Which date was it? During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. Since I was in an airborne unit, I was sure I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. from the petroleum dump immediately next to our position. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. Attacking Long During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low preparing for Tet. We packed up our gear, rolled up our wire and waited. (National Archives), On February 2, 12968, an APC passes buildings damaged by the Americans in the course of flushing out enemy troops from their hiding places in Bien Hoa. One reference claims that 4 February 1967 was the date, and another claims that 28 March was the date. Now someone pointed out that there were a lot of young men, all dressed in black pants and white shirts, among the refugees. At about 6 a.m., Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. SP4 Lawrence Korteum to check-in and see what was going on, and found myself the only ruary 1968 in support of Saigon and Long Binh Post during the TET Offen- Sive. 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). Refine Your Search Long Binh Vietnam 1968 stock footage and images - Showing 1 to 6 of 5537 results Sort by: All All Search Results Decade 1890 - 1899 (3) 1900 - 1909 (18) 1910 - 1919 (136) 1920 - 1929 (83) more Location Aalen Germany (1) Aberdeen Proving Ground Maryland USA (1) Afghanistan (2) Africa (3) more Akron Ohio USA (3) Dressed as travelers returning to ancestral homes for the Tet holiday, the guerrillas had quietly drifted into their urban assembly areas and put together their weapons. This site requires JavaScript. 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. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. 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. Sergeant John Ax, squad leader of 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, recalls what the fighting near III Corps was like: An RPG hit Shocker, the C-21 track, in the side; but it must have been a glancing blow, because it did not explode. [5], USAF losses were 4 killed in action with another dying of a heart attack, while 26 were wounded. Relevant to these events; post recollections and descriptions, questions,. The unit left their position at Firebase Concord north of Bin Ha and moved east proceeding along trails north of Ho Nai towards the LRRP position. As we made the turn eastward on Highway 1, the lead platoon was ambushed. 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. It then dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. Waking Dead. South Vietnam: Viet Cong Explode U.s. Ammunition Dump. He 1.19 They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. on the Bailey Compound, only in the 145th CAB HQ which could The progress was slow and ammunition was becoming a scarce, particularly grenades, which city fighting consumes at an enormous rate. Ly's grandfather was a soldier stationed in Quang Binh during the war. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round hitting my track. Benny Toney, the 2nd Platoon sergeant, hooked a tow cable to Stormy. [2]:347, The ARVN 53rd Regional Force Battalion was responsible for security in the countryside around Bin Ha. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians seeking refuge. Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. 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. As the C-23 track Stormy, which was in the lead, turned into a side street, an RPG slammed into its front, smashing the radiator and wounding several soldiers. 0.24 Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the Get under! After what seemed like They ordered us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. At 7 a.m., as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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. 7. Several tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. 2 comments. was his helmet and flack jacket! build bunkers, and help pick up the dead enemy across the fence. Dames walked down a side alley toward the highway. (Vietnam War period). Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could get their attack organized. The 2nd Platoon led the way under Lieutenant Fred Casper, followed by my track, then Lieutenant Howard Jones 1st Platoon and, finally, the weapons platoon under Lieutenant Don Muir. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. [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 charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, located on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. 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. 0.48 As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. I was told to forget about them, which reinforced our feeling that this situation was different and that combat was certainly imminent. The 2nd Platoon, under Lieutenant Fred Casper, led the way, followed by my track, then Lieutenant Howard Jones 1st Platoon and, finally, the weapons platoon under Lieutenant Don Muir. Soon we could hear leaders moving up and down the bunker line yelling for the guards to stop firing. Toggle the table of contents Talk: Long Bnh, Bin Ha. Some were complete projectiles weighing We packed up all of our gear, rolled up our concertina wire and waited. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a suburb of Bien Hoa. Toward dusk on January 30, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist to dig bunkers next to their APCs. Summary - October 1966. January 12, 1972. by: Arnold John Houchin Bin Ha, USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron 1970-1972 Phu Cat, 37th SPS; Thu Hoa, 31st SPS; . We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. Binh Hoa Airbase was lucky they were not the We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. I told the colonel that this was not a police action, that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. Sand bags near barbed wire fence. As I remember the Tet Offensive began in the early morning of This is the story of one rifle company, and what it faced on that decisive day. In addition, gunships killed many more as they tried to escape from the villages. Copyright Screenocean 2022 | Powered byImagen. Long Binh Ammo Dump - '67 & '68 | Facebook The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. For additional reading, see: The Battle for Saigon, Tet 1968, by Keith Nolan; and History of the 5th Division, by Ho Son Dai and Nguyen Van Hung. 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 Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. 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. Vietnam War-Stories.com: Sapper Attack, Ammo Dump Explosion, Bin Ha officer around. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. In April 1967 I was a first lieutenant commanding a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. Incredibly, nobody in my company had been killed the day before. In command for five months, I had been assured that I would be leading the company for one year, which suited me fine. As he fell, a burst of automatic weapons fire stitched the wall right where he would have been had he not fallen. (Casper, one of the bravest of the brave, died during the May offensive in Saigon, leading from the front.). [2]:347, At 01:00, a 6-man LRRP from Company F, 51st Infantry Regiment spotted PAVN/VC moving through rubber trees several hundred meters to the north of Long Binh Post. 