Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. ", "Then we were all in the bunker AMMUNITION DUMP. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 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. 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. in bunker) at first light to the sound of a M-60 chattering away. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 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. All rights reserved. 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 never saw them again. The VC attacks on Bien Hoa and the Long Binh complex were abject failures, due in part to the fact that on January 31, 1968, they had run into the Panthers of the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry. Most of these photos were taken in an area a few miles north of Chu Lai and south of Hoi An. What we came up with was a T formation. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. The 2nd Platoon took the one north of the road, the 1st Platoon attacked the other. Casper rose from a prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. USAF (United States Air Force) F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter aircraft drops Mark 82 (Mk.82) high-drag (HD) bombs. 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. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. - Since I was in an airborne unit, it seemed certain that I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. Hoa. Following that fight, the 2-47 was ordered south of the 9th Divisions base camp. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. more that happened that night. When I pointed out that the 101st Battalion had more than 500 troops and I had only two line platoons and less than 90 troops, he said, Youre mechanized, youre very strong.. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion. I had been in Vietnam about nine months. ", "I then went to the CP and tried 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. About Us | The VC attacks on Bien Hoa and the Long Binh complex were abject failures, due in part to the fact that on January 31, 1968, they had run into the Panthers of the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymore mines and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. [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. This article was written by John E. Gross and originally published in the February 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. 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. 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. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. Soon we could hear leaders moving up and down the bunker line yelling for the guards to stop firing. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered on foot. Contact Us | Well, the piece of shrapnel Tet Offensive I had returned to Long Binh Post. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!. 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. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. out of the sky. GV EXPLOSIONS, AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. About a month earlier I had been loaned out to weld the razor and the gunner replied "VC Early on January 30, we were told the Tet cease-fire was canceled, and our unit was deployed into a defensive line along the road that ran around the east side of the Long Binh base. NEARER AIR V..SMOKE 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 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. bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was When it 6. 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. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. Tower sent Major Jones to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. 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. 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. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. They bowed and looked confused. From our positions, we could see and hear the fireworks lighting the sky over Saigon to the west. 4 Joseph Dames was tasked to return to the tracks for more grenades. 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. Another VC battalion infiltrated near the area of the 3rd Ordnance (Long Binh) ammunition dump [and] in a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball. LV EXPLOSIONS Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Thanh airfield. [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. At dawn on 2 February the US counted approximately 50 VC/PAVN dead in the area and captured 3 VC. recoil of my M14. 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. 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. 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. Mainly it is the story of some of the finest solders to ever wear the uniform of the U.S. Army and how they reacted not only to fierce combat, but also to the fog of war. Widows Village made a perfect attack position, since it lay directly across Highway 316 from II Field Force headquarters. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. He was alive but he suffered a busted ear drum and singed hair, eye brows and arms. Ive just been told you work for me again. We all knew that these moves were more than just precautionary. 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. About two days later one the huge fuel bags next [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. Helicopter gunships took off from Bien Hoa AB to investigate, but were unable to locate the force in the darkness. At 7 a.m., as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. Hide. (Long Binh) ammunition dump. 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. He said I would have to wait. the barracks hall just as he stepped out of his room going to These photos were taken from December 9, 1967 to February 1968. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. As time passed, I became a mechanized soldier. Back view of jeep with open doors. [2]:347[3]:225, At 03:00, the PAVN 84A Artillery Regiment began a barrage of approximately 100 82-mm. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. was out of the bldgs. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. This was no surprise to us, since we could plainly hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. All day civilians had been darting from their homes and running from the fighting. SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. [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. No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. 15. 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. 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. was his helmet and flack jacket! All of these placements were made with the wrongful assumption that the VC would attack from the jungles outside the base. Officer and soldiers examine barbed wire torn apart by Vietcong who infiltrated Long Binh ammunition dump. 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. 0.42 probably one of the best deals I had been Used for because the In a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball, the shock of the explosion echoing over an area of 50 miles. 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. This article was originally published in the February 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine. My Account | 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 . He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. 0.04 . Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. 1 comment. Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. Ly's father is a bricklayer.