In the northern sector of Da Nang, PAVN/VC main force troops entered Nam O once again and killed the hamlet chief. Some 36 of the large missiles landed on the main base, including the airfield. 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines was in the north, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines was in the center and 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines was in the south. We don't know why, but we know they are!" The fighting during the preceding week had drawn down the strength of the ARVN and the two Marine battalions and the PAVN 2nd Division still had uncommitted units that it could throw into the fray. According to them their mission was to mine and interdict allied traffic in the Hi Vn Pass area. On 11 February, Cushman observed the 2nd Division "appeared to be withdrawing from contact southward" and ordered his subordinate commanders to continue to press the attack. Flight line VMO-2 after mortar / rocket attack "Tet Offensive" 1968. . One rocket struck this barracks, but the man in this room survived by . Allied intelligence officers identified members from the V-25th, R-20th, C-130th Battalions and the Q-15th and Q-16th Local Force Companies. The attack force would consist of two groups, one to move by land and the other by water to knock out the bridge separating the city from Tiensha Peninsula and to capture the I Corps headquarters. The first U.S. air strikes also occur against the Ho Chi Minh trail. [1]:157, About 5,000 meters to the northwest, later that night, a squad from Company C, 1/7 Marines encountered an enemy force possibly from the same PAVN regiment. 17. The fighting within the compound continued until daylight. Behind the Marine and Korean lines, the ARVN 51st Regiment deployed in support of the South Vietnamese Revolutionary Development program. Marine and Army reconnaissance flights using infrared technology and XM-3 "People Sniffer" airborne personnel detectors (APD) mounted on UH-1 helicopters indicated strong enemy concentrations in the hills near Hiu c west of the 7th Marines. General Walt's staff received word on 27 October that a VC main force battalion was moving out of its base in "Happy Valley," 10 miles southwest of Da Nang, and heading towards the base. Some of the VC in the hamlet fled south, but encountered a platoon from Company E, 2/7 Marines coming up to reinforce the Allied forces in the Nam O area. The air base at Da Nang was, therefore, a particularly enticing target. 1st MAW ComdC. In Jun-Jul 1970 gave the base to the RVN and went back to DaNang. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) had its headquarters at Hill 327 west of the Air Base, while ARVN I Corps had its headquarters north of the Air Base. by Edward H. Phillips 2/1/2017. According to Washington Post correspondent Don Oberdorfer, Lm pointed with his swagger stick to the enemy's firing positions on the large map in the room and said: "Milantoni, bomb here. Major General Donn J. Robertson, the 1st Marine Division commanding general, kept under his direct control the 3/5 Marines and the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. The remaining rocket attacks were ineffective. Narrative: Possibly the worst ground aviation accident of Vietnam War occurs on March 23 1967 at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, when traffic controller clears US Marine Corps Grumman A-6A Intruder, BuNo 152608, of VMA(AW)-242, MAG-11, for takeoff, but also clears USAF Lockheed C-141A-LM Starlifter, 65-9407, of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Washington, to cross runway. In the attack on the I Corps headquarters and in the defense of Ha Vang village the Allies sustained losses of nine dead and several wounded. Other enemy rocketeers took the Force Logistic Command compound under fire. The 391 rockets that hit the base itself the figure was 69 in 1971killed four United States. The RPGs missed the apertures in the tower and fell to the ground. Glasgow, Steve: YN3: Mar 20, 1969 - Mar 20, 1970: US Navy Post Office @ China Beach: . About two-and-a-half hours later, the VC units "ceased fire and withdrew." By daybreak, the engineers held their own and the situation in Hi An was at a stalemate. Caught east of the Cm L Bridge and Highway 1, on a small island formed by the convergence of the Cu , a small tributary of the river and the Vien Dien River, the VC turned to fight. . *** The first time that rockets were used in RVN