his men.  He refused to be evacuated for medical treatment until the rest of his platoon had been taken care of.  The battle had gone on for almost eight hours, and contact with the enemy was finally broken by nightfall. 

           A sweep of the contact area at daylight the following morning revealed that the enemy had fled under the cover of darkness. Two prisoners-of-war carrying important documents were captured in the incident—one from the C-5 (Sapper) Company of the 240^th NVA Battalion and the other from C-1 Company of the 186^th Main Force Viet Cong Battalion. The “Battle at Outpost SARA” claimed the lives of three Currahees-Corporal Billy Frank Harper, 19, from Cleveland, Mississippi, who had been wounded in the leg at the beginning of the battle subsequently died of an embolism from his shattered femur.  Sgt. Robert W. Hook, 20, from Dallas, Texas; and Sgt. Salvador DeLos S. Rios, 20, of Runge, Texas were also killed during the battle.

     Lt. Magouyrk recovered from his wounds and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his valorous actions during the “Battle at Outpost Sara” on February 12, 1969.  Lt. General Frank Mildren, deputy commander of the United States Armed Forces in Vietnam, presented the award to him during award ceremonies at Phan Thiet on September 26, 1969.  According to Jim Magouyrk, “All of the troopers in my platoon contributed to the fight, and we couldn’t have been as successful as we were without a total team effort.  Because of the nature of the fight, I did not see everyone’s specific contribution to the effort, and I only have the vivid memories of my part in it.  I do know that without the effort of everyone there, I would not have been in a position for an individual award.  I have always believed that the entire platoon won that award on that day—I was just the one chosen to wear it.”   

The Distinguished Service Cross also called the DSC is awarded to a person who distinguishes himself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor; while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing/foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign force engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing Armed Fore in which the United States is not a belligerent party.   The acts or acts of heroism must have been so notable and have involved risk of life so extraordinary as to set the individual apart from his comrades.

     Lt. Magouyrk served as the XO for Delta Company, 3-506 for a short period of time.  After leaving Vietnam, he continued his military service at numerous locations and positions, including some with the 1^st Special Forces group in Okinawa.  He also served with the 1^st, 47^th, and 9^th Infantry Regiments. 

     After leaving the military service, he began his career in broadband technologies, working his way up from a technician to supervisor for a network operations center.  Jim currently lives in Tacoma, Washington with his wife, Barbara, and still works for Tacoma Power in the telecommunications division as a technical administrator.  He and Barbara have two grown children, a son and a daughter.  Jim’s hobbies include riding his Harley and playing a little golf.