[2]:3512 US losses in the fighting in the Widow's Village were three dead. In April 1967 I was a first lieutenant commanding a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. Which date was it? Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. Bucks County Pennsylvania United States USA, Del Rio Texas Laughlin Air Force Base USA, Roxborough Pennsylvania United States USA, U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base Thailand. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. opened his mouth but, SGT Cuffee, the supply SGT. Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. Bravo Company (one member of which was Spc. Seems like the fighting went on Unfortunately for the VC, they had no weapons other than the RPG launcher. U.S. air strikes in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. I was not sure what to do about the bunkers we had dug. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. GV AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. [2]:347 Weyand also requested the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) to defend the eastern approaches to Long Binh/Bien Hoa and 1 ATF had commenced Operation Coburg on 24 January. Anyone can read what you share. 9. 200 pounds. According to Jones, that assault went so perfectly that it could have served as a demonstration at the infantry school. in bunker) at first light to the sound of a M-60 chattering away. As the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. 26 VC/PAVN were killed in the attack and several captured. 118th during the Tet of 1968, also called the Defense of Bien As the sun sank low, we closed within a few hundred meters of the scout platoon and watched as helicopter gunships destroyed a large yellow house from which the VC were pinning down Barnes troops. He was alive but he suffered a busted ear drum and singed hair, eye brows and arms. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. Benny Toney, the 2nd Platoon sergeant, hooked a tow cable to Stormy. [3]:218, The town of Ho Nai (105812N 1065335E / 10.970N 106.893E / 10.970; 106.893) was located on Highway 1 north of the Widow's Village and Long Binh Post. while we were gone. Since I was in an airborne unit, it seemed certain that I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. There we would be assigned a unit we would serve with in Vietnam. Benny Toney, the 2nd Platoon sergeant, hooked a tow cable to Stormy. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp. 1.19 [7], The Tet offensive attacks and previous losses due to mortar and rocket attacks on air bases across South Vietnam led the Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Nitze on 6 March 1968 to approve the construction of 165 "Wonderarch" roofed aircraft shelters at the major air bases. 1 comment. For additional reading, see: The Battle for Saigon, Tet 1968, by Keith Nolan; and History of the 5th Division, by Ho Son Dai and Nguyen Van Hung. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. This group is primarily for those Vietnam veterans who experienced the ammo dump attacks in Long Binh in 1966, '67, & '68. 4. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. He waved me off. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. AIR V..EXPLOSION Most of these photos were taken in an area a few miles north of Chu Lai and south of Hoi An. The North Vietnamese Army had circled PAVN/VC losses were 137 killed and 25 captured. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper, and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. Later, captured VC said many guerrillas only had two magazines for their weapons in expectation that the population would rise up against the Americans and have plenty of captured weapons to fight with. View of surrounding areas. This site requires JavaScript. Burned out 105mm howitzer shells at ammunition dump in Bien Hoa Air Force Base, Bien Hoa in Vietnam. Less has been written about the danger, turmoil, chaos, confusion, contradictions and outright lunacy that confronted individual units as they responded to VC attacks on the morning of January 31. He said the first thing he could remember was the Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. (Vietnam War period). was out of the bldgs. We were west of Highway QL1 along a road named 535. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. In a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball, the shock of the explosion echoing over an area of 50 miles. They ordered us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. In addition to the US bases, the city of Bin Ha was the headquarters of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) III Corps and home to a large prisoner of war camp. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. [3]:2501, On the evening of 1 February 3 platoons from Company C, 4/12th Infantry and 2 platoons from Company D, 17th Cavalry Regiment were ordered 2km north of Ho Nai to establish an outer defense against any renewed VC/PAVN attack. I remember one AIR V..AMMUNITION DUMPS AND FIRES Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company, and in a fight, the company had 22 .50-caliber machine guns, a 106mm and several 90mm recoilless rifles, and more radios and M-60 machine guns than a walking company could ever carry. Our outfit was a Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. 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. We found out later from captured VC that many guerrillas had been given only two magazines for their weapons. I operated a heavy five 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. To get to the church, we had to run a gantlet of fire, through the VC 238th Regiment and into the flank of the 275th, which was fighting the 2-47s scout platoon in Widows Village. known as Widows Village. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, located on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. As the ammo dump burst into flames, secondary explosions erupted in other storage areas, and . Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 5 Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. CU SIGN "NO SMOKING" Since I was in an airborne unit, I was sure I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. "I was the 1SGT of the What we came up with was a T formation. We had returned from a Fighting our way to the scout platoon, we were stopped when we came upon two large churches, straddling Highway 1, each occupied by VC. 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. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scouts into Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. The fog of war was especially thick on the morning of January 31, 1968. No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. In Bin Ha itself the 3rd Ranger Task Force, consisting of the 35th and 36th Ranger Battalions, provided a rapid reaction force supported by 2 155-mm howitzer battalions located on the southeast of the city. We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. 