It was February 18, 1968. The Tet Offensive had begun almost three weeks before. The NV A were attacking the major cities in South Vietnam and were using Laos and Cambodia as their staging areas. A decision was made to infiltrate five MAC-V SOG teams into Cambodia and Laos to determine the enemy's troop concentration....The next day, two helicopters carrying the team landed east of Attopeu, Laos. The men started into the jungle and suddenly realized they were in the middle of an NVA complex. K-wire and bunkers were everywhere. ...All of a sudden, guns were firing from both sides and the team started dropping back. The NVA were getting closer and Zab hung out the door firing, while the helicopter took off. But all of the sudden the ship exploded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit it in the tail. Zab landed about twenty feet from the burning wreckage. He was on fire, the helicopter was melting and he could hear screams coming from the down chopper. The ship's fuel and ordinance were going off. Zab knew five of his team members were still in that bird, along with the two pilots and two machine gunners. The MAC-V SOG rules state that the aircrew has priority over Special Forces team members. Zab had broken his back and several ribs, but fought his way back into the cockpit and started dragging the pilot out first. Zab asked the pilot to help him get the copilot out who was still screaming, but he refused. The pilot left Zab dragging his bent gun with him. Zabitosky started into the burning helicopter again. The NVA continued their attack while the copilot kept yelling. Zab put the badly burned copilot on his shoulders. With crushed ribs and a broken back, he made his way toward the chasing helicopter. On the way, he saw the pilot who was still on his hands and knees. Zab considered leaving him, but did not and started dragging him too. They reached the helicopter and after being pulled inside, Zab passed out and was evacuated to Pleiku, South Vietnam, where he stayed in the hospital for six weeks. Several hundred soldiers were killed that day. The crashed helicopter's two machine gunners-SPC Melvin C. Dye and SPC Robert S. Griffith, and three indigenous Nungs died in the crash. The copilot died two days later in a major burn unit. Glover also died in the crash and none of these men were ever recovered from Laos. This Medal of Honor mission occurred on Zab's third tour. He did return home afterward, but it was not long before he was back in Southeast Asia for his fourth tour this time with the Rangers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. President Nixon awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to SSG Fred William Zabitosky on March 1969.

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