to airlift a 50 man strike force with the aim of rescuing the survivors. Subsequently, Colonel Jonathan F. Ladd, commanding officer of the 5th Special Forces Group, and Major General Norman J. Anderson, commander of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing were directed to formulate a rescue plan. While Willoughby and his men waited for help in the command bunker, Ashley and his Laotian contingent cautiously entered the Special Forces camp. The Laotian soldiers were evidently reluctant to advance on the PAVN, and only inched forward when the Americans ordered them to do so. In their first attempt to break through PAVN lines, Ashley and his men were beaten back. Undeterred, the American-led forces tried to penetrate PAVN positions several times, and only stopped after Ashley was shot in the chest and later killed by an exploding artillery round. Ashley was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Laotians, who feared the PAVN, disengaged from the fight and fled. After Ashley's final attack had failed, Willoughby and his men made the decision to abandon their position. However, after Specialist Four James L. Moreland was mortally wounded, Captain Willoughby decided to leave him in the bunker, because the remaining Americans were in no physical condition to carry out the wounded man. Under the cover of U.S. air strikes, Willoughby and other American survivors ran towards the old Lang Vei Camp, which was evacuated by Marine CH-46s from HMM-262, which lifted in a 50 man reaction force. By 17:30 on 7 February, all known survivors had been evacuated to Khe Sanh. Aftermath The fight for Lang Vei, though short in duration, was a costly endeavor for both sides. In their efforts to hold the camp, the combined Montagnard and South Vietnamese CIDG soldiers suffered 309 killed, 64 wounded, and 122 captured. Of the original 24 Americans who took part in the battle, seven were killed in action, 11 sustained injuries, and three were captured. Nearly all of the camp's weaponry and equipment were either destroyed or captured by enemy forces. For the North Vietnamese, the battle for Lang Vei marked the first successful use of armor in the war. In terms of human casualties, the PAVN claimed to have lost 90 soldiers killed and 220 wounded. On the evening of 7 February, though the fight was over for the military forces, the ordeal continued for the civilians who were caught in the