Donovan Pruett, KIA
The LRRP detachment had been living a charmed life until they go to Phan-thiet. They had been pulling
successful missions and basically kicking ass on Mr. Charles, but things were about to change for the Lurps.
On April 1966, the LRRP detachment was handed an operational warning order for a Lurp-team insertion into
the northwest quadrant of the brigade AO. The recon team was to obtain intelligence information on the
enemy forces working that area. Lieutenant Stevenson selected Team Two for the mission, commanded by
S. Sgt. Donovan Jess Pruett from Deer Park, Washington. Don Pruett was twenty-nine years of age and very
tall. He was thin, but big boned, and weighed around 170 pounds. He had high cheekbones, a nice-looking
face, and, of course, he was heavily tanned. Don Pruett was considered one of the best team leaders in the
LRRP detachment at the time. At senior scout on his team was S. Sgt. “Fang” Roedeil. Junior scout was Sgt.
Jackie L. Waymire from Huntington, West Virginia. Waymire was twenty-one and a big, stout guy. A former
high-school football player, he was about 5’11”, and weighed 210 pounds. *Senior RTO was Sgt. Arthur L.
Doame from Clarksville, Tennessee. The regular junior RTO on the team, Sgt. Thomas Vernon, had been
temporarily replaced by Sp4. Michael Flynn from Atlanta, Georgia. The medic on the team was Sp5 Joe
Johnson from Alabama.
Al Smith spoke with Mike Flynn about what happened that day. Flynn said that Team Two had inserted
without any problems, and for the next two days sneaked and peeked around its recon zone (RZ) on two
occasions relaying information on VC sightings. Sometime during the morning of the third day, the VC became
aware of the team’s presence. Unknown to the team, it had become the prey and was being tracked. Trailing
them to where they set up for a midmorning break around a tree, the VC silently low crawled close to the team’
s position and ambushed them. Donovan Pruett was hit by the initial burst of automatic-weapons fire. Shot
through the chest and head, with a sucking chest wound, he was in very serious trouble. The team returned
fire, taking the initiative away from the VC, then broke the contact. Grabbing their equipment and carrying their
team leader, Team Two started the E & E (escape-and-evasion) run of their lives, but they were hampered by
having to carry Don Pruett and by the determination of the VC to maintain contact. Team Two was in a running
gun battle with the pursuing enemy.
When teams were in the field, the LRRP detachment used an L-19 aircraft as an airborne radio delay.
The back-seater of the L-19 was usually a LRRP, who served as radio relay operator. On that particular day,
Al Smith was on duty. After calling the rear base for an emergency extraction and to deliver a situation report
on Team Two, the small aircraft continued to circle and monitor the team’s progress, guiding them to a small
LZ they had spotted from the air. As he talked with the team, Al Smith could hear the chatter of automatic
weapons in the background and the explosions of hand grenades. Team Two was running, carrying Don
Pruett, and trying to shake the VC. Soon they started destroying their equipment to lighten their loads. Out of
breath, and running on adrenaline, their anxiety about their team leader was being communicated over the
radio to Al Smith. Being unable to help frustrated both the pilot of the L-19 and Smith. At one point, while
waiting for the extraction helicopter and gunships to show up, the pilot told Smith he wanted to use the L-19’s
2.75-inch white-phosphorus marking rockets against the VC. Al Smith relayed that back to Lieutenant
Stevenson at rear base, who asked them to stay out of it because overhead cover prevented the L-19 from
seeing the team as the men ran for their lives.
From the time the VC started shooting until the team got on the slick, over an hour had passed, but it
seemed longer to Al Smith, Jack Waymire, the strongest main in the LRRP detachment, carried Don Pruett
most of the way. He put all of his heart into the effort, but it wore him out. When Waymire wasn’t carrying
Pruett, he was falling back, exchanging gunfire and hand grenades with the enemy, and then catching back up
with the fleeing team. Sp5. Joe Johnson, Team Two’s medic, remarked later that Donovan Pruett kept saying
he was in a lot of pain and asking for morphine. Johnson was reluctant to give him the morphine because Don
had a head wound. Instead, he gave him a shot of saline water and told him it was morphine. And Pruett said,
“Yeah, it feels a little better.” There was nothing else Johnson could do for him.
S. Sgt. David Skau, Donovan Pruett’s best friend, was bellyman on the extraction ship. Using the Red Dog
procedure, the gunships laid effective suppressive fire on the pursuing enemy, giving the team some relief.
When they finally arrived at the extraction LZ, the team popped smoke and directed the helicopter in. But the
VC had infiltrated the surroundings of the LZ. As the extraction helicopter flared to land, the enemy opened
fire with machine guns, causing it to crash. S.Sgt. David Skau helped evacuate the downed helicopter’s crew
and set its machine guns in a defensive posture. He also directed the gunships to place accurate fire on the
enemy positions around the LZ. Dave Skau then took off and linked up with the exhausted men of Team Two.
After a second helicopter was called in, Team Two was extracted with David Skau. On the way back to
base camp and medical help, S.Sgt. Donovan Jess Pruett died on the aircraft, surrounded by his friends. The
fact that Pruett had come so close yet didn’t make it back devastated the LRRP detachment. A remarkable
display of personal endurance and valor had been shown by every member of Team Two, as well as the rest
of the people involved. Al Smith remarks: “That was the first platoon member killed. You begin to think you
lead a charmed life, you think you’re good, and know you’re good. The VC are a little afraid of you. You start
thinking you can get away with anything. Donovan Pruett got killed on 3 April 1966, the day before my
birthday. It was a terrible blow to the detachment.”
As told by Donovan's fellow soldiers who were at hand, during the last hours of Donovan's life.
Described in the book "Six Silent Men", by Reynel Martinez.