The flare posed a deadly danger in several ways. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. We were officially MOS (Military Operational Specialty) 32F20, which was depot-level repair and maintenance on AUTOSEVOCOM (AUTOmatic SEcure VOice COMmunications) crypto . at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, South Vietnam, both patient and unit members, to find each other and join in the. Carpenter set it down in a full shuddering stall. I am interested in corresponding with any Black Scarf soldiers who . The gunners kept the guns loaded and working during the flight. If it ignited, it would quickly fill the aircraft with toxic smoke, incapacitating the entire crew. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) Part of the Vietnam War: Date: 4-5 December 1966: Location: Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. Viet Cong attack on Tan Son Nhut Air Base (1966) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Intelligence had indicators of the pending attacks. They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. The idea was quite unsettling. Other members of the squad have yet to be identified. South Vietnam tour 1968-69 by David Parsley - PBase Racial Tensions in the Military - Military Riots Privacy Policy2023 CriticalPast LLC. "Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report #105 - Special Report: The Fourth Offensive - 23 February-3 April 1969", Cold War International History Project's Cold War Files, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_1969&oldid=1142428918, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:26. III Corps - Army of the Rapublic of Vietnam (ARVN) - GlobalSecurity.org For the next six hours, Spooky 71 would fly a combat air patrol circuit over the Saigon/Tan Son Nhut area, ready to respond wherever its fire support was needed. The battle area had been cleared for at least 500 to 1,000 yards from the perimeterall foliage and any source of cover had been bulldozed flat. Southeast Asia is a very strange part of the world, where for centuries its leaders have had little or noregard for the lives of their own people. The pilot, copilot, and navigator were in the forward cabin, and the flight engineer, two gunners, and the loadmaster were in the cargo bay in back. Citation Nr: 0307323 Decision Date: 04/16/03 Archive Date: 04/24/03 DOCKET NO. 30. Binh chng c cng l binh chng chin u c bit tinh nhu ca Qun i nhn dn Vit Nam, do B Tng tham mu Qun i nhn dn Vit Nam trc tip qun l v ch o. Air & Space Forces Magazine is the official publication of the Air & Space Forces Association, 1501 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, Va., 22209-1198. Then came a sound akin to that of large paper sacks tearing, as AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships began strafing the battlefield with 7.62 mm minigun bullets fired at the rate of about 4,000 rounds per minute. (Jim Van Eldik), It was another hot February day in 1969 at the sprawling, Behind the driver, strewn about the passenger seat and floor, was his personal combat gear, including his, The enemy would occasionally probe us, rocket us, mortar us and more than likely sometimes even shop at our PXs, but a ground attack? It could lay down an awesome field of fire, with each of its three 7.62 mm Gatling miniguns shooting up to 6,000 rounds per minute. It was modified from the C-47 transport aircraft, plenty of which were available. These units made occasional contact, often with PAVN or VC who fought stubbornly from trenches and spider holes. The enemy was too close for artillery, so gunships were . License Agreement | OVER 30 POUNDS IN WEIGHT MUST BE LOWERED BY ROPE. With no clear idea of what to do in combat, I would have to improvise. Carpenter rolled the gunship wings level and began his run on the mortar positions. Includes scenes shot in and around the base showing soldiers preparing for the attack. Troops lined up on a field. Color: Color. I was experiencing what soldiers for more than half a century referred to as the empty battlefield. Modern battlefield weapons had become so lethal that to expose oneself, even for an instant, to their fire was tantamount to suicide. Plantation Road, the US Embassy, downtown and Ton Son Nhut Airbase in Soldiers of the United States Army Signal Group have military payment certificates exchanged at their headquarters in Long Binh Vi, U.S. soldiers handling 155mm artilery shells in an ammunition dump at Long Binh, Vietnam. In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. Category:Long Binh Post - Wikimedia Commons These ingredientswhen mixed with the C-ration Beef, Spiced with Sauce or the Beans w/ Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Saucewould have provided the Viet Cong a feast for the ages. Nguyn Huy Cng 1969 trn TikTok (Vietnam War period). A soldier counts his notes at the typist's desk. . Hc_Thn. Brigadier General Francis J. Roberts addresses troops. June The second of two new outpost's was built on the western end of the Finger Of Land. It would be relieved by another gunship for the midnight-to-dawn shift. The idea seemed absurd! By 01:00 the next morning, the bodies of 264 PAVN/VC soldiers lay in the village, and 87 had been captured or surrendered. I stay away from publicity and things like that. The Air Force Scientific Advisory Boarda group of experts and researchers the department taps for independent advice on key science and technology effortsis undertaking four studies in 2023, including two that will likely inform the services approach to Secretary Frank Kendalls operational imperatives. Additional South Vietnamese Regional Force elements moved in and the ARVN troops continued to contain the PAVN/VC forces until 11:00 when assault forces, in the form of the ARVN 36th Ranger Battalion, reinforced the contact. For months I observed various combat actions outside the perimeter and every now and then even sought cover beneath a nearby steel desk as a stray mortar or artillery round came flying in our direction, which, whenever it occurred, was astonishing enough. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. 1969 Amphitheatre - Long Binh - by Dave Ondrey by manhhai 6 1 BOB HOPE Show - Long Binh - Largest Audience Show by manhhai 5 1 1969 Amphitheatre - Long Binh - by Dave Ondrey by manhhai 5 1 LONG BNH 1967 by manhhai 5 2 1 2. It's not widely known that during the course of the Vietnam Conflict, about 2 million (2,000,000) VC and NVA were killed -- which was about 15 percent of North Vietnam's 13 million population. This attack was going to be a big one.. As Ole-Luk-Oie, the pen name for British officer Ernest Swinton, wrote in the 1915 book. It had been flying in Vietnam since 1964, first with the air commandos and after that with the special operations squadrons. View of surrounding areas. In anticipation of what they would seize, many of Trans comrades packed can openers in addition to the noodle packets and dried rice they all carried. The brigade was comprised of 2d Battalion, 3d . History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. For reasons unknown, it had not been emptied when the AC-47 went to Vietnam. It was originally called the FC-47D (for fighter cargo) but subsequently changed to AC-47 (attack cargo) in response to objections from fighter pilots. 44 Declassified Vietnam War Photos The Public Wasn't Meant To See Near Saigon, the VC made attacks on Long Binh and Bien Hoa. I was a 2nd Lieutenant, on my second night in Vietnam when the attack on Long Bing Post began at 2 AM. 1 minigun and a jumble of spilled ammunition. Jerry Breast/U.S. The remaining elements of the company were held in ready reserve. Tet Offensive attacks on Bien Hoa and Long Binh ATTENTION If you participated in any of the incidents listed on this page or know of some that are not, please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page. The enemy fire was situated across Highway 1A, directing a heavy concentration of fire into the 12th Group and II Field Force compounds. 99-08 286 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis, Vit Trinh thng hiu tht l trn Vit Trinh, sinh ngy 27 mon 11 nm 1972, l con gi din vin nng lng in nh, tn dn chng trnh, o din vi gim kho ngi vit Nam. A VC mortar attack on the airfield at Binh Thuy on the banks of the Mekong resulted in the destruction of a Bird Dog FAC aircraft. Spooky 71 flew with a crew of eight. This was a bit disconcerting. In the interest of security - and to ease communications - the army centralized Saigon's American forces in 1967 by stationing them all at an enormous compound built just outside of the city. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. The cavalry troopers also stumbled onto a large tunnel complex not more than a mile from our perimeter. Hamby advises McIntosh to . He was filling in for a loadmaster who had taken his place when he was sick. Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement. Nov. Dec. Big Ernie's Scuttlebutt #2: TET '69 and Cambodian Bombing There was also a Vietnamese liaison officer. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. If I got stopped drinking and driving, its going to say, Medal of Honor Drunk. I realize that. One of the MP ambush squads held a position within a kilometer of the VC stronghold. Night was approaching as Spooky 71, an AC-47 gunship, took off from Bien Hoa Air Base, a few miles northwest of Saigon. TAOR With the enemy still in force south of the Buong River there remained the continuing threat of additional ground, rocket and heavy mortar attacks against Long Binh Post.. Battalion TOC still considered the eastern sector as the weak spot of the TAOR, so they called for a strong-point (outpost) to be constructed on the Finger of Land just to the west of the abandoned tank on the crest of . Since the headquarters building stood out on the hill like a large bulls eye, I proceeded outside and took up a defensive position behind a corner of our building, on the safe side. Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ Levitow and one of the gunners, Sgt. With no friendly troops visible between me and the battle, into my M16 went the magazine of tracers in preparation for a confrontation with anyone who might break through that wall of gunfire, something at which the Viet Cong were quite adept. Black Vietnam veteran finally awarded Medal of Honor for bravery The post and the 720th MP Battalion were informed of the planned attack late in the afternoon of the 22nd. Airman Levitow was setting [the ejection and ignition dials] and handing me the flares, Owen said.