| James A. Champion was a member of a six-man radio relay Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol being inserted for operation in a saddle at coordinates YC483923, Republic of Vietnam April 23, 1971. After receiving intense ground fire from their primary landing zoneon the west side of the A Shau Valley, the team was inserted into their alternate LZ. Taking the point, Team LeaderMarvin Duren was severely wounded by automatic weapons fire, grenade and rifle fire and was evacuated. His ATL, John Sly, was killed in actioon in an heroic attempt with the team medic to drag Duren out of the enemy line of fire. CWO Fred Behrens, the MEDEVAC "Dustoff" pilot, was a volunteer, having flown the mission because he thought his chances of succeediing in this hot LZ would be higher than other, newer pilots, but he was shot down during his second attempt to extract Sly from the LZ and found himself on the ground with the team. Several other helicopters with reinforcements were shot down by intense ground fire and Aero Rifle Platoon reinforcements were forced to withdraw and regroup due to heavy rifle fire from the NVA. During the three day battle that began at 1500 hours on April 23, Rangers Champion and Issako Malo left the team's defensive perimeter to seek water. Behrens heard shots, and the two Rangers never returned. PFC Issako F.Malo, was last seen at about 1600 hours on April 24. Champion was last seen on the morning of the morning of 25 April when he left the site of one of the downed helicopters to look for water. From April 25 through April 30, ground and aerial searches were made for Champion without success. Issako Malo was confirmed captured, and after his release from captivity, he stated the he was captured on the morning of April 24, and at no time did he see PFC Champion in captivity. A reaction force of L/75 Rangers was inserted into the area and successfully drove the NVA elements away from the Ranger's team position, and survivors were evacuated. No one ever told the six-man team how large the the enemy force was that they had been up against. However, it was a large enough force to warrant an Arclight strike by B-52 bombers. Evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans still missing in Southeast Asia are still allive, captive, waiting for their country to free them. James Champion may be one of them. |