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. Ammo Dump Exlosion Sapper Attack! SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION Lt. Col. John E. Gross Recalls the Tet Battles of Bien Hoa and Long Binh The VC/PAVN attacked the position that night in a 6 hour long assault which was met initially by US mortar and artillery fire, then helicopter gunships and then napalm strikes. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. 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. Meanwhile, Charlie Company was ordered back to III Corps. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymore mines and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. 6 comments. By July 1969 we were finally off the boats and in Dong Tam processing to head home. The scout platoon had fought valiantly all day long in Widows Village and in Ho Nai. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. convoy about two days before and were repairing anything that had failed 11K views 9 years ago This is a brief clip of the ammo dump explosion at Long Binh, Vietnam, taken the morning of the Tet offensive, 1968. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. But no one would be leaving the country that day. License Agreement | Chu Lai and LZ Baldy Photos. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. The 2-47s enemy body count came in at over 200, while the battalion suffered only four KIA. According to the official history of the VC 5th Division, the 3rd Battalion, 5th VC Regiment, supported by the Bien Hoa Sapper Company, had the mission of overrunning the compound, which was defended by about 15 ARVN soldiers and a smattering of MACV advisers. As we turned to head back, a tremendous blast shook the whole city of Bien Hoa. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. (Vietnam War period). only be entered from off the Bien Hoa Air base and thru the gate 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. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. Rocket Attack on Dong Tam - July 10, 1969. I had inherited the job He was alive but he suffered a busted ear drum and singed hair, eye brows and arms. [6]:12, Several dozen of the PAVN rockets exploded near the II Field Force and 199th LIB headquarters in the Plantation Compound (105728N 1065241E / 10.9577N 106.878E / 10.9577; 106.878) causing minimal damage. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. 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. 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. 939939. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep (Vietnam War period). (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]). 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. I An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. I 90th Replacement Battalion | My Vietnam Experience As dawn broke on February 1, it was deathly quiet. trooper was injured by a piece of shrapnel that had come down Dong Ha vietnam 1968 | Dong Ha ammo dump explosion from NVA artillery fire. After all had left for the night on alert at the Birdcage, I was awakened (trying to sleep Long Bnh Post and the Vietnam War | Worlds Revealed 2. 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. The II Field Force commander, Lt. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand, had correctly guessed that a major attack was going to come during Tet, and his anticipation of the attacks no doubt saved Long Binh and Saigon from being overrun. One of the children in the Hope System of Care is Nguyen Thi Ly, born in 2001 with a deformed face, head and chest. Destroyed and burned out ammunition pad shows burned out 105mm howitzer shells. Dressed as travelers returning to ancestral homes for the Tet holiday, the guerrillas had quietly drifted into their urban assembly areas and put together their weapons. Service Battery 6/27th History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom II drop Mark 82 bombs in Vietnam during U.S. air strikes. 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. Now 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. They tried to make us keep our heads down so we couldn't get them with our counter-mortar fire . I told the platoon leaders to prepare to dismount and to take all the ammunition and grenades they could carry. The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. It also contained tons of captured NVA ammo and guns from the A Shau Valley. Evan Ammo dump - VHFCN Under fire, Staff Sgt. Then things started falling out of the sky. From our positions, we could see and hear the fireworks lighting the sky over Saigon to the west. LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. Then things started falling out of the sky. 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. They all blew up! During this time, the battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. However the VC/PAVN never made another ground attack on an air base and moved to attacks by fire with rockets, mortar and artillery. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead [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. A spokesman for the South Vietnamese command said that, according to unconfirmed re ports, satchel charges, of the type used by Vietcong sabotage squads were found near the dump. NEARER V..EXPLOSIONS 13. THE STORM BREAKS Part 1 In the late-night hours of 29 January 1968 We all knew these moves were more than precautionary. Realizing we were driving past our objective, I halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. [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. (Long Binh) ammunition dump. [6]:66. The bus ride to 90th Replacement was relatively short and everyone seemed exhausted from the long flight. 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. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. Tower had called and told me Charlie Company was under the operational control of III Corps and I was to take my orders from them. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. Casper rose from the prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. I had learned no tactic at infantry school that fit the situation we were faced with, so we improvised. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then charged in shooting. About two days later one the huge fuel bags next Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. Their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. Long Binh Ammo Dump October 29, 1966 . Four men were killed and more than 20 wounded, including most of the officers. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymores and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. As he fell, a burst of automatic weapons fire stitched the wall right where he would have been had he not fallen.. 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. sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. I called battalion headquarters and was told to forget about them, which reinforced our sense that combat was imminent. all personnel to the flight line. Unfortunately for the VC, they had no weapons other than the RPG launcher. 14. ton wrecker weighing in at 22 thousand pounds. 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. Suddenly he came upon a VC RPG team drawing a bead on my command track, which was marked as a prime target by the number of radio antennas jutting from it.

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