On February 14th 1966, in the Half Acre of Hell near Khe Sanh in South Vietnam, an American soldier bent over the face of a seriously injured American soldier who had been mortally wounded by a Claymore mine planted by the Vietcong.

 　　On February 14th 1966, in the Half Acre of Hell near Khe Sanh in South Vietnam, an American soldier bent over the face of another American soldier who had been mortally wounded by a Claymore mine planted by the Viet Cong. Behind him, another dying American soldier collapsed. A few minutes later, a second mine exploded, killing photographer Charlie Cella and several other American soldiers.

　　During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army's 5th Infantry Division was sent to Vietnam in January 1966 and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. The 5th Infantry Division was a mechanized unit that used armored personnel carriers and Patton tanks. For three months after entering Vietnam, the 25th Infantry Division and the 5th Infantry Division were engaged in continuous ground battles with the Viet Cong. They secured a base near Tan An Hoi in the Kuchi district of the Haugia region of South Vietnam. They fought against the thick vegetation, insects, swarms of red ants, and cunning guerrillas who sniped from hiding places they had prepared over many years.

　　Early in the morning of February 14th 1966, the 5th Infantry Company left their position and crossed the Ben Muong waterway to move and scout the area on the other side of the waterway. The thickly forested rubber plantation was riddled with Viet Cong tunnels and snipers were hiding in them. Three hours after leaving at 6:30am, the 5th Infantry Company steadily carried out a mopping-up operation, destroying thatched huts and tunnels and confiscating hidden rice stores.

　　Ten men from the 5th Infantry Company were wounded by 11:00 a.m. Shortly after that, two Claymore anti-personnel mines were detonated by the Viet Cong, killing eight and wounding three. After the first Claymore explosion, Charles Cherrapper of the Associated Press, who was treating a dying American soldier, was killed by a second mine.