long binh ammo dump explosion 1968

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. I had learned no tactic at infantry school that fit the situation we were faced with, so we improvised. 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. Blood stains in ambulance. One of the children in the Hope System of Care is Nguyen Thi Ly, born in 2001 with a deformed face, head and chest. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. 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. All day civilians had been darting from their homes and running from the fighting. There we would be assigned a unit we would serve with in Vietnam. 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. -- color photo Near Moc Hoa. [3]:2204, On 1 February Company B, 2/3rd Infantry, Company C, 4/12th Infantry and elements of 2/47th Infantry swept Ho Nai finding only dead VC/PAVN and civilians who had been murdered by the VC or killed in the fighting in the town. SOUTH VIETNAM: VIET CONG EXPLODE U.S. When the shooting started it remember that my right shoulder and chest were black and blue from the hightForP2 = 330 At 0400 Jones ordered us to pull in our ambushes and be prepared to move. The scout platoon had fought valiantly all day long in Widows Village and in Ho Nai. to check-in and see what was going on, and found myself the only Despite the confusion and wounds, our troops returned fire. It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep We were in a cloud of disarray 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. 0.48 USAF (United States Air Force) F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter aircraft drops Mark 82 (Mk.82) high-drag (HD) bombs. 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 3 a.m. on January 31, I received a call from Major Bill Jones, who had recently taken Ionoffs place as operations officer. 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. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. After all had left for the As we made the turn eastward on Highway 1, the lead platoon was ambushed. As the ammo dump burst into flames, secondary explosions erupted in other storage areas, and . I asked one of the men Then, for the last week in January, the 2-47 was sent south of the 9th Divisions base camp to patrol the jungles east of Highway 15, near the Binh Son rubber plantation. Less has been written about the danger, turmoil, chaos, confusion, contradictions and outright lunacy that confronted individual units as they responded to VC attacks on the morning of January 31. M-113 APCs of the 9th Infantry Division storm VC positions 200 meters outside II Field Force headquarters at Long Binh on February 1, 1968. for days and days. Tom Allaback. As my airborne mentality faded, I learned to love the M-113or track, as we called it. while we were gone. At 0700, as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. 6 External links modified. I realized we were driving past our objective, halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. ruary 1968 in support of Saigon and Long Binh Post during the TET Offen- Sive. we were a bit more trigger happy than usual. Set. They had been told that the population would rise up against the Americans and that there would be plenty of captured U.S. weapons to fight with. 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. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company, and in a fight, the company had 22 .50-caliber machine guns, a 106mm and several 90mm recoilless rifles, and more radios and M-60 machine guns than a walking company could ever carry. But no one would be leaving the country that day. happened to hit him just over the forehead. build bunkers, and help pick up the dead enemy across the fence. The Commo track, C-007, nicknamed Abdula and the Rug Merchants, with then- Pfc (and current Vietnam editor) David Zabecki behind the .50-caliber, brought up the rear. Advanced Search | 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. Tower sent Major Jones to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. Soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) and 4th Battalion 39th Infantry clearing a hamlet during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. As I remember the Tet Offensive began in the early morning of We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, situated on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. 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. 26 VC/PAVN were killed in the attack and several captured. I was never so happy in my life. Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. front making it dangerous to return fire. 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. agreement was that the stockade prisoners would pitch our sandbags, help I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a real nightmare. Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. During this time, the battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. Specialist 4 Bill Rambo, assistant driver and .50-gunner on my command track, remembers my response to the firing as being absolutely irate. October continued with construction efforts. Following that fight, the 2-47 was ordered south of the 9th Divisions base camp. 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. 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. all personnel to the flight line. I sounded off, "who is there"? Around midnight on October 29th, 1966, the Viet Cong mortared or rocketed the Long Binh Ammo Dump. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. and the perimeter was still intact. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. 0.22 6. 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. [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. He ignored me and proceeded to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then went in shooting. As we rolled by, we looked down into the compound and saw soldiers in khakis milling about with boarding passes in hand. [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. But no one would be leaving the country that day. 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. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. trooper was injured by a piece of shrapnel that had come down The bus ride to 90th Replacement was relatively short and everyone seemed exhausted from the long flight. The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. The VC attacks on Bien Hoa and the Long Binh complex were abject failures, due in part to the fact that on January 31, 1968, they had run into the Panthers of the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry. 4 Joseph Sugar Bear Dames returned to the tracks for more grenades. 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. 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. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. We use cookies on this website. Several soldiers gathered in front of the track to help the wounded, and Love climbed up to man the .50-caliber. This site was called Hill 63 because there was a hill nearby that had an elevation of 63 meters on the map. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. After I received the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset, and we moved out. 939939. Its predominantly Catholic population was made up of many Vietnamese who fled North Vietnam in 1954 after the Viet Minh victory. Tower ordered Charlie Company to attack eastward to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. NEARER V..EXPLOSIONS 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. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. 