Col. Byron Hill

Col. Byron Hill

After Operation Union we were reinforced with a couple of artillery officers
right out of the Ft. Sill artillery school. One of them, Stan Holmes, was
assigned to Kilo but was (WIA) and evacuated the first day on Union II; then
we lost Denny Peterson (KIA) on Swift. Denny Peterson was the Artillery
Forward Observer for India company. He was a fine young lieutenant who had
been with the battalion for a short time, but was really doing a fine job and
had gained the respect of the company. Captain Burke really believed in him,
and Denny was KIA doing his job on Operation Swift. His FO team was led by a
Lance Corporal who knew how to call effective artillery fires and was left as
the primary FO for the balance of the operation.
During this time period, I was assigned as the Battalion Fire Support
Coordinator. As I remember, the operation initially started out as a 1/5
operation, with their Battalion Hqtrs. coordinating all the action. As I
remember, 3/5 was requested to insert several small units to reinforce the
1/5 units, until eventually we had several of our units committed. The 3/5
command group was monitoring the action, and only later did our command
group enter into the situation. It came as a surprise and a disappointment
when Lt. Col. Webster told us he was being removed as CO. He had filled
the really big shoes left behind by Lt. Col. Esslinger. Lt. Col. Webster was
well thought of by those of us who worked closely with him. Don't know the
official tally of artillery rounds fired in support of Operation Swift, but
later I saw one 155 howitzer which had been fired so long in support of
Operation Swift that the tube had actually overheated and warped. The
howitzer had to be scrapped!