The tale of Edmond’s hero

Patty Miller

EDMOND — Like many young men in the 1960s, Fredrick Joel Ransbottom’s life was abruptly disrupted when his military draft number was called.

Ransbottom honored his obligation to his country and signed up for service with his best friend Clint Wheeler.

Like many young men in the 1960s Ransbottom never returned home.

Ransbottom went to Army Officers’ Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Ga., and from there he shipped to Vietnam and eventually led a newly formed long-range reconnaissance team in the Quang Tin province of South Vietnam.

First Lt. Fredrick Joel Ransbottom was in charge of men occupying three outposts in the northern sector of the country, near the Laos border. At first their mission was to travel in small teams within enemy territory to monitor the movement of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops and later to protect the American special forces camp as it was being evacuated from the area.

The three outposts proved to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing airfield. They weren’t in a safe area, but instead were scattered on the top of three mountains looking down on Kham Duc, the Green Beret camp.

“We were always outside the wire, meaning we were in ‘bad guy’ territory,” said Allen “Doc” Hoe of Honolulu, who was Ransbottom’s medic.

The only village in the area was located on the other side of the airstrip and was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants.

“The high-ridgeline site overlooked a valley where the Green Beret camp, first occupied in September of 1963, was being evacuated,” Hoe said. “We held all three positions there.”

Their job was to occupy the outposts to monitor enemy movements as the camp below was being evacuated.

All three positions were overrun by a massive NVA division starting on May 10 and finishing the morning of May 12. The attack was the result of what Hoe calls “perhaps one of Gen. (William) Westmoreland’s greatest blunders.”

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp. As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing NVA infantry on May 12, 1968, Mother’s Day. The last Special Forces camp on the northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed, and Ransbottom’s Outpost 2 was wiped out, all except for two men.

The reconnaissance team had lost 17 members in the attack, including 10 soldiers declared missing in action and one man became a prisoner of war for seven years. Ransbottom had earned a Silver Star citation for his valor, but had lost his life.

The two men who survived were on rest and recuperation leave.

Hoe had been on R&R; in Honolulu along with Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) Joseph Blanford of Bardstown, Ky., when the attack on the outposts took place.

Blanford had gone to Honolulu to meet his wife, Phyllis, who was expecting a child. The families of both men had spent the R&R; time together.

“He (Ransbottom) was a hell of a good guy,” Blanford said. “I was right beside him all of the time. He was a good lieutenant, and he was courageous.”

There were many things the men liked about their new leader.

“One of the things that endeared him to us was that when he joined us he realized he was totally out of his element,” Hoe said. “He had accomplished a lot of great things as a young soldier.

“When you get to a war zone, many assume they know everything. Rather than assume he knew more than us, he sat down with us and wanted to know everything. The sergeants and platoon leader immediately took to him. They realized immediately that not only did he have all the skills (necessary to lead), but he had common sense, too.”

One man, Bill Wright from Midwest City and the RTO for Outpost 1 gives Ransbottom credit for being alive today.

“If it weren’t for Fred I wouldn’t be alive today, nor would a lot of other men that survived that war,” Wright said.

“First Lt. Fred Ransbottom was of a small frame but very, very neat. He had a real air about him as being in control. When he got to our unit he made a lot of changes that were life-saving. He sent us to artillery school. He would tell us these are the things that we need to be doing, and these are the things we aren’t going to be doing. He was really down to earth,” Wright added.

Wright was with one of the excavation groups that went back to look for the men’s remains after the Mother’s Day attack.

“As of the last excavation I believe remains from as many as seven men from OP2 and three from OP1 may have been recovered,” Wright said.

In 1979 some remains were recovered, and three of the missing soldiers were identified.

There have been other trips, but no other remains were found until this spring.

The OP2 site was reoccupied in 1970 by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and Wright believes that the bulldozing of dirt over Outpost 2 helped save the artifacts and remains.

The remains of at least two more soldiers recently were excavated, those of Ransbottom, whose mother Laverne Ransbottom, now lives in Edmond, and PFC William “Skip” Skivington.

“There may be more accounted for after DNA testing is done,” Wright said.

A Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) mission uncovered the remains this past April and they included dog tags, Ransbottom’s class ring and Skivington’s fiancée's class ring, which he wore on his little finger, and other personal belongings.

Hoe, as well as Ransbottom’s mother, both believe the evidence found is overwhelming and could not belong to anyone else.

“These (two men) were the ones we really needed to find,” Wright said, “both of their families have been so active in bringing them (MIAs) back, and they are getting older.”

The remains were taken June 30 to Honolulu for lab work at the Central Identification Lab (CILHI) at Hickam Air Force Base.

“Since May 13, 1968, I have accepted that the obligations to my men (in my unit) will not end until they’re all safely returned,” Hoe said.

Although Hoe made a pact with himself 38 years ago, he may not be able to keep the promise he once made if all of the remains have not been recovered as of this last trip.

The Vietnamese have found gold on the mountains and a firm plans to start mining soon, ending any more excavation opportunities.

Text Only