Ambush at Ap Nhi. Aviation gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the right side, and that wasnt all. Later I enrolled as an ROTC student at South Dakota State University, became an Army officer and was assigned to Long Binh in August 1968. Nothing was more effective than a gunship in breaking up such attacks. Full-scale sweeping operations to secure the perimeter began just after noon that day. 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. Upon arrival, we observed a large battle going on in the south and east perimeters of the base, Carpenter said. He showed up for his typical night shift at the office. Textual Records: Correspondence and daily journal, 1972-73. Beyond that was an open area where tanks were patrolling back and forth, apparently looking for VC who had squirreled themselves down into rat holes trying to avoid the tanks. It was nothing like what I saw in my imagination or what is shown in movie theaters or on television. Thought to be in retaliation for Chuyen's disappearance. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. 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. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The Viet Cong were no longer in the tunnels around Long Binh, most probably having taken the subway back to the main tunnel complex at Cu Chi. On searching the site at dawn it was found that 2 PAVN 81mm mortar teams had been destroyed in the barrage. When attacking, Spooky rolled into a level 30-degree bank turn, flying at an airspeed of almost 140 mph. Ellis C. Owen, had been working as a team in dropping the flares. Tet 1969 refers to the attacks mounted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) in February 1969 in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, one year after the original Tet Offensive.. He flew two more AC-47 combat missions and showed up at the flight line for a third when the squadron commander told him he was grounded. I must add, though, that from a different perspective the battle I witnessed in Vietnam was exactly the same as those I had seen in movies: One was just as unreal as the other. By mid-1967, United States Army, Vietnam (USARV), 1st Logistical Command and many other Army units dispersed in Saigon were moved to Long Binh Post to resolve centralization, security, and troop billeting issues. Most of us were "Regular Army," almost a year into a 3-year hitch. Banned from the Long Binh O'Club: The Club was a . He flew as a crewman on C-130s for a short tour, then went to Vietnam to fly on AC-47s. I was a ticket office supervisor with several Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese women reservations/ticket agents. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. --- and so it went for lots of the fighting in Vietnam. When it finally ended with the assistance of several Cobra gunbships, 23 enemy dead were discovered. 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters Long Binh 1969.jpeg 2,079 1,716; 209 KB. With usual soldier directness the driver divulged the ominous news: Sir, were gonna get hit tonight, so youre gonna need your helmet, flak jacket and rifle., A Viet Cong deserter had warned South Vietnamese officials on Feb.19 that an attack would occur on Feb. 22, but Long Binh didnt get the word until the day of the planned assault. It was used as a base of operation for the increased ambush and reconnaissance patrols conducted in the uninhabited eastern end of the TAOR. Many features may not work properly without it. In 1968, a group of black inmates were fed up with their treatment and the war. On 9 May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that US air raids against ammo dumps and base camps in Cambodia . Din vin Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Ninh Dng Lan Ngc Vit Trinh. From there, I had a good view of the perimeter and the rapidlyunfolding battle. The remaining elements of the company were held in ready reserve. Lieutenant General Julian J. Ewell shakes hands with both of the brigadier generals. To Love Ru Tp 22 - Vit Sub. Clip Type: Unedited. Despite his wounds, Levitow helped secure the airplane on the way back. Once my eight-man crew of ammo counters had assembled, we set aside our usual duties and made the best preparations we could to survive the night. This is a brief clip of the ammo dump explosion at Long Binh, Vietnam, taken the morning of the Tet offensive, 1968. . Just after 16:00 US Air Force F-100s and F-4s along with Republic of Vietnam Air Force A-1 Skyraiders were directed against the PAVN/VC positions in the village. The cavalry troopers also stumbled onto a large tunnel complex not more than a mile from our perimeter. 30. Welcome to the Long Binh google satellite map! Unlike our headquarters, theirs was built under a hill rather than on top of one. Members of the 1st Squadron 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, surround their M551, Air Droppable Assault Vehicle as they wait for the word to move out, 23 February 1969 Overview; The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launch artillery attacks on over 100 population centers and military . F-100C Super Sabre 54-1956 120 TFS, 35 TFW, USAF . Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. I couldnt walk. Sound: No. On 19 February, a defector surrendered to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces and revealed a large VC force would attack key installations in the Saigon area to include Long Binh Post.Unfortunately, the reporting was delayed and did not reach Long Binh until the morning of 22 February 1969, the day the defector . The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. They briefly seize control of Binh Gia, a village only 40 miles from Saigon. It was also called Dragonship and Puff the Magic Dragon (after a song, then popular, by Peter, Paul, and Mary) but went mostly by Spooky, the call sign with which it flew its missions. Im not going to bring shame on either the medal or myself, so I do watch it very carefully.. 