Here I was sitting on the edge of my foxhole trying to figure out if I was asleep or awake. There was nothing but black and the view was the same whether my eyes were closed or open. There was little sound except the sounds of critters nearby. All of a sudden a hill about 500 yds to my front lit up brightly. I was trying to sort that out when an explosion happened behind me. The concussion from the explosion knocked my helmet off and I was thrown headfirst into my foxhole. The resulting ringing in my ears is still with me today. I climbed out and saw a Marine tank about 10 yds behind my position that had just fired a round over my head towards the hill ! I sat back down and continued my watch when the hill lit up again....I ripped my helmet off, grabbed my ears and dove into the foxhole. It turned out that the 502nd had called for a tank to assist in the battle. Marines sent two tanks to us----one to join in in the battle and one to give the battalion area fire support. As privates we were not let in on the secret.
The tank sent to the battalion area was to fire random shots to give VC the idea that we had more firepower than we actually had. I guess it worked but a little fore warning would have been nice !