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. HANOI, North Vietnam, June 1 (Agence FrancePresse)An American major was captured last month in a Communistcon trolled area of northern Laos by Pathet Lao forces, a Laotian representative said here today. At dawn on 2 February the US counted approximately 50 VC/PAVN dead in the area and captured 3 VC. Activity in the area had picked up in November and After all had left for the 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. We packed up our gear, rolled up our wire and waited. Page contents not supported in other languages. Elements of B Company, 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) and C Company, 4/39th Infantry, clearing North Vietnamese Army regulars from "Widows' Village" (a hamlet of housing provided by the government of the Republic of Vietnam for widows and children of fallen ARVN soldiers). Dong Ha vietnam 1968 | Dong Ha ammo dump explosion from NVA artillery fire. With the explosion of the entire ammunition dump imminent, and in the midst of exploding shells, fire and debris, the men of COMPANY B, . He stated that Bien Hoa airbase, the Long Binh facility, the II Field Force headquarters and the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) base camp were under heavy mortar and rocket attack. more The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Soon we could hear leaders moving up and down the bunker line yelling for the guards to stop firing. who was tossed into a sewage ditch by the explosion, remembers 'killing the jeep' with his M-16. 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. We could ride, walk or be airlifted to war, travel great distances in a short amount of time, and arrive with many times the ammunition and equipment that could be lifted in by helicopter. ", "We mustered everyone we could On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . danger and the probable best course of action. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. Not only would I not finish my command tour, I was being assigned to a leg division. While much has been written about Tet and the political firestorm that resulted, in the hundreds of surprise battles and skirmishes that unfolded, individual units found themselves thrust into intense danger, turmoil, chaos, confusion, contradictions and outright lunacy as they responded to Viet Cong (VC) attacks. He said his battalion was in heavy contact, and he had several wounded rangers he needed to evacuate. [2]:3523, General Weyand later noted that in their attacks on the Saigon area "Despite the large number of Communist troops committed, insufficient force was applied in any one area to take and hold the objectiveThe assault had been launched piecemeal and it was repulsed piecemeal in a series of relatively small battles. wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). The II Field Force commander, Lt. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand, had correctly guessed that a major attack was going to come during Tet, and his anticipation of the attacks no doubt saved Long Binh and Saigon from being overrun. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. 0.35 and the perimeter was still intact. STOCKPILES OF BOMBS AND ARTILLERY SHELLS AT THE U.S. ARMY AMMUNITION DUMP AT LONG BINH, IN SOUTH VIETNAM, ERUPTED YESTERDAY (SATURDAY) WHEN TIME CHARGES, PLACED BY VIET CONG RAIDERS, DETONATED AMID TONS OF HIGH EXPLOSIVES. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were the work of Vietcong sabotage teams. The G3 adviser told me that they had received intelligence that Vo Nguyen Giap, the North Vietnamese commanding general, had his command post in a Catholic church about 1 kilometer east of III Corps. Sand bags near barbed wire fence. 6. The three companies formed a line almost three kilometers long, facing to the east, with their backs to the Long Binh wire. out of the sky. LV EXPLOSIONS the wrecker operator had to know how to weld. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. I was having a few beers with several other sailors in the outside screened patio area of the Navy EM Club when we heard a noise to our left. The weapon was aimed at the newly built and painted (orange-white In command for five months, I had been assured that I would be leading the company for one year, which suited me fine. Long Binh, again (Feb. 1967). He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. As the ammo dump burst into flames, secondary explosions erupted in other storage areas, and for the next three days, fires burned out of control. Ive just been told you work for me again. Bringing that volatile convoy through the city, which had not been totally cleared and was still burning in many places, was a tremendously heroic act. Shopping Cart | However, Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could organize their attack. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. remembered the 1SGT told him the first thing he was to get into [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. In fact, VC effectiveness was so degraded that, after 1968, they were mainly replaced on the battlefield by North Vietnamese regulars, and were never a viable force after that. The churches were cleared in short order. [2]:350, With the base returned to full operation, that afternoon C130s landed the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment to help ARVN forces fighting the VC in Bin Ha city. This article incorporates public domain material from the .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Air Force Historical Research Agency. 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. VC/PAVN losses were 527 dead. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. Suddenly he came upon a VC RPG team drawing a bead on my command track, which was a prime target given the number of radio antennas jutting from it. The 2-47s enemy body count came in at over 200, while the battalion suffered only four KIA. But no one would be leaving the country that day. A spokesman for the South Vietnamese command said that, according to unconfirmed re ports, satchel charges, of the type used by Vietcong sabotage squads were found near the dump. Tower had called and told me that Charlie Company was under the operational control of III Corps and I was to take my orders from them. 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. Tom Allaback. ruary 1968 in support of Saigon and Long Binh Post during the TET Offen- Sive. Rambo claims that the bunker guards were MPs with the call sign of Filmy Milker. According to him, I told their commander 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.