I sounded off, "who is there"? Now the fight was on. front making it dangerous to return fire. That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. Suddenly he came upon a VC RPG team drawing a bead on my command track, which was a prime target given the number of radio antennas jutting from it. We all knew that these moves were more than just precautionary. I dismounted the platoons and placed them on line on each side of the road: the second on the left, or north, and the first on the right, or south. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. A VC guerrilla hiding behind a parked ARVN jeep had fired the rocket. I have . No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. He waved me off. Even though it was about 6-8 miles away to the NE of Bien Hoa, it was plainly visible . U.S. troops firing small arms as they proceed across tall grass into the hamlet. went off and all hell broke lose. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. No answer. -- color photo Near Moc Hoa. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. 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. He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. [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. LV EXPLOSION, SIGN ON BOARD "DISNEY LAND FAR EAST" I said again, "Who is there"? We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. and still no answer. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas who tried to escape to the nearby jungles. NEARER AIR V..SMOKE rockets at Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh Post. [2]:347, The VC 275th Regiment had taken up positions in a residential area known at the Widows' Village (105731N 1065237E / 10.9587N 106.877E / 10.9587; 106.877), which housed the wives and families of dead ARVN soldiers and was located across Route 316 from the Plantation Compound. known as Widows Village. from the petroleum dump immediately next to our position. [2]:347[3]:236 The rocket/mortar attack was the signal to start the ground assaults on Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh. Lt. Col. John E. Gross Recalls the Tet Battles of Bien Hoa and Long Binh 2 comments. Consequently, I was disappointed when I received orders to join the 9th Infantry Division. 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. Binh Hoa Airbase was lucky they were not the 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. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. Shoe of soldier on ground. My Lightboxes | All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. 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. I told him that I wanted to command a company. 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. In addition to the US bases, the city of Bin Ha was the headquarters of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) III Corps and home to a large prisoner of war camp. 26 VC/PAVN were killed in the attack and several captured. Click Here. Bravo Company (one member of which was Spc. I was told to forget about them, which reinforced our feeling that this situation was different and that combat was certainly imminent. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned onto Highway 316. sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. Which date was it? His two daughters, Ly's mother and her sister, are disabled. Tet offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh, Tet Offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh, United States Army Center of Military History, "Tet Offensive: The Battles of Bien Hoa and Long Binh", Video of helicopter gunships and F-100s in action at Bien Hoa AB, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_offensive_attacks_on_Bien_Hoa_and_Long_Binh&oldid=1086914863, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968, Battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States, Attacks on military installations in the 1960s, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 9 May 2022, at 04:36. a noise! Here was another sign that the situation was serious: The battalion commander personally gave out map coordinates of company objectives in the clear.Alpha Company was ordered to the 199th LIB compound, which was under attack. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . Sand bags near barbed wire fence. [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.. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 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. [3]:242, The VC/PAVN attacks were a failure. 102 comments 105 shares. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. In addition, we were tremendously flexible. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. Come back up on the battalion freq. I had never been so happy in my life. 0.28 An MP full colonel, accompanied by a Los Angeles deputy sheriff (dressed in his deputy uniform) and two jeeploads of National Police, drove up to my track. Besides the actions of Charlie Company, under the leadership of the S3, Major Bill Jones, Alpha had conducted an assault on VC positions in a cemetery. and the gunner replied "VC 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. 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. We packed up our gear, rolled up our wire and waited. Talk:Long Bnh, Bin Ha - Wikipedia Most of we RAD 152 crew members arrived in-country on July 22, 1968. 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. 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. There was much 11. Dong Ha vietnam 1968 | Dong Ha ammo dump explosion from NVA artillery fire. Realizing we were driving past our objective, I halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. The Vietnamese general and the III Corps G3 adviser, however, were not very happy when we pulled out. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. [5], USAF losses were 4 killed in action with another dying of a heart attack, while 26 were wounded. During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. Early on January 30, we were told the Tet cease-fire was canceled, and our unit was deployed into a defensive line along the road that ran around the east side of the Long Binh base. convoy about two days before and were repairing anything that had failed LV DITTO the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for When it As we turned to head back, a tremendous blast shook the whole city of Bien Hoa. I remember telling him that if the shooting persisted, or if they hit one of my troops, I wouldnt be responsible if my troops shot back. 2023 CriticalPast LLC. 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. At the meeting, I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. We all knew these moves were more than precautionary. At 0700, as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. HANOI, North Vietnam, June 1 (Agence FrancePresse)An American major was captured last month in a Communistcon trolled area of northern Laos by Pathet Lao forces, a Laotian representative said here today. An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. However, Charlie Company slammed into the VC before they could organize their attack. 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. Featured Collections | Benny Toney, the 2nd Platoon sergeant, hooked a tow cable to Stormy. 5 Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. His battalion was in heavy contact and he had several wounded rangers he needed to evacuate. USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II bomber aircraft drop two Mk.84 HD bombs. carried on into that night with tracers flying everywhere. July 10, 1969 - Page 3 - Brownwater Vietnam Veterans 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. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a suburb of Bien Hoa. I After telling them to stop shooting Jeep parked along road. LV EXPLOSIONS CRITICALPAST.COM: Soon we could hear leaders moving up and down the bunker line yelling for the guards to stop firing. we were a bit more trigger happy than usual. The North Vietnamese Army had circled 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. Tower sent the battalion S3, Major Jones, to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. 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. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. In January 1968, our battalion relocated to the area between Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa, where intelligence had located a VC battalion. Sergeant was already tucked under a 5 ton truck parked about 50 feet After the battles for the churches, there occurred one of the most bizarre incidents of the day. This was no surprise to us, since we could hear the enemy rounds slamming into Long Binh. The view is from the compound of the 20th. Meanwhile, Huey gunships reported VC running from the village. The churches were cleared in short order. Long Binh Ammo Dump Explosion, Tet, 1968 - YouTube All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. Ammo Dump Explosion 18 Feb 1968 where 8 pads detonated with a total ammo value of $2,774,348: f. On 18 February 1968 at approximately 0300 an attempted penetration of the depot was. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. Get under! After what seemed like Long Binh ammo dump was one of the While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. the bunker. As we rolled by, we looked down into the compound and saw soldiers in khakis, boarding passes in hand, milling about. When I pointed out that the 101st Battalion had more than 500 troops and I had only two line platoons and less than 90 troops, he said, Youre mechanized, youre very strong.. At about 0600, Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. 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. Burned out 105mm howitzer shells at ammunition dump in Bien Hoa Air Force Base, Bien Hoa in Vietnam. 4 and future U.S. senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel) had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widows Village fight. 1. I explained to the colonel that this was not a police action, and that we werent searching houses, we were in combat. This article was originally published in the February 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine. 0.17 danger and the probable best course of action. South Vietnam: Viet Cong Explode U.s. Ammunition Dump. 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. 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. Dames killed them with a burst from his M-16 probably saving the lives of everyone on my track. unless they could see someone, I went to our Operations shack 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. Now commanded by a brand-new second lieutenant, the men of Alpha Company balked when they were told to move. 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) 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. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. the wrecker operator had to know how to weld. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. Widows Village made a perfect attack position for the VC, since it lay directly across Highway 316 from II Field Force headquarters in the Long Binh complex. Charlie Company reacted quickly to reinforce Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. Flames consuming huts. I The explosions at Long Binh, 15 miles northeast of Sia gon rattled windows and shook doors here in the capital. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. I had inherited the job As the ammo dump burst into flames, secondary explosions erupted in other storage areas, and for the next three days, fires burned out of control. 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. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. Activity in the area had picked up in November and 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. He replied that I would have to wait. I called battalion headquarters and asked what to do about the bunkers.

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