25/26 January 1969. .Anyway, the U.S. effort in Vietnam was (believe it or not) ultimately successful, for at the end, it was politically untenable for the Soviet Union to establish at Cam Ranh Bay its coveted "warm water" nuclear submarine base --- which, to my thinking, was what Vietnam was all about. . Tet offensive attack on Long Binh and Bien Hoa, 31 January 1968: Date: 31 January-2 February 1968: Location: Bien Hoa, Bien Hoa Air Base and Long Binh Post, South Vietnam. 28 March Ambush and Recon Team #75, and #76 were on a joint night operation on Hill-15 in the southeastern sector of the TAOR. [1], The VC made several attempts to advance on the base, but were halted. There was also a Vietnamese liaison officer. I am compiling a history of our Regiment's service in the war. Even in the navigation compartment the flash lit up the inside of the aircraft like daylight. [4]:97, After midnight on 23 February Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines and Company D, 1st Military Police Battalion detected VC approaching the Song Cau Do river bridges and attacked them killing 47 and capturing 11. Members of the reaction team were, SSG Larry J. Mentink, SGT Dennis E. Wiehle, SP/4 Clinton Brown (WIA), SP/4 Fred H. Pazmino (WIA), SP/4 Clay F. Creamer (WIA), SP/4 Michael A. Coto, PFC Robert S. Johnson, PFC Clinton M. Lloyd (WIA), PFC Simpson and others yet identified. My driver arrived at the usual time, a little before sundown, on Feb. 22, for my 12-hour graveyard shift at the 1st Logistics Command headquarters. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a contributing editor. We had no bunkers. 11 November SP/4s Jared Kelley and John R. Klemm, tend to their gear during a recon mission in the Tactical Area Of Responsibility. On top of that came the domino theory of 1954, invented by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Shrapnel and jagged shards of metal ricocheted through the cargo bay, and a shock wave from the explosion swept the interior of the airplane. At about 03:00, as reconnaissance elements of the unit were observed and engaged by US Air Force security forces at the perimeter of Bien Hoa Air Base, the villagers began to flee their homes, running down streets and creek beds. The brigade was comprised of 2d Battalion, 3d . COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT, VIETNAM 1969. He worked in "The Iron Triangle" included Phu loi, Ton sahn Nut, and Long B. A U.S. 2nd Field Force soldier poses. There are some night scenes of the base under attack showing mostly flares, explosions and gunships firing on enemy targets. These attacks were repulsed for Marines losses of 18 killed and more than 75 PAVN killed. The award-winning exhibit, designed by curator William I. Chivalette, includes a lifelike mannequin of Levitow, paintings, photographs, uniform items, and artifacts. It would light up, oh, about half a mile, a good area, quite brightly, Levitow said. 472.6.9 Records of the U.S. Army Garrison, Long Binh Post, Vietnam (Provisional) The attack was expected to come on the ground, as opposed to those occasional, more impersonal rocket and mortar shells from the air. The attack lifted momentarily, and the gunship began dropping flares to provide illumination requested by a nearby ground unit. Vimeo, They tell me that I had 40 pieces of shrapnel in me at the time, Levitow said. This was a bit disconcerting. For my personal defense, I relied upon a somewhat rusty M16 kept around the office. Back home in Connecticut, he learned that his Medal of Honor had been approved. Tet 1969 refers to the attacks mounted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) in February 1969 in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, one year after the original Tet Offensive. More than 500 airmen attended the funeral, and most of them followed the caisson to the grave site. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps. center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places on June 8, 1972. The attack continued into 27 February when the Marines overran the PAVN resulting in a total of more than 200 killed. They fought to the last because (1) they were told that they would be tortured mercilessly by US soldiers should they be captured, and (2) being Buddhists, they did not want to die on foreign soil, but hoped to escape so they could go home to North Vietnam to die. If it ignited, it would quickly fill the aircraft with toxic smoke, incapacitating the entire crew. ), and that the VC suffered heavy casualties that day, with about only 6 VC left after the shooting stopped, and these were taken prisoner. Soldiers walk around outside the headquarters. Seventh Air Force, among others, expressed concern that transmissions might be intercepted and give warning of the gunships approach to the enemy. . The typist soldier types on the form with a type-writer. Jim Van Eldik, who kept count of ammunition from an office at the Long Binh logistics complex, spent the battle in a defensive position along the edge of the building, far from the fighting. Small-arms fire opened up in his path. On 19 February, a defector surrendered to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces and revealed a large VC force would attack key installations in the Saigon area to include Long Binh Post. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft.. Danil_1969 4 ting trc. Aerial view of Long Binh Post in Vietnam. Advanced Search | An ambush platoon reaction team that was held in ready reserve was assigned to conduct a sweep of the tree line where the post perimeter had received heavy enemy fire from during the early morning attack.