Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Jeep parked along road. Initials PW/VS/JH/BB/ES PW/VS/JH/ES We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. Come back up on the battalion freq. I had never been so happy in my life. 0.28 The bus ride to 90th Replacement was relatively short and everyone seemed exhausted from the long flight. Cambodian border to the South China sea was already considered a GV AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. We all knew that these moves were more than just precautionary. Sappers had placed satchel charges on pallets of artillery ammunition, and the resulting mushroom cloud caused all its witnesses to think the VC had employed a tactical nuclear weapon. At the time of the SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION Incredibly, nobody in my company had been killed the day before. The Long Binh ammunition dump had exploded. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then went in shooting. As darkness settled in, Charlie Company was ordered to move back the way it had come, to the junction of Highways 1 and 316, where we would form a screen in front of the 199th LIB base camp. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. 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. night on alert at the Birdcage, I was awakened (trying to sleep It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. At the meeting I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. The ARVN general and III Corps G3 adviser, however, were not happy when we pulled out. 10. Somehow the foam trucks from Blood stains in ambulance. . We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. We came up with a T formation. There we would be assigned a unit we would serve with in Vietnam. That night, no one slept, but instead scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. 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. 14. 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. SP4 Lawrence Korteum I called battalion headquarters and asked what to do about the bunkers. to contact the Commanding Officer(MAJ Guidroz). He read a memorandum charging that 100 days after the signing of the Vientiane ceasefire accords, the seven men had been planning to take command of groups of saboteurs recently infiltrated into the area., See the article in its original context from. Most of we RAD 152 crew members arrived in-country on July 22, 1968. That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. A burst of VC machine gun fire erupted nearby, 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 was the DistrictSenior Advisor (Army) in Vinh Kim, Long Dinh District, right across the canal from Dong Tam in 1968-1969. He waved me off. "I was the 1SGT of the We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. A soldier, who has been hit, lying prone between two other soldiers, tries to get up. . The 2-47s scout platoon had just finished a brutal fight in Widows Village, and at 4 p.m., it was ordered to move to the junction of Highways 1 and 316, and to attack westward through the village of Ho Nai toward Charlie Company, in the hope of pinning the VC between us. The II Field Force commander, Lt. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand, had correctly predicted a major attack during Tet, and his anticipation no doubt saved Long Binh and Saigon from being overrun. Alpha Company, still licking its wounds from the January 23 fight, was left intact. Several of his tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. the light dome that rose from the explosion. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead The view is from the compound of the 20th. We use cookies on this website. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. An MP full colonel, accompanied by a Los Angeles deputy sheriff (dressed in his deputy uniform) and two jeeploads of National Police, drove up to my track. 939939. Later, as the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. It was the first such occurrence since the ceasefire of Jan. 28. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were . The acting commander of the 199th LIB, Col. Frederic E. Davison, ordered three of his infantry companies operating north of Long Binh to attack the rocket launch site, while LG Weyand ordered the 9th Infantry Division to send the 1st Brigade from Bearcat Base. remember being giddy and my brain was asking What is wrong with me?. [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. By the evening the 2/47th Infantry withdrew into the Long Binh perimeter. The Vietnamese brigadier generalthe ranking man at III Corpsdrew circles on a map around two areas of downtown Bien Hoa. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. around Bien Hoa Airbase and headed toward our post of Long Binh, then After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. Destroyed and burned out ammunition pad shows burned out 105mm howitzer shells. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. The Commo track, C-007, nicknamed Abdula and the Rug Merchants, with then- Pfc (and current Vietnam editor) David Zabecki behind the .50-caliber, brought up the rear. U.S. air strikes in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp. But no one would be leaving the country that day. However the ammunition storage bunkers prevented a chain reaction and the lost munitions were easily replaced with no impact on supply. 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. I dismounted the platoons and placed them on line on each side of the road: the second on the left, or north, and the first on the right, or south. 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. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scout platoon into the edge of Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. When the G3 adviser told me to lend the rangers a track, I told the sergeant that the M-113 was not a tank and to be careful with it. U.S. troops firing small arms as they proceed across tall grass into the hamlet. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. Script is copyright Reuters Limited. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. There was much Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Thanh airfield. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. OK. Kortuem! When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. 