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The Vietnamese brigadier generalthe ranking man at III Corpsdrew circles on a map around two areas of downtown Bien Hoa. Long Binh Ammo Dump October 29, 1966 . When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians seeking refuge. Having been struck by mortars or rockets, the fuel tanks at the air base, as well as several buildings throughout Bien Hoa, were burning brightly. Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. "What are you firing at? " Alpha Company was ordered to the 199th LIB compound, which was under attack. The attacks by Vietcong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces were one of several major attacks around Saigon in the first days of the Tet offensive. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. As he fell, a burst of automatic weapons fire stitched the wall right where he would have been had he not fallen. (Casper, one of the bravest of the brave, died during the May offensive in Saigon, leading from the front.). I had assumed I would be assigned to one of the battalions in the Delta where I could use my light infantry and Ranger school experience. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were the work of Vietcong sabotage teams. [2]:352[3]:2067, At approximately 05:30, the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, mounted on M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles (ACAVs) coming from Bearcat approached the Plantation from the southwest and formed a skirmish line to engage the VC, while helicopter gunships from the 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment swept in to rocket and machine gun the VC positions. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. Ly's father is a bricklayer. and the perimeter was still intact. At the meeting, I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. . I called III Corps to report that we had detained all of these people, and was told to wait for the Vietnamese National Police to take charge. The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round actually hitting my track. Widows Village made a perfect attack position for the VC, since it lay directly across Highway 316 from II Field Force headquarters in the Long Binh complex. At that moment, a burst of VC machine gun fire erupted, causing the colonel, the deputy and their Vietnamese escorts to pile into their vehicles and roar off in the direction from whence they had come. I operated a heavy five It was Our outfit was a When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was further shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion, rather than be assigned to one of the battalions in the Delta where I could use my light infantry and Ranger school experience. 0.08 Tet Offensive I had returned to Long Binh Post. By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. Ive just been told you work for me again. went off and all hell broke lose. He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. As I walked around the front of a track, the .50-caliber gunner accidentally hit the trigger and pumped five rounds into the ground about three feet in front of me. Benny Toney, the 2nd Platoon sergeant, hooked a tow cable to Stormy. As the C-23 track in the lead, Stormy, turned into a side street, a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) slammed into its front, smashing the radiator and wounding several soldiers. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round hitting my track. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, situated on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. 118th during the Tet of 1968, also called the Defense of Bien At about 0600, Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. 15. The VC concentrated their attack on Bunker 10 an old French concrete bunker on the eastern perimeter, hitting it with Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and mortar fire, however the Security Police in Bunker 10 and adjacent bunkers fought back keeping the VC from penetrating far into the base. Riflemen moving cautiously. Long Binh, again (Feb. 1967). Anyone can read what you share. was a point where the Ho Chi Min Trail came close to the countrys West -- color photo Near Moc Hoa. Of course you never It dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. U.S. military officials vVould not give the exact number of casualties for security reasons. SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. LONG BINH, South Viet Nam (UPII A thunderous explosion that shook the heart of Saigon 11 miles away ripped through a U.S. ammunition depot tonight and wounded a handful of Americans. About Us | The helmet had stopped [2]:346, The US 199th LIB was responsible for security in the towns and countryside around Long Binh, while the 720th Military Police Battalion was responsible for security within the base perimeter. After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. The platoons attacked by successive bounds through the village as the companys tracks, forming the base of the T on the highway, provided fire support from the .50s and resupplied the troops with ammunition. I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion.He said: Forget that. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed [3]:23950, In the late afternoon of 31 January after clearing the Widow's Village 2/47th Infantry advanced into Ho Nai from the south, the town appeared deserted. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. The idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. On January 23, during a battalion sweep through heavy jungle south of Highway 1, Alpha Company walked into a camouflaged, well-defended enemy bunker system and was badly mauled. After we finished clearing the area around the compound and as our wounded were being dusted off, I received an absolutely incredible order from III Corps. Jan. 31. But no one would be leaving the country that day. Toward dusk on January 30, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist to dig bunkers next to their APCs. Charlie Company quickly reinforced Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. The 2-47 was one of several units General Weyand pulled in from the jungles to guard the Long Binh headquarters and logistical complex 15 miles northeast of Saigon. LV EXPLOSION, SIGN ON BOARD "DISNEY LAND FAR EAST" The unit left their position at Firebase Concord north of Bin Ha and moved east proceeding along trails north of Ho Nai towards the LRRP position. Somehow the foam trucks from All rights reserved. At 07:30 the VC/PAVN force stopped and made a stand in a cemetery where they continued to be hit by the gunships and the ACAVs of Company C. At 08:00 Company C was joined by a force from 2/47th Infantry and they proceeded to methodically kill all the VC/PAVN in the cemetery. