long binh ammo dump explosion 1968

It also contained tons of captured NVA ammo and guns from the A Shau Valley. The view is from the compound of the 20th. 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. 0.28 Company E engaged the PAVN/VC supported by artillery fire killing 47 PAVN/VC. ], 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. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. They tried to make us keep our heads down so we couldn't get them with our counter-mortar fire . Officer and soldiers examine barbed wire torn apart by Vietcong who infiltrated Long Binh ammunition dump. I have . probably one of the best deals I had been Used for because the [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. The battalion made only sporadic contact and suffered few casualties. My Account | It 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. Ive just been told you work for me again. The 2-47s enemy body count came in at over 200, while the battalion suffered only four KIA. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. (Vietnam War period). 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. In April 1967 I was a first lieutenant commanding a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. trooper was injured by a piece of shrapnel that had come down the airbase made it too us in the daylight and foamed the ditch for 118th during the Tet of 1968, also called the Defense of Bien We threw grenades over the wall behind them, but hit nothing.. A great deal has been written about the battles of Tet 1968 and the political firestorm that resulted from them. As he fell, a burst of automatic weapons fire stitched the wall right where he would have been had he not fallen.. Sergeant was already tucked under a 5 ton truck parked about 50 feet sixteen guns stationed next to the western border of Vietnam. The armed helicopter teams had a field day shooting guerrillas trying to flee into the jungle. Gradually, I became a mechanized soldier. Battalion policy was that we had to fill in all holes and empty our sandbags each time we left a position. (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. bunker. carried on into that night with tracers flying everywhere. Despite the confusion and wounds, our troops returned fire. I then jacked a round into my M-16 and who would you believe [2]:3512 US losses in the fighting in the Widow's Village were three dead. went off and all hell broke lose. Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. All night they scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. 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. No tactic I had learned at infantry school fit that situation, so we improvised. 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. We were west of Highway QL1 along a road named 535. 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. 4 Joseph Sugar Bear Dames returned to the tracks for more grenades. Dames killed them with a burst from his M-16 probably saving the lives of everyone on my track. 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. 0.54 AMMUNITION DUMP. Big Ammunition Dump Near Saigon Hit by Blasts, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/02/archives/big-ammunition-dump-near-saigon-hit-by-blasts-laotian-reports.html. 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. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scouts into Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the S3s radio operator. (Vietnam War period). 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. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the biggest ordnance storage areas in the country. Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. The Communists were starting to carry out a plan that they had studied for a considerable period. Bravo Company was sent to protect the Long Binh ammunition dump and Charlie Company was ordered into downtown Bien Hoa, where the ARVN III Corps headquarters was in danger of being overrun. We had returned from a 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. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. The S3 also told Charlie Companys noncombatants to report to battalion headquarters. Four men were killed and more than 20 wounded, including most of the officers. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. while we were gone. In January 1968, our battalion relocated to the area between Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa, where intelligence had located a VC battalion. It dawned on us that the VC were throwing down their weapons, changing clothes and slipping away. Summary - October 1966. Through sporadic fire, we continued northwest on Highway 15 to where it intersected Highway 1 on the western edge of Bien Hoa. As the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. Specialist 4 Bill Rambo, assistant driver and .50-gunner on my command track, remembers my response to the firing as being absolutely irate. Wrecked ambulance with flat tires. The offensive continued until the end of the month in the North part of That night, frightened bunker guards in the 199th compound shot into the darkness to their front. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. The bombs descend and explode near structures in grove of tress in agricultural area 30 miles southwest of Saigon on 19 August, 1968. Script is copyright Reuters Limited. [6]:66. He ignored me and went to a nearby house where he and the deputy sheriff kicked in the front door. who was tossed into a sewage ditch by the explosion, remembers 'killing the jeep' with his M-16. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. During the meeting, a master sergeant adviser to a Vietnamese ranger battalion ran into the compound. 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. Relevant to these events; post recollections and descriptions, questions,. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were the work of Vietcong sabotage teams. His action probably saved the lives of everyone on my track. SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. It had been over two days and many of us had no sleep. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . I went through the quarters making sure everyone The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. 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. We suffered more wounded during the trip back to III Corps, where I was called to a meeting in the headquarters. Then things started falling . We all knew these moves were more than precautionary. The scout platoon had fought . I had inherited the job (Long Binh) ammunition dump. Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed 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. We could ride, walk or be airlifted to war, travel great distances in a short amount of time, and arrive with many times the ammunition and equipment that could be lifted in by helicopter. 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. 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. In addition, gunships killed many more as they tried to escape from the villages. CRITICALPAST.COM: The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Toward dusk on January 30, Charlie Company soldiers stripped to the waist to dig bunkers next to their APCs. because Mankato (Minnesota)Vocational school had taught me to weld as This is the story of one rifle company, and what it faced on that decisive day. into the bunkers. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. 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. As we made the turn eastward on Highway 1, the lead platoon was ambushed. 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 was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. Copyright Screenocean 2022 | Powered byImagen. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. ruary 1968 in support of Saigon and Long Binh Post during the TET Offen- Sive. Despite the confusion and wounds, our troops returned fire. This is the story of one rifle companycomprised of some of the finest soldiers to ever wear the uniform of the U.S. Armyand what they all faced on that decisive day. We fired all we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. We never saw them again. My plan was to make captain and go to Vietnam as an experienced company commander. I a noise! For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today! View of surrounding areas. 6 comments. 6 External links modified. 5. M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier on guard. Love was so startled, he didnt fire. Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. By 1968 the Bien Hoa-Long Binh complex was the largest US/South Vietnamese military base in South Vietnam. with no lights waiting for the attack to lift so we could get Just then a three-man VC RPG team calmly walked across the street right in front of the damaged APC. Service Battery that supplied ordnance to the big guns in our battalion. [3]:2015, At 04:00 a 60-man VC sapper team penetrated the northeastern perimeter of the base killing three MPs and entered the massive ammunition dump (105646N 1065436E / 10.946N 106.91E / 10.946; 106.91) where they planted eighteen Satchel charges before being forced to withdraw by the 720th Military Police Battalion. Although initially surprised, U.S. forces had reacted quickly. remembered the 1SGT told him the first thing he was to get into They bowed and looked confused. At dusk, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. Unfortunately for them, the hapless VC had no weapons other than the RPG launcher, and Dames dispatched them with a burst from his M-16. Big Boom! I called III Corps and reported that we had detained all of these people, and was told to wait until the Vietnamese National Police arrived to take charge. The churches were cleared in short order. 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. 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. He said I would have to wait. 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. First was sand then bigger stuff. As usual, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. Alpha Company was ordered to the 199th LIB compound, which was under attack. Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79 grenade launcher. 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. John Gross received the Silver Star for his actions in command of Charlie Company on the first day of the Tet Offensive. At 08:00 the VC south of the Plantation withdrew into the Widows Village. Our area from the Bomb squads disarmed seven of the charges, but at 07:30 the remainder exploded with three igniting pallets of artillery shells and their Propellant bags causing a massive explosion, blast wave and mushroom cloud. 1.13 As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. 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. However the ammunition storage bunkers prevented a chain reaction and the lost munitions were easily replaced with no impact on supply. Dames walked down a side alley toward the highway. The recon platoon was ordered to establish a blocking position south of Long Binh on Highway 15. Incredibly, nobody in my company had been killed the day before. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. -- color photo Near Moc Hoa. Long Binh Ammo Dump October 29, 1966 . The bombs descend and explode on structures in grove of trees near rice paddies 23 miles east of Binh Thuy on 19th August. After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. out of the sky. Smoke rises from surrounding area. Tower sent the battalion S3, Major Jones, to take command, and once Alpha got moving, it did a magnificent job. 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) opened his mouth but, SGT Cuffee, the supply SGT. 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. 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. They both hobbled through the rest of the days fighting. 