We came up with a T formation. The action occurs January 31st, 1968 (on "Tet", the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday). Tet offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh, Tet Offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh, United States Army Center of Military History, "Tet Offensive: The Battles of Bien Hoa and Long Binh", Video of helicopter gunships and F-100s in action at Bien Hoa AB, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_offensive_attacks_on_Bien_Hoa_and_Long_Binh&oldid=1086914863, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968, Battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States, Attacks on military installations in the 1960s, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 May 2022, at 04:36. Kortuem! In another sign that the situation was serious, the battalion commander himself gave map coordinates of company objectives in the clear. Meanwhile, Hueys reported VC running from the village. First was sand then bigger stuff. 6 comments. Now the fight was on. 0.13 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. When I arrived at the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry, nicknamed the Panthers, Lt. Col. Arthur Moreland, the commander, asked me what job I wanted. October continued with construction efforts. That night, no one slept, but instead scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. Terms & Conditions | The VC had run out of ammunition and were trying to escape. [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. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. As was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. The colonel explained that since we were infantry soldiers and did not know the proper method of searching a house, he and his crew had come to teach us. 2. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion. [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. I called battalion headquarters and asked what to do about the bunkers. Come back up on the battalion freq. I had never been so happy in my life. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. I then jacked a round into my M-16 and who would you believe I sounded off, "who is there"? We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. 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. 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. yelling Kortuem! At 03:45 the unit engaged the VC/PAVN with 2 ACAVs being quickly knocked out by RPG fire. the country where resupply was easier for the enemy. the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for 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. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. They ordered us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. In addition to the US bases, the city of Bin Ha was the headquarters of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) III Corps and home to a large prisoner of war camp. PAVN/VC losses were 137 killed and 25 captured. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. Activity in the area had picked up in November and When the shooting started it During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. I had been in Vietnam about nine months. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. At the meeting I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. As dawn broke on February 1, it was deathly quiet. 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. 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. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. My only previous contact with M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) was during a training exercise at the officers basic course. Several tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. The chrome Love was so startled, he didnt fire. was out of the bldgs. Hide. They all blew up! [2]:352[3]:2067, At approximately 05:30, the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, mounted on M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles (ACAVs) coming from Bearcat approached the Plantation from the southwest and formed a skirmish line to engage the VC, while helicopter gunships from the 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment swept in to rocket and machine gun the VC positions. I assigned areas of operation to my two rifle platoons, and positioned the weapons platoon inside the compound as a reserve and security force. the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. ", "I then went to the CP and tried 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. It In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. At the beginning of the Tet Offensive, one rifle company was ordered to to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. We usually got mortared at night whenever Dong Tam was getting it from our district. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. We had returned from a At 0400 Jones ordered us to pull in our ambushes and be prepared to move. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. 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 wrecker operator had to know how to weld. Then, for the last week in January, the 2-47 was sent south of the 9th Divisions base camp to patrol the jungles east of Highway 15, near the Binh Son rubber plantation. Company E engaged the PAVN/VC supported by artillery fire killing 47 PAVN/VC. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. As my airborne mentality faded, I learned to love the M-113or track. We could haul more personal gear, live more comfortably and walk less than straight-leg troops. Under fire, Staff Sgt. GV DUMP front making it dangerous to return fire. it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. This article was written by John E. Gross and originally published in the February 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. 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. The Vietnamese brigadier generalthe ranking man at III Corpsdrew circles on a map around two areas of downtown Bien Hoa. 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 weapon was aimed at the newly built and painted (orange-white OK. The platoons attacked by successive bounds through the village as the tracks, forming the base of the T, gave fire support from the .50s and resupplied the troops with ammo. 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. Some were complete projectiles weighing We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. more that happened that night. They bowed and looked confused. January 12, 1972. by: Arnold John Houchin Bin Ha, USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron 1970-1972 Phu Cat, 37th SPS; Thu Hoa, 31st SPS; . "I was the 1SGT of the Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. 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. We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. It was the first such occurrence since the ceasefire of Jan. 28. Charlie Company reacted quickly to reinforce Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. [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. As time passed, I became a mechanized soldier. carried on into that night with tracers flying everywhere. -- color photo Near Moc Hoa. FAQs - How to Order | Script is copyright Reuters Limited. from the petroleum dump immediately next to our position. I was well seasoned having been through all the scenarios that presented Casper rose from a prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. When offered the chance to go to II Field Force to help establish a new long-range reconnaissance patrol outfit, I turned it down to stay with the company. Craven and another photographer, were both wounded in the engagement.) Helicopter gunships took off from Bien Hoa AB to investigate, but were unable to locate the force in the darkness. Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. At 0700, as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. 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. while we were gone. Page contents not supported in other languages. I As the sun sank low, 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. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. Then things started falling out of the sky. 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) As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. All rights reserved. 0.17 After a eventful Toward dark, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. Burned out 105mm howitzer shells at ammunition dump in Bien Hoa Air Force Base, Bien Hoa in Vietnam. I had inherited the job The Long Binh ammunition dump had exploded. All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. checkered) water tower by the main gate. 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. I jumped down and ran from track to track, pounding on the sides and yelling, Check your handsets! As I ran back through the weapons platoon, I came upon an unbelievable sight. CRITICALPAST.COM: SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION M-117 bombs explode near and on road on wooden slopes near river north of Pleiku near Dak To, on 18 August, 1968. who was tossed into a sewage ditch by the explosion, remembers 'killing the jeep' with his M-16. Their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. This article was originally published in the February 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine. Shopping Cart | LV EXPLOSIONS When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. However the VC/PAVN never made another ground attack on an air base and moved to attacks by fire with rockets, mortar and artillery. - As we rolled by, we looked down into the compound and saw soldiers in khakis, boarding passes in hand, milling about. him in. [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. II Field Force commander LG Frederick C. Weyand had also ordered the 9th Infantry Division to be prepared to send its 1st Brigade from Bearcat Base 16km south of Long Binh to Bien Hoa-Long Binh in the event of an attack. [6]:36 In addition airborne "rocket watch" patrols were established in the Saigon-Bien Hoa area to reduce attacks by fire. Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79 grenade launcher. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered dismounted. I told the platoon leaders to prepare to dismount and to take all the ammunition and grenades they could carry. It dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. In command for five months, I had been assured that I would be leading the company for one year, which suited me fine. GV AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. Most of these photos were taken in an area a few miles north of Chu Lai and south of Hoi An. Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. His action probably saved the lives of everyone on my track. The three companies formed a line almost three kilometers long, facing to the east, with their backs to the Long Binh wire. Something was definitely about to happen. . AMMUNITION DUMP. The bombs descend and explode on structures in grove of trees near rice paddies 23 miles east of Binh Thuy on 19th August. Lookout tower in the background. Story Text: 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. We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. Summary - October 1966. They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. Anyone can read what you share. It then dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. No tactic I had learned at infantry school fit that situation, so we improvised. LV EXPLOSION, SIGN ON BOARD "DISNEY LAND FAR EAST" To get to the church, we had to run a gantlet of fire, through the VC 238th Regiment and into the flank of the 275th, which was fighting the 2-47s scout platoon in Widows Village. 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. 4 and future U.S. senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel) had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widows Village fight. door at the petroleum dump ruptured and fuel flowed down the ditch in 13. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. APCs advance, firing 50 caliber machine guns. Featured Collections | 5. 0.35 After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. convoy about two days before and were repairing anything that had failed 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. He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map.
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