Captain Yeatts (CO) and 1st platoon made first contact with the enemy that morning and were cut off from the rest of the company (weapons, 2nd & 3rd plts) in that engagement. Because of this, Colonel Stinson gave me command of the remainder of the company immediately prior to our being attacked at my (A Company's) position. With the Colonel's help over the radio from his C & C over the battle zone, I directed A company's defense/offense in this engagement, including ground & air [helo gunships & air strikes] responses, as well as the medevac operations on the ground.

The NVA shot the tail rotor off the first medevac chopper attempting to extract our wounded and it nearly crushed me when it crashed very suddenly--I survived by rolling out of the way into the paddy at the edge of the LZ at the last instant.

We had just gotten our wounded out on the second attempt, second chopper, when the Colonel came in with the ammo in his borrowed C & C. I'd sloshed back into the muddy water at the edge of the  paddy just outside our perimeter and, with the aid of a volunteer, handed up our 2 dead to the Colonel, one at a time, while the pilot hovered the airship at the edge of the open paddy.  The Colonel's chopper was a sitting duck in this situation, as both medevacs had been.

We heard the enemy .51 cal MG fire directed at the chopper as it withdrew. The volunteer and I had just made it back inside our defensive perimeter with the Ammo when I heard the Colonel was hit.

Colonel Stinson's C & C choppers often took hits [as evident in the unit logs] picking up wounded or dead, or delivering supplies, or searching out and engaging the enemy with his chopper's doorgunners. The day prior to my arrival at LZ Bowman, 31 Dec 68, for example, LTC Doc Stinson's C & C bird made the only kills in the 1/52d Inf--twice spotting & engaging VC near LZ Professional, killing 3 each time.

Colonel Stinson was already carrying  3 bullets in his leg from his first Vietnam tour, as an advisor in 1962, when he was killed commanding the 1/52d Inf in the engagement noted above. His "hands on" style maximized readiness and availability of resources to units of the 1/52d Infantry when enemy contact warranted support in the field, either supplies, or helicopter or fixed-wing gunship support, or jet air strikes with bombs, or an air combat assault of supporting units. From my personal recall of the Colonel, I think it likely a matter of principle, a deeply held private conviction about what's right, that led this much experienced, decorated and wounded senior warrior to share the risks of battle directly with the soldiers he commanded. He was always a visible presence on our battlefields. He demanded success when we met the enemy, and he often demonstrated for us, over the battle zone and delivering supplies and extracting wounded, the courage needed to achieve success in our fights. Colonel William "Doc" Stinson, Jr., was a dedicated, compassionate, courageous, and hard fighting soldier whom I shall always greatly admire, and personally mourn.