The CH-46 Sea Knight began its descent toward the blanket of green below. Moments before, the members of team Lynch Law had watched two Cobra gunships skim the tree tops below, trying to entreat any enemy present to shoot at the gunships and betray their location. If there were Gooks down there, they didn’t take the bait, because the insert bird was going in. Lt. Dennis Storm, Commanding Officer of Bravo Company, was the Insert Officer that day. He walked to the rear ramp of the helicopter and peered out. He gave the signal to the crew to lower the ramp. The seven men of the recon team waited for the swaying of the helicopter to cease, signaling its gear had contacted the ground of the landing zone (LZ). To their surprise, the helicopter continued to hover; but a mass of waving grass appeared outside the back ramp. Lt. Storm signaled for the team to exit the chopper. The team was being inserted on a knoll with insufficient area for the pilot to set the helicopter down. The first two team members stepped off the ramp. Then it happened. The helicopter lurched upward, rising a hundred feet or so in a matter of seconds. The remaining members of the team dropped back into their seats. Lt Storm, being in the middle aisle, fell to the deck of the helicopter. There was nothing for the lieutenant to grasp and the nose of the aircraft tilted upward with the result that he went sliding toward the lowered ramp. Not wanting to loose their favorite officer, every man of team Lynch Law lunged to grasp him. Not a moment too late. Lt. Storm didn’t stop sliding until half his body was off the ramp, legs dangling in the air. The Marines pulled him back in and helped him to his feet. The helicopter descended again and the other team members successfully inserted. The bond between Lt. Storm and the team probably could be credited for saving his life, for even a moment’s hesitation on the part of the team would have had fatal consequences. Dennis Storm chose the Marine Corps as his career. As an Officer of Marines he could use his rank to command respect and obedience of his men. He could have also been like many “hard-core” Marines – shouted and threatened punishment to motivate his troops. Neither of these were Lt. Storm’s style. He had his own special charisma. He was able to get the best from his men because he cared about them, and they knew he cared. Recon wasn’t Lt. Storm’s first assignment, however. Arriving in Vietnam in January 1969, he was first assigned as a platoon commander with “G” Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. He led his platoon on operations Taylor Common I and II, Durham Peak, Muskegee Meadows and Forsyth Graves. On March 28, 1969, Lt. Storm was wounded while leading his men on an operation in particularly hostile area of Vietnam know as “Arizona Territory”. Back in the Arizona Territory again, on May 10, 1969, Lt. Storm’s company got in a firefight, which resulted in the company commander being wounded. When the commander was evacuated, Lt. Storm took command of the company. He reorganized the troops and fought the Communist troops through the night and into the next day. After a night of relentless assault by the Marines, the enemy broke and ran, leaving behind a 75 mm recoilless rifle – a weapon of great value to the Vietnamese insurgents. On May 15, 1969, his troops got into it with the enemy again. This time they ran into a large force of the North Vietnamese Army. The NVA poured a heavy volume of small arms fire at the Marines from well-entrenched emplacements on both sides of the Marines. Lt. Storm led his men in an assault on the enemy positions. Then, realizing the tactic risked heavy Marine casualties, he ordered his men to withdraw to a more easily defended position. Receiving artillery support, the rest of Lt. Storm’s company withdrew to allow the big guns to work over the enemy without endangering the Marines. Unfortunately one of Lt. Storm’s squads was cut off and pinned down by the NVA. Dennis immediately went to their aid. He mustered a small group of Marines and led them through the bullet-riddled terrain to the trapped squad. He managed to identify the main source of North Vietnamese fire. Concentrating on this source, he led the squad and relief troops in an assault on the enemy position. Causing the NVA to back off momentarily, the whole group of Marines maneuvered back to friendly lines. The NVA counter attacked and attempted to overrun the Marine platoons. Dennis Storm moved among his men’s positions, disregarding the incoming enemy round, to direct the Marines fire and encouraged them. The Marine riflemen fired so deadly and accurately, that the North Vietnamese Army were forced back into the artillery barrage. Soon helicopter gunships and fixed-wing aircraft arrived to assist the Marines on the ground. Lt. Storm seized the opportunity and moved forward of his defense perimeter and marked the enemy positions with smoke grenades to assist the aircraft in locating targets. Then, when helicopters arrived to resupply the Marines on the ground, he exposed himself to enemy fire. He stood up to guide the supply helicopters to the landing zone with a flashlight. For his actions during this fight, Lt. Dennis Storm was awarded the Silver Star Medal. In August of 1969, Dennis Storm was assigned to the Battalion Staff of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. Was