Alpha Company, still licking its wounds from the January 23 fight, was left intact. At 03:45 the unit engaged the VC/PAVN with 2 ACAVs being quickly knocked out by RPG fire. "What are you firing at? " Our outfit was a We never saw them again. When the shooting started it 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. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help Meanwhile, Huey gunships reported VC running from the village. carried on into that night with tracers flying everywhere. The Vietnamese brigadier general, who was the ranking man at III Corps, drew circles around two equal-sized areas of downtown Bien Hoa. They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. The Commo track, C-007, nicknamed Abdula and the Rug Merchants, with Pfc (current Vietnam editor) David Zabecki behind the .50-caliber, brought up the rear. The view is from the compound of the 20th. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. Privacy Policy | Links 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. Long Binh Ammo Dump October 29, 1966 . 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. As was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the 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. 1.13 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. and still no answer. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom II drop Mark 82 bombs in Vietnam during U.S. air strikes. 0.42 I had been in Vietnam about nine months. 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. [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. went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of Lieutenant Barnes and one of his soldiers would be awarded Distinguished Service Crosses for their heroism that day. Realizing we were driving past our objective, I halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. I then jacked a round into my M-16 and who would you believe all personnel to the flight line. had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. By July 1969 we were finally off the boats and in Dong Tam processing to head home. . in bunker) at first light to the sound of a M-60 chattering away. I told him that I wanted to command a company. At 4 a.m., Jones ordered us to pull in our ambushes and be prepared to move, and told Charlie Companys noncombatants to report to battalion headquarters. Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79 grenade launcher. 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. 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. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. Not only would I not finish my command tour, but I was also being assigned to a leg division. [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. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. 5. U.S. air strikes in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. 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. They bowed and looked confused. 15. In addition, we were tremendously flexible. Barbed wire torn apart by Vietcong who infiltrated through Longbinh ammunition camp. Perpetual Siege region. Hoa. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. - This site requires JavaScript. THE EXPLOSIONS RATTLED WINDOWS IN SAIGON, ABOUT 13 MILES (20 KILOMETERS) AWAY. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. GV EXPLOSIONS, AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. We packed up all of our gear, rolled up our concertina wire and waited. Something was definitely about to happen. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Dames killed them with a burst from his M-16 probably saving the lives of everyone on my track. 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. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. Seems like the fighting went on ordnance pad in the huge ammo dump. 10. That night, no one slept, but instead scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. During this time, the battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the S3s radio operator. At 0300 hours I received a call from Major Bill Jones, who had recently taken Ionoffs place as S3, stating 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. 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. Despite the confusion and wounds, our troops returned fire. 4 Joseph Sugar Bear Dames returned to the tracks for more grenades. We were ordered to go to that church and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. . while we were gone. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. The only contact I had had with M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) was during a training exercise at the officers basic course just after I entered the Army. Now the fight was on. 8. 0.59 We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. He Around midnight on October 29th, 1966, the Viet Cong mortared or rocketed the Long Binh Ammo Dump. 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. I explained to the colonel that this was not a police action, and that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. (Vietnam War period). A soldier, who has been hit, lying prone between two other soldiers, tries to get up. M-113 APCs of the 9th Infantry Division storm VC positions 200 meters outside II Field Force headquarters at Long Binh on February 1, 1968. All of these placements were made with the wrongful assumption that the VC would attack from the jungles outside the base. the barracks hall just as he stepped out of his room going to I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. Initials PW/VS/JH/BB/ES PW/VS/JH/ES 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. All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 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 recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. 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. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. bodies across the road began to bloat into a grotesque scene. I Page contents not supported in other languages. [3]:220, When the Company F, 51st Infantry LRRP team reported VC/PAVN moving past their position a reaction force from Company C, 4/12th Infantry mounted on ACAVs was sent to investigate. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned onto Highway 316. At 7 a.m., as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed 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. . 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. The 2nd Platoon took on the one on the north side of the road, and the 1st Platoon attacked the other. (Vietnam War period). LV DITTO Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were . out of the sky. During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. During this fighting, both platoon leaders were wounded, Lieutenant Casper in the leg and Lieutenant Jones in the foot.
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