long binh ammo dump explosion 196811 Apr long binh ammo dump explosion 1968
Several of his tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. 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. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. The battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. I operated a heavy five We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. Hide. After I got the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were . Activity in the area had picked up in November and Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Come back up on the battalion freq.. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company. He started 118th during the Tet of 1968, also called the Defense of Bien United States officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Long Binh. SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION (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]). 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. 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. In command for five months, I had been assured that I would be leading the company for one year, which suited me fine. 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 had been in command for five months and had been assured that I would be in command for one year, which suited me fine. Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. 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. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. "[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. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. 3. Despite the confusion and wounds, our troops returned fire. F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom II drop Mark 82 bombs in Vietnam during U.S. air strikes. 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. 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. Sand bags near barbed wire fence. OK. Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. [3]:2305 By dawn the VC/PAVN were retreating northwards pursued by helicopter gunships and at 06:15 Company C, 4/12th Infantry began moving north in pursuit, intending to pin the VC/PAVN against a force from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment which was moving south. All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!. bodies across the road began to bloat into a grotesque scene. This article was written by John E. Gross and originally published in the February 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. LV DITTO known as Widows Village. At about 6 a.m., Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. and no one was injured. I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion. The bombs descend and explode on structures in grove of trees near rice paddies 23 miles east of Binh Thuy on 19th August. As the C-23 track in the lead, Stormy, turned into a side street, a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) slammed into its front, smashing the radiator and wounding several soldiers. We could shoot about 21 miles into Cambodia. LV EXPLOSIONS We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. As we made the turn eastward on Highway 1, the lead platoon was ambushed. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. 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 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. The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low preparing for Tet. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. We all knew these moves were more than precautionary. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. Tower sent the battalion S3, Major Jones, to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. recoil of my M14. Somehow the foam trucks from 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. This article was originally published in the February 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine. 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. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. 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. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. The view is from the compound of the 20th. Then things started falling out of the sky. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. The North Vietnamese Army had circled We packed up all of our gear, rolled up our concertina wire and waited. He ignored me and proceeded to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. [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. I had no way of knowing who it was with no light in the It was the first such occurrence since the ceasefire of Jan. 28. 0.24 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. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 0.54 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. When I pointed out that the 101st Battalion had more than 500 troops and I had only two line platoons and fewer than 90 troops, he said, Youre mechanized, youre very strong., I told him we could not take the tracks off Highway 1 and into town because the streets and alleys were too narrow. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. By the evening the 2/47th Infantry withdrew into the Long Binh perimeter. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians. Service Battery 6/27th The Communists were starting to carry out a plan that they had studied for a considerable period. By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. Now 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. Binh Hoa Airbase was lucky they were not the Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion headquarters to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Company C. In October, the 2-47 was tasked to secure engineers as they cleared Highway 1 from Xuan Loc to the II Corps boundary near Phan Thiet. we were a bit more trigger happy than usual. all personnel to the flight line. Sergeant John Ax, squad leader of 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, recalls the fighting near III Corps: An RPG hit Shocker, the C-21 track, in the side; but it must have been a glancing blow, because it did not explode. Under fire, Staff Sgt. We usually got mortared at night whenever Dong Tam was getting it from our district. to check-in and see what was going on, and found myself the only Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. Riflemen staying close behind. During Tet 1968, the 856th Radio . Since I was in an airborne unit, I was sure I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. 1. The probing attack units included VC sapper squads. 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. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. [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. 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. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. Seems like the fighting went on had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Elements of B Company, 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) and C Company, 4/39th Infantry, clearing North Vietnamese Army regulars from "Widows' Village" (a hamlet of housing provided by the government of the Republic of Vietnam for widows and children of fallen ARVN soldiers).
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