long binh ammo dump explosion 1968viva chicken plantains

When we arrived, we filed off the busses . [3]:2289, The Tt ceasefire began on 29 January, but was cancelled on 30 January after the VC/PAVN prematurely launched attacks in II Corps and at 17:30 the 7th Air Force commander General William W. Momyer ordered all air bases in South Vietnam to security condition red. In fact, the Communists had already infiltrated the city of Bien Hoa, suburban Ho Nai village and Widows Village, where pensioned families of deceased ARVN soldiers lived. 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. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion. 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. August 1966 November 1966 December 1966. 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. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. Maps of Heavily Sprayed Areas and Dioxin Hot Spots ", "I then went to the CP and tried The II Field Force commander, Lt. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand, had correctly predicted a major attack during Tet, and his anticipation no doubt saved Long Binh and Saigon from being overrun. Since I was in an airborne unit, it seemed certain that I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. After commanding 180 paratroopers, taking on four APCs and 40 troops seemed like a dreamexcept that now I was responsible for troops in combat, not training. We all knew that these moves were more than just precautionary. In mid-September, when Ionoff moved to battalion to become the operations officer (S3), I assumed command of Charlie Company. 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. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. 15. Ive just been told you work for me again. Seems like the fighting went on The helmet had stopped 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. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. At 3 a.m. on January 31, I received a call from Major Bill Jones, who had recently taken Ionoffs place as operations officer. bodies across the road began to bloat into a grotesque scene. We usually got mortared at night whenever Dong Tam was getting it from our district. Privacy Policy | Links 4. 14. When the Tet cease-fire period began on January 28, the battalion was called back to the vicinity of Bear Cat, and Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Tan airfield. In October, the 2-47 was given the mission of securing engineers as they cleared Highway 1 from Xuan Loc to the II Corps boundary near Phan Thiet. Big Ammunition Dump Near Saigon Hit by Blasts 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 idea was to leave nothing the VC might use against us. In the early morning hours on 31 January, insurgent forces launched When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. 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. He said I would have to wait. because Mankato (Minnesota)Vocational school had taught me to weld as Some were complete projectiles weighing After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. [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. Sergeant was already tucked under a 5 ton truck parked about 50 feet Painting outside. The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. rockets at Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh Post. THE STORM BREAKS Part 1 In the late-night hours of 29 January 1968 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. Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. LV EXPLOSION, SIGN ON BOARD "DISNEY LAND FAR EAST" It then dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. 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. Craven and another photographer, were both wounded in the engagement.) I had no way of knowing who it was with no light in the He retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. out of the sky. Charlie Company would get the mission. After all had left for the His action probably saved the lives of everyone on my track. to check-in and see what was going on, and found myself the only 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. 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. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. An accurate body count could never be compiled since so many VC bodies were dragged away or were burned in the many fires that ravaged the towns and villages. Now someone pointed out that there were a lot of young men, all dressed in black pants and white shirts, among the refugees. mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. 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. Tom Allaback. Helicopter gunships took off from Bien Hoa AB to investigate, but were unable to locate the force in the darkness. Not only would I not finish my command tour, I was being assigned to a leg division. 12. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered on foot. Our area from the [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. Charlie Companys 3rd Platoon was also detached for a security mission inside the base. The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted minimal damage on the bases. Refusing evacuation, neither reported his wound. So, when I was offered a chance to go to II Field Force to help establish a new long-range reconnaissance patrol outfit, I actually turned it down to stay with the company. This fire was observed by the helicopter gunships that had been circling the area north of Long Binh and they quickly moved to attack the launch sites and were soon joined by an AC-47 Spooky gunship and their combined fire soon stopped the rocket/mortar fire. Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. 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. F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom II drop Mark 82 bombs in Vietnam during U.S. air strikes. probably one of the best deals I had been Used for because the Their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. What we came up with was a T formation. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. Then and My plan was to make captain and go to Vietnam as an experienced company commander. We came up with a T formation. The battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. After the fight for the churches, there occurred one of the most bizarre and inexplicable incidents of the day. [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. We could ride, walk or be airlifted to war, and we arrived with many times the ammo and equipment that could be lifted in by helicopter. [3]:242, The VC/PAVN attacks were a failure. These photos were taken from December 9, 1967 to February 1968. We topped off our fuel tanks, replenished our ammo and continued to move toward our assigned blocking position. As we turned around to head back west, a tremendous blast shook the whole city of Bien Hoa. Artillery As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. 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. 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. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. Riflemen staying close behind. Now commanded by a brand-new second lieutenant, the men of Alpha Company balked when they were told to move. 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. Come back up on the battalion freq. I had never been so happy in my life. 