This is an excerpt from an article written for the men in Ted’s unit by his commander (John E. Regal, Lt. Col, USMC Retired) on the anniversary of the fight in which Ted was killed.

The Battle for Hue City, miles to our south, had kicked off the Tet Offensive of 1968 during the early morning hours of 31 January and fighting there continued during most of February. Because of this, a great battle of one lone Marine rifle company was historically overshadowed. The report of Kilo Company's victorious battle against a numerically superior enemy force is relegated to little more than a footnote in the annals of Marine Corps history …

When the battle began in the early morning hours of 2 February, the company's foxhole strength was around 150 including attachments.

 God only knows how many North Vietnamese soldiers we fought in the early morning darkness that day. I do know that we counted and tagged 144 enemy dead .. stacked up between our lines and the hedge row which was the south edge of Lam Xuan(E). Seven NVA were captured. No telling how many enemy dead and wounded were dragged off before daylight.

Repelling charge after charge, not a single NVA soldier penetrated our positions. When daylight came, the closest dead NVA lay about 5 meters from our lines. Although we were fairly certain that an attack from the north was coming, an alert listening post that night provided the early warning necessary for us to achieve surprise. When they came, we were ready.

Although most of the fighting was in the hours of darkness, we continued to slug it out until late in the morning. After Mike Company came up to lend us a hand, our shoulder to shoulder counterattack sent what was left of the 803rd running north. 


This victory was not without cost. Four Marines and one Corpsman were killed in action. Twenty-three Marines were wounded. Those killed were 2nd Lt Ted Edwards (Arty FO), HN Dennis Day, Lcpl Ron Selig, Cpl Moses Arnold and Lcpl Donald E Martin (Arty scout). Their names are listed on panel 36 E at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall…

I am proud of the demonstrated valor of all but deeply saddened by the loss of these fine young men. I can assure you that it is the death of a single warrior that haunts the commander...