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Service Battery that supplied ordnance to the big guns in our battalion. Then I got a call from battalion commander Tower, asking how things were going. Ly's grandfather was a soldier stationed in Quang Binh during the war. At dusk, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. 6. According to him, I told him that any fool could see that the VC did not have M-113s, and that we had 22 .50-calibers and a 106mm recoilless rifle and they, for sure, did not want us to return fire. Meanwhile, Charlie Company was ordered back to III Corps. Tom Allaback. Soon we could hear leaders moving up and down the bunker line yelling for the guards to stop firing. sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. 1.04 The village of Ho Nai, now a ghost town, was still smoldering. August 1966 November 1966 December 1966. 4 Joseph Dames was tasked to return to the tracks for more grenades. The churches were cleared in short order. APCs advance, firing 50 caliber machine guns. My Lightboxes | No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. Policy was to fill in all holes and empty our sandbags when we left a position, to leave nothing the VC might use against us. In addition, gunships killed many more as they tried to escape from the villages. At 03:45 the unit engaged the VC/PAVN with 2 ACAVs being quickly knocked out by RPG fire. EXPLOSIONS IN DISTANCE Since I was in an airborne unit, I was sure I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. An accurate body count could never be compiled since so many VC bodies were dragged away or were burned in the many fires in the towns and villages. Four men were killed and more than 20 wounded, including most of the officers. Charlie Company soldiers, used to months of patrolling and fighting in the jungles, suddenly found themselves fighting house to house as their fathers had done in World War II. At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low, preparing for Tet. and still no answer. GV DUMP Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. But their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. Company E engaged the PAVN/VC supported by artillery fire killing 47 PAVN/VC. Now commanded by a brand-new second lieutenant, the men of Alpha Company balked when they were told to move. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the S3s radio operator. Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could get their attack organized. Gradually, I became a mechanized soldier. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. ], The Laotian representative said six members of the Meo special forces were also cap tured with the American on May 7 in Xieng Khouang Province near the North Vietnamese bor der. bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was Bravo Company was sent to protect the Long Binh ammunition dump and Charlie Company was ordered into downtown Bien Hoa, where the ARVN III Corps headquarters was in danger of being overrun. About two days later one the huge fuel bags next Something was definitely about to happen. As we cleared the ambush, the column suddenly came to a halt because of some kind of block in the road; simultaneously, someone keyed the company net. wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). I realized we were driving past our objective, halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. The colonel explained that since we were infantry soldiers and did not know the proper method of searching a house, he and his crew had come to teach us. [2]:347[3]:225, At 03:00, the PAVN 84A Artillery Regiment began a barrage of approximately 100 82-mm. In April 1967, I was a first lieutenant commanding a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. I jumped down and ran from track to track, pounding on the sides and yelling, Check your handsets! As I ran back through the weapons platoon, I came upon an unbelievable sight. find all the dead so the countryside smelled like a scene from The II Field Force commander LG Frederick C. Weyand had also ordered the 9th Infantry Division to be prepared to send its 1st Brigade from Bearcat Base 16km south of Long Binh to Bien Hoa-Long Binh in the event of an attack. Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policyand cookie policyand for us to access our cookies on your device. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. As usual, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. The 2nd Platoon led the way under Lieutenant Fred Casper, followed by my track, then Lieutenant Howard Jones 1st Platoon and, finally, the weapons platoon under Lieutenant Don Muir. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. 1968 - 1969, To See Lawrence's Service Battery Photos 0.04 I have . Under fire, Staff Sgt. from the petroleum dump immediately next to our position. By July 1969 we were finally off the boats and in Dong Tam processing to head home. In another sign that the situation was serious, the battalion commander himself gave map coordinates of company objectives in the clear. They bowed and looked confused. [3]:20, At 00:30 on 31 January, a patrol from Company E, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment detected a company-size PAVN/VC force approximately 10km north of Bien Hoa, moving in the direction of Bien Hoa AB. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. Jeep parked along road. bunker. Now the fight was on. Listening to the scouts desperate fight on the radio, Charlie Company attacked with renewed vigor as we tried to get to Barnes and his men. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. [American sources in Vien tiane said, as quoted by The Associated Press, that the captured American was prob ably the pilot of a Continent al Air Service plane that was forced to land behind Pathet Lao lines after running out of fuel. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. I called III Corps and reported that we had detained all of these people, and was told to wait until the Vietnamese National Police arrived to take charge. At the end of the previous day, Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. the wrecker operator had to know how to weld. Company B, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment had arrived by helicopter from Bearcat and joined up with 2/47th Infantry to sweep the Widows Village. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scout platoon into the edge of Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. The attacks on Bin Ha, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, occurred during the early hours of 31 January 1968 and continued until 2 February 1968. As I remember the Tet Offensive began in the early morning of