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recoil of my M14. 5 Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. I have . The remains of a stack of over 15,000 high explosive 155mm artillery projectiles after the VC attack on February 4. My Account | I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. OK. On the morning of 31 January 1968, the Bien Hoa Air Base, III Corps HQ, the Prisoner of War Compound, and other key installations around Bien Hoa--Long Binh area received enemy mortar and rocket fire. https://www.historynet.com/tet-offensive-the-battles-of-bien-hoa-and-long-binh/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. For more great articles, subscribe to Vietnam magazine today! [2]:350, At approximately 16:45 F-100 Super Sabres of the 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron conducted a Napalm strike against a PAVN/VC company at the east end of the base runway. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. He waved me off. Gradually, I became a mechanized soldier. After I received the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset, and we moved out. They bowed and looked confused. That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. Now someone pointed out that there were a lot of young men, all dressed in black pants and white shirts, walking among the refugees. NEARER V..EXPLOSIONS At about 6 a.m., Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. After the cemetery had been cleared Company B, 2/3rd Infantry joined Company C, 4/12th Infantry and they made a night defensive perimeter north of Ho Nai, while the 2/47th Infantry was withdrawn to Bin Ha. [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. 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. we were a bit more trigger happy than usual. 0.17 went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of The offensive continued until the end of the month in the North part of bunker. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. As the 2/47th Infantry approached the town a Vietnamese warned that it contained many VC and the VC then launched an ambush on the column knocking out 3 ACAVs with RPGs setting off a 4-hour battle as the US forces engaged the VC position and rescued the survivors in the damaged ACAVs. 0.22 Terms & Conditions | I operated a heavy five The 2-47s scout platoon had just finished a brutal fight in Widows Village, and at 4 p.m., it was ordered to move to the junction of Highways 1 and 316, and to attack westward through the village of Ho Nai toward Charlie Company, in the hope of pinning the VC between us. The bus ride to 90th Replacement was relatively short and everyone seemed exhausted from the long flight. checkered) water tower by the main gate. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered dismounted. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. I was not sure what to do about the bunkers. PAVN/VC losses were 137 killed and 25 captured. The ammunition dump contained high explosives like: C-4, artillery rounds, mortar rounds, aerial flares, 50 caliber rounds, M-60 machine gun rounds, and aerial rockets for the Huey Cobra and gunships. 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. One A-37 and 1 F-100 were destroyed while a further 17 aircraft were damaged. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. The platoons attacked by successive bounds through the village as the companys tracks, forming the base of the T on the highway, provided fire support from the .50s and resupplied the troops with ammunition. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. the light dome that rose from the explosion. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [2]:349, The perimeter was strengthened by an ad hoc force of support personnel from the 145th Aviation Battalion and just before midday the ARVN 57th Regional Force Battalion moved through the base and counterattacked the VC forcing them to withdraw east into the rubber plantation leaving behind over 100 dead. Ammo Dump Exlosion Sapper Attack! As the afternoon of January 30 drifted toward dusk, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist and dug bunkers next to their M-113s. Perpetual Siege region. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. It was the first such occurrence since the ceasefire of Jan. 28. I had inherited the job About two days later one the huge fuel bags next Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. As I remember this night, around 12 or 12:30 a.m. the sirens Flames consuming huts. The chrome on the Bailey Compound, only in the 145th CAB HQ which could bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was Toward dark, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. Big Ammunition Dump Near Saigon Hit by Blasts, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/02/archives/big-ammunition-dump-near-saigon-hit-by-blasts-laotian-reports.html. The fog of war was especially thick on the morning of January 31, 1968. The village of Ho Nai, now a ghost town, was still smoldering. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Then and He waved me off. In Bin Ha itself the 3rd Ranger Task Force, consisting of the 35th and 36th Ranger Battalions, provided a rapid reaction force supported by 2 155-mm howitzer battalions located on the southeast of the city. mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. Somehow the foam trucks from In April 1967 I was a first lieutenant commanding a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. GV DUMP the bunker. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND EXPLOSION Privacy Policy | Links and the gunner replied "VC Several tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. Script is copyright Reuters Limited. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. 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. 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. 12. I explained to the colonel that this was not a police action, and that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. Ive just been told you work for me again. All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. 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. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. It dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. AIR V..FIRES As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. 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) 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. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. Of course you never 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. Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymores and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. During the morning of January 30, the 2-47 Mech was notified that the Tet cease-fire was canceled, and the unit was deployed into a defensive line along the road that ran around the east side of the Long Binh base. August 1966 November 1966 December 1966. The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. My Lightboxes | 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. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. maxhightForP2 = 13904; Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. Get under! After what seemed like We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. him in. At the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry (2-47), nicknamed the Panthers, the commander, Lt. Col. Arthur Moreland, asked me what job I wanted. [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. As dawn broke, everything was deathly quiet. After a eventful [2]:347 Within Bien Hoa AB, the USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron was responsible for security manning bunkers and operating mobile patrols within the base perimeter. Waking Dead. 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. 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. One of the children in the Hope System of Care is Nguyen Thi Ly, born in 2001 with a deformed face, head and chest. 1.04 Activity in the area had picked up in November and Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. 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. went off and all hell broke lose. had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. License Agreement | They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. According to the VC 5th Division official history, the 3rd Battalion, 5th VC Regiment was supported by the Bien Hoa Sapper Company; its mission was to overrun the compound, which was defended by about 15 ARVN soldiers and a smattering of MACV advisers. The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. Even though it was about 6-8 miles away to the NE of Bien Hoa, it was plainly visible . Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. 9. because Mankato (Minnesota)Vocational school had taught me to weld as [6]:66. "I was the 1SGT of the The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. AIR V..EXPLOSION LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. Binh Hoa Airbase was lucky they were not the The VC had run out of ammunition and were trying to escape. I had no way of knowing who it was with no light in the A burst of VC machine gun fire erupted nearby, causing the colonel, the deputy and their Vietnamese escorts to pile into their vehicles and roar off in the direction from whence they had come. ", "We mustered everyone we could 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. As we turned right onto Highway 15, an unbelievable spectacle stretched before us. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. Advanced Search | 5. Attacking Long Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. The G3 adviser told me that they had received intelligence that Vo Nguyen Giap, the North Vietnamese commanding general, had his command post in a Catholic church about 1 kilometer east of III Corps. 6 comments. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. At least 3,000 tons of ammu nition were reportedly de stroyed in the blasts, which be gan before dawn and continued until midmorning. When the shooting started it border. Page contents not supported in other languages. I said again, "Who is there"? 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. Lieutenant Barnes and one of his soldiers would be awarded Distinguished Service Crosses for their heroism that day. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. It At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. "[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. Specialist 4 Bill Rambo, assistant driver and .50-gunner on my command track, remembers my response to the firing as being absolutely irate. 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. Several of his tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. During the last week of January, the battalion patrolled the jungles east of Highway 15, near the Binh Son rubber plantation. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. [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. We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. SP4 Lawrence Korteum After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. On January 23, during a battalion sweep through heavy jungle south of Highway 1, Alpha Company walked into a camouflaged, well-defended enemy bunker system and was badly mauled. Chu Lai and LZ Baldy Photos. remember being giddy and my brain was asking What is wrong with me?. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. 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. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. LONG BINH, South Viet Nam (UPII A thunderous explosion that shook the heart of Saigon 11 miles away ripped through a U.S. ammunition depot tonight and wounded a handful of Americans. Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. However the ammunition storage bunkers prevented a chain reaction and the lost munitions were easily replaced with no impact on supply. I remember one 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. He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. 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. No answer. I called III Corps and reported that we had detained all of these people, and was told to wait until the Vietnamese National Police arrived to take charge. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then went in shooting. I In a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball, the shock of the explosion echoing over an area of 50 miles. 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. Under fire, Staff Sgt. Well, the piece of shrapnel Some VC crossed Route 316 and took up firing positions in bush at the southern perimeter of the Plantation. 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 rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. 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. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. The idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. 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. Back view of jeep with open doors. 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. After I got the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset. We were ordered to go there and detain every male between the ages of 16 and 80. A slightly wounded soldier, lying on the ground, smiles as he points to his leg as another soldier helps 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. By Vietnam terms 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.