That night, no one slept, but instead scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. M-117 bombs explode near and on road on wooden slopes near river north of Pleiku near Dak To, on 18 August, 1968. By late afternoon the 275th Regiment retreated north, leaving over 200 dead. The battle proved significant, as Alphas leadership was seriously depleted immediately prior to Tet. 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. As the afternoon of January 30 drifted toward dusk, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist and dug bunkers next to their M-113s. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead 2. Summary - October 1966. When the Tet cease-fire period began on January 28, the battalion was called back to the vicinity of Bear Cat, and Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Tan airfield. Battalion policy was that we had to fill in all holes and empty our sandbags each time we left a position. Jan. 31. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. As I remember this night, around 12 or 12:30 a.m. the sirens Refusing evacuation, neither reported his wound. 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. As dawn broke, everything was deathly quiet. Seems like the fighting went on "I was the 1SGT of the 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. 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. 14. yelling Kortuem! The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. Privacy Policy | Links He ignored me and went to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. AIR V..EXPLOSION Destroyed and burned out ammunition pad shows burned out 105mm howitzer shells. 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. Featured Collections | Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. happened to hit him just over the forehead. who was tossed into a sewage ditch by the explosion, remembers 'killing the jeep' with his M-16. Suddenly he came upon a VC RPG team drawing a bead on my command track, which was marked as a prime target by the number of radio antennas jutting from it. to contact the Commanding Officer(MAJ Guidroz). SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. He said I would have to wait. Under fire, Staff Sgt. 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. Click Here. Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. Under fire, Staff Sgt. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. 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. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. At the beginning of the Tet Offensive, one rifle company was ordered to to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. the light dome that rose from the explosion. As the ammo dump burst into flames, secondary explosions erupted in other storage areas, and . [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. [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. Incredibly, nobody in my company had been killed the day before. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion. front making it dangerous to return fire. [2]:3512 US losses in the fighting in the Widow's Village were three dead. At the time of the During this fighting, the two platoon leaders were wounded, Lieutenant Casper in the leg and Lieutenant Jones in the foot. 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. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79. United States officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Long Binh. ", "I then went to the CP and tried 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. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. 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. Tower had called and told me Charlie Company was under the operational control of III Corps and I was to take my orders from them. After commanding 180 paratroopers, taking on four APCs and 40 troops seemed like a dreamexcept that now I was responsible for troops in combat, not training. the barracks hall just as he stepped out of his room going to When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. Officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Longbinh ammunition dump. 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. After a eventful Riflemen moving cautiously. EXPLOSIONS IN DISTANCE Forget that, he said. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company. However, Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could organize their attack. Relevant to these events; post recollections and descriptions, questions,. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. At 0700, as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. 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. 3 Merge Long Binh Jail into Long Binh. A force from Company C, 2/3rd Infantry mounted on ACAVs was sent north from Ho Nai and pinned the VC/PAVN in a crossfire. The 2-47s scout platoon had just finished a brutal fight in Widows Village, and at 1600 hours, 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. He (Vietnam War period). 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. Jim Love recalls lying in a ditch near a dead civilian as the friendly fire cracked over our heads. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted minimal damage on the bases. 4 Joseph Dames was tasked to return to the tracks for more grenades. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. Following that fight, the 2-47 was ordered south of the 9th Divisions base camp. The Communists were starting to carry out a plan that they had studied for a considerable period. 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. It also contained tons of captured NVA ammo and guns from the A Shau Valley. There was an ammo dump explosion in 1968 also and both 1967 and 1968 are correct and were of course separate incidents. Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could get their attack organized. We use cookies on this website. After I received the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset, and we moved out. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Tower sent Major Jones to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. I had been in Vietnam about nine months. We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Script is copyright Reuters Limited. wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). Love was so startled, he didnt fire. "[3]:205, The Tet offensive attacks on Bien Hoa AB and Tan Son Nhut Air Base slowly led to an improvement in air base defense across South Vietnam, with improved bunkers and heavier defensive armament including 0.50 cal machine guns, M67 recoilless rifles and M29 mortars. Toward dark, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. There we would be assigned a unit we would serve with in Vietnam. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. THE EXPLOSIONS RATTLED WINDOWS IN SAIGON, ABOUT 13 MILES (20 KILOMETERS) AWAY. 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. Many of the enlisted personnel with medical MOSs work two to three days per week at the 93 rd Evacuation Hospital, then came back to the 24 th to work on the various construction projects. I called battalion headquarters and was told to forget about them, which reinforced our sense that combat was imminent. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. Those orders were for us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. remembered the 1SGT told him the first thing he was to get into Updated 7/26/2015. Website Terms & Conditions | For more great articles, subscribe to Vietnam magazine today! This is the story of one rifle company, and what it faced on that decisive day. Dressed as travelers returning to ancestral homes for the Tet holiday, the guerrillas had quietly drifted into their urban assembly areas and put together their weapons. forever the big pieces stopped. By July 1969 we were finally off the boats and in Dong Tam processing to head home. [4], The 179th Military Intelligence Detachment of the 199th LIB had been gathering intelligence on a pending attack on Long Binh for several weeks before the attacks based on human intelligence and ground radar. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. Casper rose from a prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. They had been told that the population would rise up against the Americans and that there would be plenty of captured U.S. weapons to fight with. Long Binh, again (Feb. 1967). trooper was injured by a piece of shrapnel that had come down biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. Service Battery 6/27th 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. As the C-23 track Stormy, which was in the lead, turned into a side street, an RPG slammed into its front, smashing the radiator and wounding several soldiers. In January 1968, our battalion relocated to the area between Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa, where intelligence had located a VC battalion. 