On March 1, 1968, 1st Battalion, 502nd Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, began combat operations in Quang Tri district near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), initiating patrols from Fire Support Base (FSB) Nora and An Lo Bridge while remaining elements of the battalion continued construction of FSB Sally. Alpha Company moved to the village of Ap Lai Xa where they had made heavy contact the day before. They found no enemy, but villagers stated that there had been approximately two hundred North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) fighters in the village and that they had been up most of the night dragging off their dead. Delta Company made light contact and the battalion commander's Command & Control (C&C) ship orbiting overhead used its guns to kill sixteen NVA. On March 2nd, the battalion continued search and destroy operations, making light contact throughout the day with booby-traps wounding three troopers. Search and destroy operations continued on March 3rd from An Lo Bridge to the village of Ap Duc Trong. Bravo and Charlie Companies made heavy contact from the village and called for all available fire support as they pulled back. After heavy fighting for over four hours, both companies were withdrawn by air. B Company lost one man, PFC Richard Lee Borgman, and C Company suffered three killed: SP4 Ernest Eugene Fawks, PFC Henry Norfleet Jr., and PFC James Earl Williams (both Norfleet and Williams were posthumously promoted to Corporal). During extraction, the Battalion commander's C&C aircraft received heavy fire, wounding the battalion commander, his radioman, the battalion S-2 intelligence officer, and aircraft commander. The battalion S-2, CPT Frank Robert Dimmitt, from Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), was dead on arrival at Camp Evans. [info from 101namveteran.com] From the Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi, Friday, July 28, 1967, Page 27: Four Military Men Air Guard Speakers: Four speakers, each with a distinguished militay background, are on the agenda for the annual Commander's Conference of ithe 118th Military Airlift Wing of the Tennessee and Mississippi Air National Guard scheduled for Saturday in Jackson. The group includes Lt. Col. Bill P. Tsufis of the 363rd Tactical Reconnoissance Wing, Shaw AFB, S. C; Capt. William B. D. Dowell of the 15th Tactical Fighter Wing, MacDUl AFB, Fla.; CPT Louis Walter Meeks of the U. S. Army Hospital, Ft Campbell, Ky.; and CPT Frank R. Dimmitt of the 101st Airborne Division, Ft. Campbell. Captain Dimmitt's back ground includes completion of the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Ga., the Basic Airborne Course, Special Forces Officers Course, and Psychological Operations Course. He served with the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam. He holds the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Armed Forces Expedition Medal, Vietnamese Service Ribbon, Vietnamese Campaign Medal, U. S. Army Parachutist Badge, and Vietnamese Parachutist Badge. On 3 March 1969, it was posted in The Fort Lauderdale News on page 22 that he received the following awards from his Vietnam Service: Capt. Dimmitt's awards are the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation for Valor, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service and Vietnam Service Medals, the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, and the Parachutist and Air Crewman Badges. The awards were accepted by his wife Barbara. CPT Frank Robert Dimmitt was survived by his wife, Barbara Jane (Booth) Dimmitt Palmer (1938-2020), mother, Vera Louise (Gittings) Dimmitt (1913-1999) father, Robert Harold Dimmitt (1911-1997) and sister, Joan Rosalee (Dimmitt) Beatty (1933-1993). He and Barbara are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia. - - The Virtual Wall, 23 May 2021

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