this to be an end to his exploits in the bush? – not hardly. On November 17, 1969, while accompanying the Battalion Command Group on another operation in “Arizonia Territory,” he captured two NVA trying to escape across the Son Vu Gia River. Then on December 7, 1969, while occupying the Battalion’s command post in Quang Nam Province, he saw a helicopter crash near the battalion landing zone. Running to the burning aircraft, he helped the shocked and injured passengers to safety. He discovered the crew chief wasn’t among the others escaping the burning aircraft. Despite the fire and exploding ammunition. Lt. Storm ran aboard the flaming wreckage through the rear section. He located the crew chief near the forward portion of the helicopter under several pieces of heavy debris. He summoned two other Marines and the three of them were able to extract the crew chief from the wreckage and get him to an area where the crew chief’s wounds could be treated. For his actions on December 7th, Lt. Storm was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. In January 1970, Lt. Dennis M. Storm transferred to the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. On March 3, 1970, Colonel Drumright, Commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, assigned him to be the Commanding Officer of Company “B”, more commonly called “Bravo” company. The following months were rough on the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and Bravo Company in particular. In March 1970, with antiwar protest growing stronger every day in the United States, President Nixon was anxious to speed up troop withdrawals. Withdrawing the Marine units, which had been in active combat against the VC/NVA left something of a void. To compensate, 1st Recon Battalion was ordered to increase the number of patrols and, more often, to call artillery fire missions or air strikes on enemy positions they discovered in the field. For Recon this meant more patrols in the bush and greater chance of having to fight their way out of contact with the enemy. Non-combat losses took their toll also, with accidents and malaria being two of the main culprits. As a result, Bravo Company, by June 1970 was considerably under strength with most of the Marines pulling double duty. At the same time, the company 1st Sergeant seemed to have a heart of stone, not appearing to care about the extra burden being placed on the Marines of the Company. Lt. Storm, however, could motivate even the grouchiest Marine in his command. For instance, when the lieutenant walked through the company area, it was not uncommon for him to pause for a question and then get to talking to the Marines on a person-to-person basis. He even did this returning from the showers to his company quarters. In these conversations he would encourage his men saying things like: “The way to get along with the 1st Sgt is to call him by his 1st name – God.” Lt. Storm also pointed out that virtually every President of the United States had done military service and this period his Marines were currently struggling through might just be the beginning of a much more prominent career. In addition, the lieutenant entertained his men with stories of his more amusing of his exploits in the bush. One of these being the time he found himself alone when the insert helicopters were departing. Lt. Storm went on reconnaissance patrols also. On May 11, 1970 he was inserted as leader of a team with the call sign Policy Game. For two days Policy Game patrolled across steep terrain, with vines, bamboo, elephant grass, boulders, thorns, thick bushes, and deadfall (dead branches from the trees and bushes). The patrol could only manage to make about 50 meters per hour, and couldn’t avoid making noise because there was so much deadfall. About 2:30 on the afternoon of May 13, 1970, the last man on the team, dubbed “Tail-end Charlie”, heard movement in the brush to their rear. Coming up on the team from behind were three of the enemy. Two were wearing black pajamas, the usual outfit worn by the Viet Cong and the third wore a khaki uniform – more commonly the uniform of the NVA. The team got into a firefight with the three, killing one, and possibly killing the second; but then the team started receiving fire from the north. Next they heard movement to their south. Lt. Storm requested an Air Observer. When the Air Observer arrived, he directed Policy Game to a site where they could be extracted by ladder. Arriving at the landing zone, the team spotted enemy movement to their northeast. They reported the location to the air observer who flew several runs against that position, laying down machine gun fire. Shortly after, helicopter gunships came on station. Spotting the same enemy activity to the team’s northeast, the gunships assaulted that position with rockets, mini-guns and grenades. While this was happening, the team climbed the ladder and hooked on. Once on the ladder, the enemy fired on them from the south, southeast, north, and west. The team fired back and between them and supporting artillery battery the Marines killed two more of the enemy. Dennis Storm survived Vietnam to continue his career in the Marine Corps and raise a family. Although he was decorated for his bravery during his service in Vietnam; perhaps his greatest contribution was the example he set for his men.
