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app or on Apple Podcasts. American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some

elements including dialogue might be invented, but everything is based on historical events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on

historical research. A listener note, this episode contains descriptions of violence and may not

be suitable for all audiences.

Thank you. It's just before dawn on March 16, 1968, at Landing Zone Dottie, a U.S. Army base in Kwongnai province, South Vietnam. In his quarters,

24-year-old Lieutenant William Callie wakes up before his alarm. He's instantly alert.

Last night, his unit was given new orders to search and destroy the village of Mili. It's a suspected Vietong Kong stronghold in a dense pocket of Kwongnai known to American forces as Pinkville.

The men of Charlie Company have been warned to expect heavy casualties.

They will likely be meeting the 48th Battalion of the Viet Cong, one of the most feared of enemy units,

and it's likely they will outnumber the American soldiers two to one.

Still, Cali has been itching for a real

fight for months, and he's raring to go. He makes his way down to breakfast, then checks his

weapons, fills up his water canteens, and grabs as many sea rations as he can carry. Then, just

after 7 a.m., action on the base starts to pick up. Eleven helicopters arrive, a mix of troop carriers and gunships.

Cali and around 80 other GIs climb on board and strap themselves in.

Then the helicopters take off just a few minutes before 7.30 a.m., bound for the village of Mili.

As the choppers zip over a green patchwork of rice patties,

Cali feels a surge of adrenaline.

He mutters quietly, pumping himself up,

getting ready for whatever's waiting for him and his platoon on the ground.

...