4 "Late in the war" 1 comment. We could use our tracks as a base of fire or in a blocking position as the company maneuvered on foot. Then I got a call from battalion commander Tower, asking how things were going. The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. I asked one of the men Ive just been told you work for me again. danger and the probable best course of action. I told him about the order to clear an area of operations equal in size to that assigned the airborne battalion. 0.04 We all knew that these moves were more than just precautionary. GV EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES 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) As we turned to head back, a tremendous blast shook the whole city of Bien Hoa. 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 manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, started off down Highway 1. bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was Not only would I not finish my command tour, but I was also being assigned to a leg division. I remember one border. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. had defended the Long Binh ammo dump and had helped in the Widow's Village fight. During Tet 1968, the 856th Radio . The ARVN general and III Corps G3 adviser, however, were not happy when we pulled out. All day civilians had been darting from their homes and running from the fighting. We opened up with everything we had and kept driving. January 12, 1972. by: Arnold John Houchin Bin Ha, USAF 3rd Security Police Squadron 1970-1972 Phu Cat, 37th SPS; Thu Hoa, 31st SPS; . I assigned areas of operation to my two rifle platoons and positioned the weapons platoon inside the compound as a reserve and security force. They all blew up! We never saw them again. [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. F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom II drop Mark 82 bombs in Vietnam during U.S. air strikes. My plan was to make captain and go to Vietnam as an experienced company commander. 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. officer around. I assigned areas of operation to my two rifle platoons, and positioned the weapons platoon inside the compound as a reserve and security force. 1. To get to the church, we had to run a gantlet of fire, through the VC 238th Regiment and into the flank of the 275th, which was fighting the 2-47s scout platoon in Widows Village. hightForP2 = 330 Realizing we were driving past our objective, I halted the company and called for the 2nd Platoon to find a place to turn around. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. Ripped apart barbed wire. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About two days later one the huge fuel bags next I was having a few beers with several other sailors in the outside screened patio area of the Navy EM Club when we heard a noise to our left. 0.24 [2]:350, At approximately 16:45 F-100 Super Sabres of the 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron conducted a Napalm strike against a PAVN/VC company at the east end of the base runway. Of course you never Something was definitely about to happen. [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. flight line and I was checking the bunker for anyone, I heard An eyewitness account of the battle for control of Bien Hoa and Long Binh on the first day of the 1968 Tet Offensive. wire on the top of LBJ (Long Binh Jail). After telling them to stop shooting Some were complete projectiles weighing on the water tower". At the end of the previous day, Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then charged in shooting. and the gunner replied "VC The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. The three companies formed a line almost three kilometers long, facing east, with their backs to the Long Binh wire, based on the mistaken assumption that the VC would attack from the jungle. known as Widows Village. Realizing I had not eaten for 24 hours, I looked for some breakfast, but all I could find was a bag of pistachio nuts. The remains of a stack of over 15,000 high explosive 155mm artillery projectiles after the VC attack on February 4. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the operations officers radio operator. GV EXPLOSIONS, AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN F/G. Which date was it? Forget that, he said. checkered) water tower by the main gate. After I got the coordinates of our objective, I yelled, Crank em up! into the radio handset. This article was written by John E. Gross and originally published in the February 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. Those orders were for us to clear the VC from the houses surrounding the corps headquarters. The first explosion was I Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. [3]:242, The VC/PAVN attacks were a failure. (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]). SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. My He said the first thing he could remember was the The VC had run out of ammunition and were trying to escape. 0.35 (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. Rocket Attack on Dong Tam - July 10, 1969. We fired everything we had into the buildings lining the roadway and took several wounded while getting to the church. Then a report came in that a body had been found wearing a white shirt under a black pajama tunic. In fact, VC effectiveness was so degraded that, after 1968, they were mainly replaced on the battlefield by North Vietnamese regulars, and were never a viable force after that. "What are you firing at? " We use cookies on this website. 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. [5], USAF losses were 4 killed in action with another dying of a heart attack, while 26 were wounded. Men at Long Binh ammunition dump. Charlie Company had reported 38 VC killed, at the cost of only 11 U.S. wounded and three APCs damaged by RPGs. 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. As best I could, I explained that they were to take charge and that General Giap might be among the civilians. Now commanded by a brand-new second lieutenant, the men of Alpha Company balked when they were told to move.

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