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. [2]:348, As the rockets hit Bien Hoa AB, 2 battalions of the VC 274th Regiment emerged from a rubber plantation 500m east of the eastern perimeter of Bien Hoa AB. This site requires JavaScript. Now Big Boom! [2]:350, At approximately 16:45 F-100 Super Sabres of the 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron conducted a Napalm strike against a PAVN/VC company at the east end of the base runway. This is the airstrike on snipers at the 195th AHC perimeter and the Long Binh ammo dump explosion set off by sappers the morning of the 1968 Tet offensive with sound effects added. mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. Activity in the area had picked up in November and The Vietnamese brigadier general, who was the ranking man at III Corps, drew circles around two equal-sized areas of downtown Bien Hoa. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. Charlie Company reacted quickly to reinforce Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. [3]:2515, A VC/PAVN attack on the prisoner of war camp in Bin Ha which held over 2000 prisoners was repulsed by a platoon from Company C, 4/12th Infantry and a platoon from Company D, 17th Cavalry and their ACAVs. My Account | After a eventful Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. Meanwhile, Hueys reported VC running from the village. 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. Charlie Company would get the mission. hightForP2 = 330 Rocket Attack on Dong Tam - July 10, 1969. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. 9. About 30 minutes later, the track was back with only the driver, who reported the ranger sergeant had been killed and that it had been impossible to get the wounded. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. 0.35 The battle proved significant, as Alphas leadership was seriously depleted immediately prior to Tet. THE EXPLOSIONS RATTLED WINDOWS IN SAIGON, ABOUT 13 MILES (20 KILOMETERS) AWAY. 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. As a result long-range reconnaissance patrols (LRRPs) from Company F, 51st Infantry Regiment were positioned north of Long Binh to detect PAVN/VC approaching the base. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the Rolling back through Bien Hoa, we were astounded to come upon the battalion S4, Captain Leroy Brown, in the middle of town with a 5,000-gallon fuel tanker and several ammunition trucks. We usually got mortared at night whenever Dong Tam was getting it from our district. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Refine Your Search Long Binh Vietnam 1968 stock footage and images - Showing 1 to 6 of 5537 results Sort by: All All Search Results Decade 1890 - 1899 (3) 1900 - 1909 (18) 1910 - 1919 (136) 1920 - 1929 (83) more Location Aalen Germany (1) Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland USA (1) Afghanistan (2) Africa (3) more Akron Ohio USA (3) One reference claims that 4 February 1967 was the date, and another claims that 28 March was the date. When the shooting started it I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. I was well seasoned having been through all the scenarios that presented Summary - October 1966. secondary explosions. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. "What are you firing at? " An MP full colonel, along with a deputy sheriff from Los Angeles (dressed in his deputy uniform) and two jeeploads of Vietnamese National Police, drove up to my track. One of the children in the Hope System of Care is Nguyen Thi Ly, born in 2001 with a deformed face, head and chest. It knocked a dimple in the side of the track as I fired up the gunner., Later in the fighting, Casper and several 2nd Platoon troops were pinned down next to a building. I have . 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. 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). Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. Waking Dead. When the G3 adviser told me to lend the rangers a track, I told the sergeant that the M-113 was not a tank and to be extremely careful with it. All of these placements were made with the wrongful assumption that the VC would attack from the jungles outside the base. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. Long Binh, again (Feb. 1967). The idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. I The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. 1. Flames illuminated the clouds, forming an eerie glow; flares hung in the sky and helicopter gunships crossed back and forth firing red streams of tracers into the city. Unfortunately for the VC, they had no weapons other than the RPG launcher. 0.24 His two daughters, Ly's mother and her sister, are disabled. But no one would be leaving the country that day. known as Widows Village. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. He replied that I would have to wait. 13. [2]:347 Within Bien Hoa AB, the USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron was responsible for security manning bunkers and operating mobile patrols within the base perimeter. Ripped apart barbed wire. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. on the water tower". 3 Merge Long Binh Jail into Long Binh. At that time, I received a call on my company frequency from the battalion commander, Colonel Tower, asking how things were going. We packed up our gear, rolled up our wire and waited. was his helmet and flack jacket! Meanwhile, Huey gunships reported VC running from the village. I had learned no tactic at infantry school that fit the situation we were faced with, so we improvised. After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. 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. They bowed and looked confused. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. As you know there were no officers Company B, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, which was placed under the operational control of the 2-47, made a combat air assault under fire into the middle of the Widows Village battle and fought bravely beside the Panthers all day long. I realize now that the track was high enough that the rounds would have passed over the troops in front of the vehicle, Love recalls. I told him we couldnt take the tracks off Highway 1 into town because the streets were too narrow. Their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. 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. Helicopter gunships took off from Bien Hoa AB to investigate, but were unable to locate the force in the darkness. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. Casper rose from the prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low, preparing for Tet. 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. Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. Anyone can read what you share. So, when I was offered a chance to go to II Field Force to help establish a new long-range reconnaissance patrol outfit, I actually turned it down to stay with the company.
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