Casper rose from a prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. Ive just been told you work for me again. In addition, we were tremendously flexible. Which date was it? The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. and still no answer. As you know there were no officers Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. In another sign that the situation was serious, the battalion commander himself gave map coordinates of company objectives in the clear. Service Battery that supplied ordnance to the big guns in our battalion. Following that fight, the 2-47 was ordered south of the 9th Divisions base camp. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead danger and the probable best course of action. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. The 2nd Platoon took the one north of the road, the 1st Platoon attacked the other. Website Terms & Conditions | The view is from the compound of the 20th. I had learned no tactic at infantry school that fit the situation we were faced with, so we improvised. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. Our area from the Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. 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. But no one would be leaving the country that day. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. 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. [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. Toward dusk on January 30, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist to dig bunkers next to their APCs. 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. Dong Ha vietnam 1968 | Dong Ha ammo dump explosion from NVA artillery fire. forever the big pieces stopped. 5 Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. His two daughters, Ly's mother and her sister, are disabled. Lookout tower in the background. My plan was to make captain and go to Vietnam as an experienced company commander. sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round hitting my track. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion. I told him we couldnt take the tracks off Highway 1 into town because the streets were too narrow. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. It also contained tons of captured NVA ammo and guns from the A Shau Valley. NEARER V..EXPLOSIONS 0.28 He started 200 pounds. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. Now the fight was on. As darkness settled in, Charlie Company was ordered back to the junction of Highways 1 and 316, where we would form a screen in front of the 199th LIB base camp. By the evening the 2/47th Infantry withdrew into the Long Binh perimeter. Come back up on the battalion freq.. 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. 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. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. As he fell, a burst of automatic weapons fire stitched the wall right where he would have been had he not fallen.. Smoke rises from surrounding area. 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. 9. 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. Besides the actions of Charlie Company, under the leadership of the S3, Major Bill Jones, Alpha had conducted an assault on VC positions in a cemetery. Here was another sign that the situation was serious: The battalion commander personally gave out map coordinates of company objectives in the clear.Alpha Company was ordered to the 199th LIB compound, which was under attack. The progress was slow and ammo was becoming scarce, particularly grenades, which get consumed at an enormous rate in city fighting. We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. As was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. 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. October continued with construction efforts. 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. January 12, 1972. by: Arnold John Houchin Bin Ha, USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron 1970-1972 Phu Cat, 37th SPS; Thu Hoa, 31st SPS; . At 0400 Jones ordered us to pull in our ambushes and be prepared to move. Riflemen staying close behind. The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. By Vietnam terms 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. 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. At the meeting, I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. AIR V..AMMUNITION DUMPS AND FIRES . I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The bus ride to 90th Replacement was relatively short and everyone seemed exhausted from the long flight. "What are you firing at? " U.S. military officials vVould not give the exact number of casualties for security reasons. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. LV EXPLOSIONS 6. We use cookies on this website. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. The probing attack units included VC sapper squads. [2]:347, The VC 275th Regiment had taken up positions in a residential area known at the Widows' Village (105731N 1065237E / 10.9587N 106.877E / 10.9587; 106.877), which housed the wives and families of dead ARVN soldiers and was located across Route 316 from the Plantation Compound. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company. - When the Tet cease-fire period began on January 28, the battalion was called back to the vicinity of Bear Cat, a base camp near Long Thanh. After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. John Gross received the Silver Star for his actions in command of Charlie Company on the first day of the Tet Offensive. SP4 Lawrence Korteum Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed THE EXPLOSIONS RATTLED WINDOWS IN SAIGON, ABOUT 13 MILES (20 KILOMETERS) AWAY. rockets at Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh Post. Then things started falling out of the sky. The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. What we came up with was a T formation. Over the two month recovery and clearing operation, tens of thousands of these hazardous munitions were recoverd by hand, one at a time. USAF (United States Air Force) F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter aircraft drops Mark 82 (Mk.82) high-drag (HD) bombs. [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. Terms & Conditions | M-117 bombs explode near and on road on wooden slopes near river north of Pleiku near Dak To, on 18 August, 1968. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History. After all had left for the History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. 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. SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION In fact, the Communists had already infiltrated the city of Bien Hoa, suburban Ho Nai village and Widows Village, where pensioned families of deceased ARVN soldiers lived. was a point where the Ho Chi Min Trail came close to the countrys West Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. [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. After the battles for the churches, there occurred one of the most bizarre incidents of the day. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. Dismounted troops of the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, stay close to their M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) as they clear Widows Village, near Long Binh Army Post, of Viet Cong who had overrun it during the Communist 1968 Tet Offensive (National Archives). 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. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help Charlie Company quickly reinforced Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. Since I was in an airborne unit, it seemed certain that I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. front making it dangerous to return fire. As dawn broke on February 1, it was deathly quiet. The 2-47 was one of several units he pulled in from the jungles to guard the Long Binh headquarters and logistical complex 15 miles northeast of Saigon. I went through the quarters making sure everyone Then things started falling Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. During the last week of January, the battalion patrolled the jungles east of Highway 15, near the Binh Son rubber plantation. General Patton's son, then Lt. Col. George Patton III, commander of the U.S. Army's 11th Armored Cavalry (Black Horse), positioned his tanks in between our big bunker hills . The 2nd Platoon took on the one on the north side of the road, and the 1st Platoon attacked the other. Long Binh Vietnam 1969 stock footage and images - Showing 1 to 6 of 5540 results Sort by: All Decade 1890 - 1899 Location (1) Norfolk Virginia USA (2) Normandy France (12) Norman Oklahoma USA (1) (1) (1) North Carolina United States USA (2) North Chicago Illinois USA (1) North Dakota United States USA (1) North Haven Maine USA (1) North Korea (1) After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. Several tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. Get under! At 3 a.m. on January 31, I received a call from Major Bill Jones, who had recently taken Ionoffs place as operations officer. I was told to forget about them, which reinforced our feeling that this situation was different and that combat was certainly imminent. 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. 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. During Tet 1968, the 856th Radio . The village of Ho Nai, now a ghost town, still smoldered. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered dismounted. [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. 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. At least 3,000 tons of ammu nition were reportedly de stroyed in the blasts, which be gan before dawn and continued until midmorning. all personnel to the flight line. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. At 03:45 the unit engaged the VC/PAVN with 2 ACAVs being quickly knocked out by RPG fire. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. (Vietnam War period). We were in a cloud of disarray [2]:349, At dawn several AH1 Cobra gunships from the 334th Assault Helicopter Company joined the defense spraying the VC with rockets and machine gun fire which started fires causing the VC assault to lose its impetus. He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. Craven and another photographer, were both wounded in the engagement.) probably one of the best deals I had been Used for because the We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. [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. This article was written by John E. Gross and originally published in the February 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. 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. 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. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low preparing for Tet. The ammunition dump contained high explosives like: C-4, artillery rounds, mortar rounds, aerial flares, 50 caliber rounds, M-60 machine gun rounds, and aerial rockets for the Huey Cobra and gunships. remember being giddy and my brain was asking What is wrong with me?. Service Battery 6/27th went off and all hell broke lose. the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for According to the VC 5th Division official history, the 3rd Battalion, 5th VC Regiment was supported by the Bien Hoa Sapper Company; its mission was to overrun the compound, which was defended by about 15 ARVN soldiers and a smattering of MACV advisers. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a suburb of Bien Hoa. It was the first such occurrence since the ceasefire of Jan. 28. As the 2/47th Infantry approached the town a Vietnamese warned that it contained many VC and the VC then launched an ambush on the column knocking out 3 ACAVs with RPGs setting off a 4-hour battle as the US forces engaged the VC position and rescued the survivors in the damaged ACAVs. FAQs - How to Order | 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. The action occurs January 31st, 1968 (on "Tet", the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday). During this time, the battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep The mushroom cloud slowly dissipated after hours of After I received the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset, and we moved out. 6 External links modified. The churches were cleared in short order. [3]:210 Instead at approximately 03:30 the VC began firing across the road at the Plantation Compound being met by return fire from the perimeter bunkers. Specialist 4 Bill Rambo, assistant driver and .50-gunner on my command track, remembers my response to the firing as being absolutely irate. was his helmet and flack jacket! He ignored me and went to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. We usually got mortared at night whenever Dong Tam was getting it from our district. However the ammunition storage bunkers prevented a chain reaction and the lost munitions were easily replaced with no impact on supply. The idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. All of these placements were made with the wrongful assumption that the VC would attack from the jungles outside the base. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. checkered) water tower by the main gate. The scout platoon had fought valiantly all day long in Widows Village and in Ho Nai. Some of the enemy had tunneled under the fence and exploded an We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. 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. By some veterans' accounts, it had the unofficial name "Long Binh Junction." In 1968, the base fell under attack during the Tet Offensive, and the Viet Cong assault force was repelled by American troops. [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. 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. The Long Binh ammunition dump had exploded. Later, as the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. My Account | 0.04 In fact, the Communists had already infiltrated the city of Bien Hoa, suburban Ho Nai village and Widows Village, where pensioned families of deceased ARVN soldiers lived. The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. for days and days. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. Lieutenant Barnes and one of his soldiers would be awarded Distinguished Service Crosses for their heroism that day. First was sand then bigger stuff. Summary - October 1966. 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. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. CU SIGN "NO SMOKING" the wrecker operator had to know how to weld. (Vietnam War period). [3]:2289, The Tt ceasefire began on 29 January, but was cancelled on 30 January after the VC/PAVN prematurely launched attacks in II Corps and at 17:30 the 7th Air Force commander General William W. Momyer ordered all air bases in South Vietnam to security condition red. Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. the bunker. About Us | bunker. 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. ", "Then we were all in the bunker 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.