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. As our medics treated the wounded, I reported to the American lieutenant colonel who was the III Corps G3 adviser. After the battles for the churches, there occurred one of the most bizarre incidents of the day. I went through the quarters making sure everyone During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army used the base as a logistics and command center. Of course you never 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. When I arrived at the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry, nicknamed the Panthers, Lt. Col. Arthur Moreland, the commander, asked me what job I wanted. The fog of war was especially thick on the morning of January 31, 1968. Later, captured VC said many guerrillas only had two magazines for their weapons in expectation that the population would rise up against the Americans and have plenty of captured weapons to fight with. 1.04 But their 81mm mortars were useless, since we were told we could not put any indirect fire into the town. January 12, 1972. by: Arnold John Houchin Bin Ha, USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron 1970-1972 Phu Cat, 37th SPS; Thu Hoa, 31st SPS; . the bunker. The remains of a stack of over 15,000 high explosive 155mm artillery projectiles after the VC attack on February 4. 13. I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. around Bien Hoa Airbase and headed toward our post of Long Binh, then We left the clearing of Bien Hoa City in the capable hands of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry. OK. They tried to make us keep our heads down so we couldn't get them with our counter-mortar fire . HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. After commanding 180 paratroopers, taking on four APCs and 40 troops seemed like a dreamexcept that now I was responsible for troops in combat, not training. Officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Longbinh ammunition dump. 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. Tet offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh - Wikipedia 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. front making it dangerous to return fire. When I pointed out that the 101st Battalion had more than 500 troops and I had only two line platoons and fewer than 90 troops, he said, Youre mechanized, youre very strong., I told him we could not take the tracks off Highway 1 and into town because the streets and alleys were too narrow. I said again, "Who is there"? As the afternoon of January 30 drifted toward dusk, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist and dug bunkers next to their M-113s. By late afternoon the 275th Regiment retreated north, leaving over 200 dead. U.S. troops firing small arms as they proceed across tall grass into the hamlet. The only trouble was that Charlie Company tracks were sitting in the road right in front of their bunkers. 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. Widows Village made a perfect attack position, since it lay directly across Highway 316 from II Field Force headquarters. (Vietnam War period). I asked one of the men 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. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. Toggle the table of contents Talk: Long Bnh, Bin Ha. I have . General Patton's son, then Lt. Col. George Patton III, commander of the U.S. Army's 11th Armored Cavalry (Black Horse), positioned his tanks in between our big bunker hills . Under fire, Staff Sgt. Bin Ha Air Base: Memories of Bin Ha, TET 1969, by Larry - VSPA Incredibly, nobody in my company had been killed the day before. LV DITTO I was to be a platoon leader again, in Charlie Company, commanded by Captain John Ionoff. the barracks hall just as he stepped out of his room going to I realized we were driving past our objective, halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. PDF Scanned Document - United States Army 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. 939939. In a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball, the shock of the explosion echoing over an area of 50 miles. Bill Langan, aka "Sparky" was on duty in the 573rd hanger at the Bird Cage and took the slide photo. All day civilians had been darting from their homes and running from the fighting. (Vietnam War period). My 0.08 At that time, I received a call on my company frequency from the battalion commander, Colonel Tower, asking how things were going. [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. Get under! 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. When it went off my first thought was that it was a nuclear explosion because of the light dome that rose from the explosion. Click Here. Realizing I had not eaten for 24 hours, I looked for some breakfast, but all I could find was a bag of pistachio nuts. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. Contact Us | We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. As I remember this night, around 12 or 12:30 a.m. the sirens Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. As was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. There, Charlie Company soldiers joined ARVN and U.S. MACV soldiers manning the walls. He replied that I would have to wait. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. (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. Waking Dead. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. 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. (National Archives), https://www.historynet.com/lt-col-john-e-gross-recalls-the-tet-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. 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. 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. 10. The offensive continued until the end of the month in the North part of 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. Big Boom! We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned onto Highway 316. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymores and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. Charlie Company reacted quickly to reinforce Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. was out of the bldgs. From our positions we could see and hear the celebratory fireworks lighting the sky over Saigon to the west. border. An accurate body count could never be compiled since so many VC bodies were dragged away or were burned in the many fires in the towns and villages. Long Binh Vietnam 1969 stock footage and images - CriticalPast Most of these photos were taken in an area a few miles north of Chu Lai and south of Hoi An. 0.04 Get under! After what seemed like After the roadblock was cleared and communications restored, Charlie Company continued toward its objective. EXPLOSIONS IN DISTANCE My Lightboxes | 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. I had learned no tactic at infantry school that fit the situation we were faced with, so we improvised. We began to pop hand-held flares so they could see we were there, but the shooting persisted, one round hitting my track. Summary - October 1966 Photo Index As my airborne mentality faded, I learned to love the M-113or track. We could haul more personal gear, live more comfortably and walk less than straight-leg troops. 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. As the scouts escaped, the volume of enemy fire began to slacken, then died altogether. 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. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly and, despite what was reported in the press, American and ARVN forces handed the VC a devastating defeat during Tet.

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