Added TEXT FOR Cleaveland BRIDGMAN AND ROBERT H LANE

During the period immediately prior to the Cambodian incursion US and ARVN units conducted extensive operations along the South Viet Nam/Cambodian border.  During March and April of 1970 the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry opened and closed seven fire bases to support these operations.  Fire Support Base Illingworth, located on Route LTL-20 about 35 kilometers northwest of Tay Ninh City, opened on 17 March, was assaulted by a battalion of the 272nd NVA Regiment in the early morning hours of 01 April 1970, and closed on 04 April by the 5th Bn, 7th Cavalry, as the focus of US operations shifted.  When the Fire Base closed, a total of 16 howitzers moved to FSB Wood (4 x 8 inch and 12 x 105 mm howitzers from 4 different units) – a large concentration of weapons for a relatively small Fire Support Base.

While the assault on FSB Illingworth cost the North Vietnamese nearly two hundred dead, the Americans paid a high price too - 25 known dead, 54 wounded. The US dead were

    * A Trp, 1st Sqdn, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR)
          o SGT Kenneth Ray Hodge, Johnson City, TN
          o CPL John Lee Smith, Millbrook, AL

    * A Btry, 2nd Bn, 32nd Artillery
          o SP4 David H. Lassen, Clarence, NY
          o SP4 Terry L. Schell, Chicago, IL

    * HHB, 2nd Bn, 32nd Artillery
          o SSG Lawrence E. Sutton, Portland, OR (Bronze Star "V")

    * B Btry, 1st Bn, 77th Artillery
          o PFC Thomas R. Bowen, Forestville, CA
          o 1LT Cleaveland F. Bridgman, South Dartmouth, MA (Silver Star)
          o SSG Benjamin V. Childress, Knoxville, TN
          o SGT Syriac Hebert, Pine Bluff, AR
          o SGT Robert H. Lane, Concord, TN

    * HHB, 1st Bn, 77th Artillery
          o SP4 Thomas J. Murphy, River Falls, WI
          o SSG Steven J. Williams, Portland, OR

    * A Co, 2nd Bn, 8th Cavalry
          o CPL Billy P. Carlisle, Pelahatchie, MS (Silver Star)

    * C Co, 2nd Bn, 8th Cavalry
          o CPL Leroy J. Fasching, Wibaux, MT
          o SGT Robert A. Hill, Lowell, OH
          o PFC Roger J. McInerny, Richfield, MN
          o CPL Michael R. Patterson, Dearborn, MI
          o SGT Gerald W. Purdon, Cincinnati, OH (Silver Star)
          o CPL Klaus D. Schlieben, Richmond, VA

    * E Co, 2nd Bn, 8th Cavalry
          o CPL Bobby L. Barker, Harvey, IL
          o CPL Nathan J. Mann, Warsaw, MO
          o SGT Brent A. Street, Inglewood, CA (Dist Svc Cross)
          o SGT Casey O. Waller, Cumberland, VA (Dist Svc Cross)

    * HHC, 2nd Bn, 8th Cavalry
          o SGT David G. Dragosavac, Meadville, PA
          o SGT Sidney E. Plattenburger, Charlotte, NC