Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. Several tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. At 3 a.m. on January 31, I received a call from Major Bill Jones, who had recently taken Ionoffs place as operations officer. 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 idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. 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. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. Charlie Company would get the mission. In the week preceding the attack these LRRP patrols engaged 2 PAVN/VC reconnaissance teams north of Long Binh. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. Shopping Cart | I GV EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES happened to hit him just over the forehead. Long Binh, again (Feb. 1967). Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could get their attack organized. 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. Then and I had been in Vietnam about nine months. checkered) water tower by the main gate. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered dismounted. 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. (Vietnam War period). Blood stains in ambulance. 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. secondary explosions. Chu Lai and LZ Baldy Photos. The action occurs January 31st, 1968 (on "Tet", the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday). The S3 also told Charlie Companys noncombatants to report to battalion headquarters. Then things started falling out of the sky. The progress was slow and ammo was becoming scarce, particularly grenades, which get consumed at an enormous rate in city fighting. It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scout platoon into the edge of Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. 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. 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. Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. 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. USAF (United States Air Force) F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter aircraft drops Mark 82 (Mk.82) high-drag (HD) bombs. ton wrecker weighing in at 22 thousand pounds. It also contained tons of captured NVA ammo and guns from the A Shau Valley. We could haul more personal gear, live more comfortably and walk less than straight-leg troops. 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. As we fought our way toward the scout platoon, we were blocked by two large churches that were directly across Highway 1 from each other, both occupied by the VC. went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of He started As darkness settled in, Charlie Company was ordered back to the junction of Highways 1 and 316, where we would form a screen in front of the 199th LIB base camp. Casper rose from the prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. His action probably saved the lives of everyone on my track. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. danger and the probable best course of action. border. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low, preparing for Tet. With the explosion of the entire ammunition dump imminent, and in the midst of exploding shells, fire and debris, the men of COMPANY B, . Website Terms & Conditions | 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. [2]:350, With the base returned to full operation, that afternoon C130s landed the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment to help ARVN forces fighting the VC in Bin Ha city. I was the DistrictSenior Advisor (Army) in Vinh Kim, Long Dinh District, right across the canal from Dong Tam in 1968-1969. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. Unfortunately for the VC, they had no weapons other than the RPG launcher. the country where resupply was easier for the enemy. Dames walked down a side alley toward the highway. No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. 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) The helmet had stopped We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. [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. 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. Tower sent Major Jones to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. The 2-47s enemy body count came in at over 200, while the battalion suffered only four KIA. Then things started falling out of the sky. All day civilians had been darting from their homes and running from the fighting. Some VC crossed Route 316 and took up firing positions in bush at the southern perimeter of the Plantation. I was well seasoned having been through all the scenarios that presented We were west of Highway QL1 along a road named 535. VC informants inside the base had provided detailed information as to the base layout and defenses. He waved me off. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. I realize now that the track was high enough that the rounds would have passed over the troops in front of the vehicle, Love recalls. My only previous contact with M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) was during a training exercise at the officers basic course. CU SIGN "NO SMOKING" mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. A VC commander captured later in the battle revealed that his orders were only to start the attack after several hundred rockets had hit the Plantation, but as the rocket sites had been neutralized before the rocket threshold was reached, the ground assault on the Plantation never began. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II bomber aircraft drop two Mk.84 HD bombs. I explained to the colonel that this was not a police action, and that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company. 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. 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. All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. Several of his tracks were hit by RPGs and surrounded by the enemy. build bunkers, and help pick up the dead enemy across the fence. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . bodies across the road began to bloat into a grotesque scene. 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. Activity in the area had picked up in November and In addition, gunships killed many more as they tried to escape from the villages. The VC concentrated their attack on Bunker 10 an old French concrete bunker on the eastern perimeter, hitting it with Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and mortar fire, however the Security Police in Bunker 10 and adjacent bunkers fought back keeping the VC from penetrating far into the base. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. [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. [2]:348, As the rockets hit Bien Hoa AB, 2 battalions of the VC 274th Regiment emerged from a rubber plantation 500m east of the eastern perimeter of Bien Hoa AB. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. As we made the turn eastward on Highway 1, the lead platoon was ambushed. During this fighting, the two platoon leaders were wounded, Lieutenant Casper in the leg and Lieutenant Jones in the foot. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. 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. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. By July 1969 we were finally off the boats and in Dong Tam processing to head home. LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. 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. Something was definitely about to happen. front making it dangerous to return fire. At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. 15. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians seeking refuge. 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. Men at Long Binh ammunition dump. 4 Joseph Dames was tasked to return to the tracks for more grenades. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Copyright Screenocean 2022 | Powered byImagen. Which date was it? AMMUNITION DUMP. wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. 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. on the Bailey Compound, only in the 145th CAB HQ which could We packed up all of our gear, rolled up our concertina wire and waited. 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. I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion.He said: Forget that. Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. 0.13 I was told to forget about them, which reinforced our feeling that this situation was different and that combat was certainly imminent. it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. Alpha Company, still licking its wounds from the January 23 fight, was left intact. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Privacy Policy | Links 102 comments 105 shares. Ive just been told you work for me again. [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. It was The acting commander of the 199th LIB, Col. Frederic E. Davison, ordered three of his infantry companies operating north of Long Binh to attack the rocket launch site, while LG Weyand ordered the 9th Infantry Division to send the 1st Brigade from Bearcat Base. Terms & Conditions | In addition, we were tremendously flexible. As I remember this night, around 12 or 12:30 a.m. the sirens Featured Collections | Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. October continued with construction efforts. [2]:347[3]:236 The rocket/mortar attack was the signal to start the ground assaults on Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh. I called battalion headquarters and asked what to do about the bunkers. He stated 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. and no one was injured. 10. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. Binh Hoa Airbase was lucky they were not the I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. Company B, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment had arrived by helicopter from Bearcat and joined up with 2/47th Infantry to sweep the Widows Village. The churches were cleared in short order. and the gunner replied "VC At 7 a.m., as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. From our positions we could see and hear the celebratory fireworks lighting the sky over Saigon to the west. flight line and I was checking the bunker for anyone, I heard By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. The battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scouts into Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. Refusing evacuation, neither reported his wound. yelling Kortuem! U.S. air strikes in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. Dames killed them with a burst from his M-16 probably saving the lives of everyone on my track. 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. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then charged in shooting. 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. Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. We use cookies on this website. I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion. I realize now that the track was high enough that the rounds would have passed over the troops in front of the vehicle, Love recalls. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help CRITICALPAST.COM: When the Tet cease-fire period began on January 28, the battalion was called back to the vicinity of Bear Cat, a base camp near Long Thanh. We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. 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. remembered the 1SGT told him the first thing he was to get into (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]). 1 comment. [2]:3512 US losses in the fighting in the Widow's Village were three dead. During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. My I said again, "Who is there"? 6 External links modified. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. NEARER AIR V..SMOKE After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. U.S. military officials vVould not give the exact number of casualties for security reasons. 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. From our positions, we could see and hear the fireworks lighting the sky over Saigon to the west. the barracks hall just as he stepped out of his room going to was a point where the Ho Chi Min Trail came close to the countrys West THE EXPLOSIONS RATTLED WINDOWS IN SAIGON, ABOUT 13 MILES (20 KILOMETERS) AWAY. 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. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. He replied that I would have to wait. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. [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. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. Fighting our way to the scout platoon, we were stopped when we came upon two large churches, straddling Highway 1, each occupied by VC. It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. One of the children in the Hope System of Care is Nguyen Thi Ly, born in 2001 with a deformed face, head and chest. 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, situated on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company.