Richard Duane Keirn

Richard Keirn was an Engineer Advisor to the Royal New Zealand Army, as part of the Free World Forces at Chi Lang in Chau Doc Province.

In March of 1972 as the Eastertide Offensive started the North Vietnamese Army made a major push for the U Minh Forrest in the Mekong Delta. The NVA had to come through the Seven Sisters Mountain pass that sat between NUI COTO and NUI CAM Mountains. All the major American Forces in the Mekong Delta had left and the only other large force was the Free World Forces.

The New Zealanders, a Special Forces Detachment, and  three ARVN Battalions moved on to NUI COTO. There on top was nothing but large rocks and boulders. The force was supported by two Philippine Artillery Batteries, the South Vietnamese  Air Force at Can Tho and the Australian Air Force out of Vung Tau.

The NVA started their attack around 0430 on March 16th.  Things got a little nasty with the NVA Artillery and Rocket coming in.

One day, while checking the outer wire, Richard was wounded and medevac'd off the mountain. He later found out later that the ARVN lost 207 KIA and 47 WIA. The New Zealanders had one KIA and two WIA, including Richard.