To this day, more than 44 years later, Edward Lubach believes he is still alive because of the leadership of Gen. Alexander Haig, and when Haig died in February at age 85, Lubach mourned him.
General Alexander Haig, former chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan, commander of NATO, and secretary of state for President Richard Nixon, is one of the most decorated military men in history.
Haig served as aide to General Douglas McArthur in occupied Japan after World War II, and later, made the first inroads into Communist China in advance of President Richard Nixon’s historic visit in 1972.
“He was a good soldier and I told him it was an honor to serve with him.” – Edward Lubach
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Haig was the commander of an U.S. Army Infantry Unit known as the Blue Spaders during what was considered the largest American offensive to date on April 1, 1967.
Lubach was a member of the battalion Haig led to victory in the battle of Ap Gu, one of the major engagements in the biggest American offensive of the time.
Haig’s troops were dropped into the combat zone by helicopter. The zone was thought to be infested with Viet Cong guerrillas, and they were promptly attacked, often resorting to bloody hand to hand combat. The assault lasted two days and the First Infantry Artillery fired more than 15,000 rounds. Troops on the ground called in more than 600 air strikes to eventually repel the enemy.
Lubach recalled having the unit chaplain read the soldiers “Catholic Last Rites” before going into the battle, suggesting that they would be going into something big.
Once in the battle zone, they were ambushed and called in air strikes. He remembered the bombs dropping so close that he and others were bouncing off the ground from the impact, and at one point, he saw a rocket strike a place where he had just crawled away from.
They were under enemy fire constantly and often had to crawl great distances to avoid being hit.
Quoted in a recent history of the battle, Lubach recalled gathering up some of the more than 700 dead enemies.
“They were all around the area. Many of them looked as if they had previously been wounded, patched up and then back again,” he said. “I also remember seeing a machine gun on wheels with a plate in front of it, and that brought back memories because when I was a little kid in Poland watching Russian movies, the Russians used that same gun in their wars.”
This brought up the reality of the war and made him realize that the Soviets had helped supply the other side.
A resident of Bayonne, Lubach immigrated to the United states when he was 12 years old in 1957. He finished school at Bayonne High School, and became an American citizen in June 1965. The following October, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
“I knew this was one of the responsibilities of becoming a citizen,” Lubach said during a recent interview.
From Bayonne, he went to Fort Dix, and then to Fort Polk, after which he shipped out to Vietnam.
Haig was the company commander.
“He was a good soldier and I told him it was an honor to serve with him,” Lubach said.
He remembered Haig speaking to the troops before the battle.
“He said the sooner we kill the Viet Cong, the sooner we can go home,” Lubach recalled. “As it turned out, we killed more than 700 of them, but we were still there later.”
After the battle, Haig got a promotion and a transfer, and Lubach drove Haig to the helicopter for the flight out.
“I told him it was an honor to serve with him,” he said.
Although their relationship ended with the rising dust as the helicopter took off, Lubach never forgot Haig, and considers Haig a hero and the man who allowed Lubach to survive to come home.
His family members, aware of this loyalty, decided to contact Haig in 1995 when Lubach turned 50.
They wrote him a letter and told Haig about the birthday, and though Haig could not attend, he sent a letter and a photograph to be presented to Lubach at the birthday party.
“Happy birthday to a fellow Blue Spader,” Haig wrote. “Twenty-eight years have passed since we served together in the first of the 26th Infantry. Your heroism on that fateful day, April 1, 1967, [at] the Battle of Ap Gu was recognized through the award of the Bronze Star Medal … your devotion to duty and personal bravery made an indispensable contribution to the success and outcome of the battle… It was an honor to serve with you in the finest tradition of military service.”
Needless to say, Lubach was overcome with emotion.
“Haig is responsible for my being here, and my ability to have a family and I will always appreciate that. We were outnumbered six to one, and his knowledge of strategy allowed us to survive.”
Prior to service, Lubach had intended to pursue a career as an electrician. When he got out, he felt lucky to be alive. Since then, he worked his way through the rank on Wall Street to become a stock broker, spending most of the last 40 years in that profession.
Lubach didn’t know it at the time, but Haig was a frequent visitor to Hudson County over the years as a representative of COSCO.
“I’ve been an advisor to COSCO for about 10 years,” Haig said during an interview with The Hudson Reporter in 2002. “I think the United States-China relationship is a very important one.”