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. 1.04 This was no surprise to us, since we could plainly hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. We fired all we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. Smoke rises from surrounding area. 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. He ignored me and proceeded to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. from the petroleum dump immediately next to our position. Besides the fireworks, ARVN soldiers had linked tracer bullets together and were stitching the darkness with weaving streams of machine gun fire. With small-arms fire cracking overhead, young girls carrying bottles of Coca-Cola were trying to sell them to the troops. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then went in shooting. Some of the enemy had tunneled under the fence and exploded an Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly and, despite what was reported in the press, American and ARVN forces handed the VC a devastating defeat during Tet. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low preparing for Tet. Lieutenant Barnes and one of his soldiers would be awarded Distinguished Service Crosses for their heroism that day. Now the fight was on. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Around midnight on October 29th, 1966, the Viet Cong mortared or rocketed the Long Binh Ammo Dump. GV AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. LV EXPLOSION, SIGN ON BOARD "DISNEY LAND FAR EAST" The Long Binh ammunition dump had exploded. recoil of my M14. An accurate body count could never be compiled since so many VC bodies were dragged away or were burned in the many fires that ravaged the towns and villages. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. 4. 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. In a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball, the shock of the explosion echoing over an area of 50 miles. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymores and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. I was not sure what to do about the bunkers we had dug. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. The three companies formed a line almost three kilometers long, facing east, with their backs to the Long Binh wire, based on the mistaken assumption that the VC would attack from the jungle. 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. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. Hoa. 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. Riflemen staying close behind. 7. During this time, the battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The S3 also told Charlie Companys noncombatants to report to battalion headquarters. maxhightForP2 = 13904; 0.04 When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians seeking refuge. Get under! for days and days. the country where resupply was easier for the enemy. 15. All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!. I sounded off, "who is there"? Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Something was definitely about to happen. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [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. 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. This group is primarily for those Vietnam veterans who experienced the ammo dump attacks in Long Binh in 1966, '67, & '68. charred. At the meeting, I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. 3. [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. We left the clearing of Bien Hoa City in the capable hands of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. LV EXPLOSIONS The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. By Vietnam terms The progress was slow and ammo was becoming scarce, particularly grenades, which get consumed at an enormous rate in city fighting. Craven and another photographer, were both wounded in the engagement.) We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. The 2nd Platoon, under Lieutenant Fred Casper, led the way, followed by my track, then Lieutenant Howard Jones 1st Platoon and, finally, the weapons platoon under Lieutenant Don Muir. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. SP4 Lawrence Korteum With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. Most of these photos were taken in an area a few miles north of Chu Lai and south of Hoi An. known as Widows Village. 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. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scouts into Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a suburb of Bien Hoa. (Note: According to Colonel Sonny Craven, then leader of a combat photo team on the scene, these combat sequences was filmed by soldiers of the 221st Signal Company [Pictorial]). Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. 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. Attacking Long About 30 minutes later, the track came back with only the driver, who reported the ranger sergeant had been killed and that it had been impossible to evacuate the wounded. 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 yelled at Lieutenant Casper, and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of 4 Joseph Sugar Bear Dames returned to the tracks for more grenades. ton wrecker weighing in at 22 thousand pounds. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. [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. 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. As we rolled back through Bien Hoa, we were astounded to find the battalion S4, Captain Leroy Brown, in the middle of town with a 5,000-gallon fuel tanker and several ammunition trucks. 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. On the morning of 31 January 1968, the Bien Hoa Air Base, III Corps HQ, the Prisoner of War Compound, and other key installations around Bien Hoa--Long Binh area received enemy mortar and rocket fire. 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. 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. That was 90th Replacement Battalion, situated on the road to Saigon between the village of Bien Hoa and the huge base at Long Binh. I then jacked a round into my M-16 and who would you believe Bomb squads disarmed seven of the charges, but at 07:30 the remainder exploded with three igniting pallets of artillery shells and their Propellant bags causing a massive explosion, blast wave and mushroom cloud. [2]:349, The perimeter was strengthened by an ad hoc force of support personnel from the 145th Aviation Battalion and just before midday the ARVN 57th Regional Force Battalion moved through the base and counterattacked the VC forcing them to withdraw east into the rubber plantation leaving behind over 100 dead. Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Thanh airfield. He said the first thing he could remember was the LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. resulting in the explosion of the ammo dump at Bin Ha Air Base. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the S3s radio operator. In January 1968, our battalion relocated to the area between Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa, where intelligence had located a VC battalion. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. At the meeting I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. First was sand then bigger stuff. 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. [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. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scout platoon into the edge of Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. As usual, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, located on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. . Not only would I not finish my command tour, but I was also being assigned to a leg division. Page contents not supported in other languages. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. 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. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. We came up with a T formation. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. We packed up our gear, rolled up our wire and waited. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. [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. After all had left for the Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. in bunker) at first light to the sound of a M-60 chattering away. 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) 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. into the bunkers. Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II bomber aircraft drop two Mk.84 HD bombs. the bunker. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. I was not sure what to do about the bunkers. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . Perpetual Siege region. Some were complete projectiles weighing
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