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. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army used the base as a logistics and command center. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were the work of Vietcong sabotage teams. [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. Simultaneously, platoon leaders reported finding discarded AK-47s. I was the DistrictSenior Advisor (Army) in Vinh Kim, Long Dinh District, right across the canal from Dong Tam in 1968-1969. the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. I operated a heavy five around Bien Hoa Airbase and headed toward our post of Long Binh, then [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.. [2]:352[3]:2067, At approximately 05:30, the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, mounted on M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles (ACAVs) coming from Bearcat approached the Plantation from the southwest and formed a skirmish line to engage the VC, while helicopter gunships from the 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment swept in to rocket and machine gun the VC positions. (Vietnam War period). [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. The battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. 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. 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. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. 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. License Agreement | Now the fight was on. 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. We charged southeast down Highway 316 to the Highway 15 intersection, located on a small hill overlooking the 90th Replacement Company. The first explosion was He wanted to borrow one of our tracks. During December we made little enemy contact, probably because the Communists were lying low, preparing for Tet. At the beginning of the Tet Offensive, one rifle company was ordered to to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. Back view of jeep with open doors. the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for M-117 bombs explode near and on road on wooden slopes near river north of Pleiku near Dak To, on 18 August, 1968. Shopping Cart | to contact the Commanding Officer(MAJ Guidroz). [3]:2305 By dawn the VC/PAVN were retreating northwards pursued by helicopter gunships and at 06:15 Company C, 4/12th Infantry began moving north in pursuit, intending to pin the VC/PAVN against a force from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment which was moving south. ], The Laotian representative said six members of the Meo special forces were also cap tured with the American on May 7 in Xieng Khouang Province near the North Vietnamese bor der. The fog of war was especially thick on the morning of January 31, 1968. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. As the C-23 track in the lead, Stormy, turned into a side street, a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) slammed into its front, smashing the radiator and wounding several soldiers. unless they could see someone, I went to our Operations shack 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. First was sand then bigger stuff. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. My 0.35 The helmet had stopped [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. was his helmet and flack jacket! Burned out 105mm howitzer shells at ammunition dump in Bien Hoa Air Force Base, Bien Hoa in Vietnam. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered on foot. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Somehow the foam trucks from AIR V..EXPLOSION Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned onto Highway 316. The chrome 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. Now someone pointed out that there were a lot of young men, all dressed in black pants and white shirts, walking among the refugees. Waking Dead. Ripped apart barbed wire. However the VC/PAVN never made another ground attack on an air base and moved to attacks by fire with rockets, mortar and artillery. 0.24 Fires were burning late into the afternoon. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. I had inherited the job wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Summary - October 1966. Charlie Company would get the mission. At dusk, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. Contact Us | Casper rose from the prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. John Gross received the Silver Star for his actions in command of Charlie Company on the first day of the Tet Offensive. All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. 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. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. By the evening the 2/47th Infantry withdrew into the Long Binh perimeter. 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. For more great articles, subscribe to Vietnam magazine today! Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper, and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. . This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. They bowed and looked confused. We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. 10. 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. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. Some VC crossed Route 316 and took up firing positions in bush at the southern perimeter of the Plantation. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. The probing attack units included VC sapper squads. One reference claims that 4 February 1967 was the date, and another claims that 28 March was the date. 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. The VC attacks on Bien Hoa and the Long Binh complex were abject failures, due in part to the fact that on January 31, 1968, they had run into the Panthers of the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry. Each APC could carry almost as much ammunition as a dismounted rifle company. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians seeking refuge. Kortuem! I As usual, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. Dong Ha vietnam 1968 | Dong Ha ammo dump explosion from NVA artillery fire. Fred Casper, one of the bravest of the brave, was killed during the May offensive at the Y Bridge in Saigon, leading from the front as was his custom. on the water tower". [5], USAF losses were 4 killed in action with another dying of a heart attack, while 26 were wounded. Even though it was about 6-8 miles away to the NE of Bien Hoa, it was plainly visible . The village of Ho Nai, now a ghost town, still smoldered. U.S. troops firing small arms as they proceed across tall grass into the hamlet. danger and the probable best course of action. During this fighting, the two platoon leaders were wounded, Lieutenant Casper in the leg and Lieutenant Jones in the foot. It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. Riflemen staying close behind. 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. Seems like the fighting went on The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted minimal damage on the bases. Toggle the table of contents Talk: Long Bnh, Bin Ha. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. 2. The explosion echoed over an area of 50 miles. VC informants inside the base had provided detailed information as to the base layout and defenses. (Vietnam War period). 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. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. Painting outside. Click Here. [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.

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