By Vietnam terms opened his mouth but, SGT Cuffee, the supply SGT. The ARVN general and III Corps G3 adviser, however, were not happy when we pulled out. - 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. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. 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. Activity in the area had picked up in November and [6]:36 In addition airborne "rocket watch" patrols were established in the Saigon-Bien Hoa area to reduce attacks by fire. Under fire, Staff Sgt. Alpha Company, still licking its wounds from the January 23 fight, was left intact. 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. . But no one would be leaving the country that day. The 1st Platoon of Bravo Company was made the II Field Force reaction force and was placed in the PX parking lot at Long Binh. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round hitting my track. The progress was slow and ammunition was becoming a scarce, particularly grenades, which city fighting consumes at an enormous rate. The VC who had fired the RPG slipped away, but Pfc Jim Love, who was tossed into a sewage ditch by the explosion, remembers killing the jeep with his M-16. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. In another sign that the situation was serious, the battalion commander himself gave map coordinates of company objectives in the clear. Specialist 4 Bill Rambo, assistant driver and .50-gunner on my command track, remembers my response to the firing as being absolutely irate. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. Relevant to these events; post recollections and descriptions, questions,. As the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. [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. At about 6 a.m., Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. All of these placements were made with the wrongful assumption that the VC would attack from the jungles outside the base. bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low, preparing for Tet. 1.04 . I asked one of the men 118th during the Tet of 1968, also called the Defense of Bien Riflemen moving cautiously. 0.42 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 in the pre-dawn gloom, with small-arms fire cracking overhead, I was amazed to see young girls carrying bottles of Coca-Cola, trying to sell them to the troops. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. John Gross received the Silver Star for his actions in command of Charlie Company on the first day of the Tet Offensive. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. 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. Bien Hoa Air Base was the largest air base in the country, home to over 500 United States Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) aircraft, while Long Binh Post was the US Army's largest logistics base, headquarters of II Field Force, Vietnam, the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (199th LIB) and the 12th Aviation Group and home to over 20,000 US personnel. Other than temporarily disrupting operations at Bien Hoa AB for half a day and destroying ammunition at the Long Binh ammunition dump, the VC/PAVN inflicted minimal damage to the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex. At dusk, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. SOUTH VIETNAM: VIET CONG EXPLODE U.S. With the explosion of the entire ammunition dump imminent, and in the midst of exploding shells, fire and debris, the men of COMPANY B, . the wrecker operator had to know how to weld. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. 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 . 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. mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. remembered the 1SGT told him the first thing he was to get into . GV EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES Barbed wire torn apart by Vietcong who infiltrated through Longbinh ammunition camp. Charlie Company quickly reinforced Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. On January 23, during a battalion sweep of a heavily jungled area south of Highway 1, Alpha Company walked into a well-camouflaged, well-defended enemy bunker system and was badly mauled, losing four men killed and more than 20 wounded, including almost all of the officers. door at the petroleum dump ruptured and fuel flowed down the ditch in A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, situated on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. 0.04 had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. Jim Love recalls lying in a ditch near a dead civilian as the friendly fire cracked over our heads. South Vietnam: Viet Cong Explode U.s. Ammunition Dump. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. front making it dangerous to return fire. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a real nightmare. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. EOD in Vietnam 1966-1967, Photo Album - ZiaNet the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. 939939. I have . I was well seasoned having been through all the scenarios that presented [2]:347[3]:236 The rocket/mortar attack was the signal to start the ground assaults on Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh. (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]). The 2nd Platoon took the one north of the road, the 1st Platoon attacked the other. LV DITTO The 2-47 was one of several units General Weyand pulled in from the jungles to guard the Long Binh headquarters and logistical complex 15 miles northeast of Saigon. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of The VC had run out of ammunition and were trying to escape. I called battalion headquarters and asked what to do about the bunkers. After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. Ive just been told you work for me again. The attacks on Bin Ha, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, occurred during the early hours of 31 January 1968 and continued until 2 February 1968. 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. Tom Allaback. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. At the end of the previous day, Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. Rocket Attack on Dong Tam - July 10, 1969. happened to hit him just over the forehead. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. 1.13 (Vietnam War period). The chrome Talk:Long Bnh, Bin Ha - Wikipedia History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. [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. It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep 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. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. At the meeting I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. Vietnam War-Stories.com: Sapper Attack, Ammo Dump Explosion, Bin Ha 13. I called III Corps to report that we had detained all of these people, and was told to wait for the Vietnamese National Police to take charge. 1968 - 1969, To See Lawrence's Service Battery Photos Sand bags near barbed wire fence. After all had left for the The churches were cleared in short order. I had no way of knowing who it was with no light in the At 07:30 the VC/PAVN force stopped and made a stand in a cemetery where they continued to be hit by the gunships and the ACAVs of Company C. At 08:00 Company C was joined by a force from 2/47th Infantry and they proceeded to methodically kill all the VC/PAVN in the cemetery. He was alive but he suffered a busted ear drum and singed hair, eye brows and arms. 0.17 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. I was the DistrictSenior Advisor (Army) in Vinh Kim, Long Dinh District, right across the canal from Dong Tam in 1968-1969. They ordered us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. Initials PW/VS/JH/BB/ES PW/VS/JH/ES This site requires JavaScript. unless they could see someone, I went to our Operations shack There we would be assigned a unit we would serve with in Vietnam. This fire was observed by the helicopter gunships that had been circling the area north of Long Binh and they quickly moved to attack the launch sites and were soon joined by an AC-47 Spooky gunship and their combined fire soon stopped the rocket/mortar fire. 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. Our outfit was a on the water tower". 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. First was sand then bigger stuff. The probing attack units included VC sapper squads. The view is from the compound of the 20th. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered on foot. Flames consuming huts. That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. 8. I realized we were driving past our objective, halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. Then I got a call from battalion commander Tower, asking how things were going. He flight line and I was checking the bunker for anyone, I heard There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. remember being giddy and my brain was asking What is wrong with me?. This article incorporates public domain material from the .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Air Force Historical Research Agency. I was not sure what to do about the bunkers. AIR V..EXPLOSION In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company.