by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army. One of the rockets damaged one of the missile launchers and wounded three of the Marines. Lm arrived at the headquarters compound shortly after dawn. I was assigned to the 1st Marine Division and sent to Marble Mountain Airfield to Join Marine Air Group 16 and VMO2. Nng AB: 366th TFW: Rocket Attack! Doc, as his friends called him, was one of 58,200 Americans that died during the Vietnam War. From the south, about a dozen VC used boards to cross the outer wire and ladders and boards to clamber over the compound wall into the courtyard below. The provisional company linked up with two ARVN Ranger companies that were operating in the area to contain the battalion from the PAVN 4th Regiment which had slipped through the Hi Vn Pass the night before. Finally, according to Marine intelligence officers, another "very reliable source" flatly stated "that the time of attack throughout MR (Military Region) 5 would be" at 01:30 and no later than 02:00 on 30 January. 149 likes. 1969. Later intelligence and interrogation reports of prisoners of war would indicate that the unit that Rummage had intercepted was probably a battalion of the PAVN 2nd Division. The reaction force itself came under automatic weapons fire and RPGs disabled the two tanks. Da Nang air base attacked in Vietnam by 40mm rockets 7 miles away, 47 killed many from local village (partial newsreel) Addeddate 2005-04-08 19:44:43 Color b&w Identifier 1967-03-03_Airbase_Shelled . One sapper was captured. At 02:30 on the 30th at in Bn, elements of the R-20th and V-25th struck the subsector headquarters defended by the 15th Popular Forces Platoon and the 708 Regional Forces Company. Two LVTH-6s from the Marine 1st Armored Amphibian Company attached to the 11th Marines responded to a call from the U .S. It didn't take long to get out of bed when the first rocket struck nearby. Although the Koreans and ARVN in a combined operation finally cleared Hi An, PAVN/VC units to the west south, and north of the city continued to press the attack. [1]:156, The Da Nang Northern Sector Defense Command dispatched a provisional company to assist the CAP Marines as well as the security detachment. The ROKMC, while not finding any sizeable forces, continued to encounter small enemy units and boobytraps which took their toll. Cleaning up and repairs at Gunfighter Village. [1]:1556, During the day and evening of the 31st, the PAVN/VC infantry units pressed the offensive on the ground. Nine USAF personnel were killed during the barrage and 128 others were wounded, 40 of them requiring hospitalization. The aircraft may have been one of those used by Air America. [1]:150, By this time, General Robertson had taken measures to bolster the ARVN south of the Cau Dau. Stationed with 1882n Comm Gp., 1969-1970, worked in the Base Comm Center. That same day, the 1st Marine Division notified III MAF that "usually reliable sources" told of staging areas south of Da Nang for an impending attack. Lost him to a rocket attack. The ROKMC Marine Brigade deployed six companies around the city and the ARVN 51st Regiment prepared a reaction force. Two attached U .S. The battle for Da Nang was largely over. Another sapper squad, about the same size as the one that carried out the earlier attack, penetrated the 1st Marine Division Subsector Bravo combat operations center and communications facility on Hill 200, less than 1,000 meters from the main command post on Hill 327. Two members of a VC engineering company, also in the Da Nang area, later recounted that nearly 80 percent of their unit was from North Vietnam. The combined force then swept the general area where they found two PAVN bodies and took three prisoners. The VC attacked the compound from two directions, from the south and the east. "[1]:144, By evening on the 29th, the 1st Marine Division at Da Nang was on 100-percent alert. [1]:1489, In the Da Nang area of operations, outside of attacks by fire on the Marine base and outlying positions and the two ground assaults on Marine command and communications positions, the PAVN/VC infantry units largely concentrated on the South Vietnamese units. Rummage reported about 50 PAVN dead with another 100 "probable." Rockey, the 3/5 Marines commander, commented on the "increasing frequency and ferocity" of enemy contacts. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam - Check Out Chivalry 2https://store.steampowered.com/app/1824220/Chivalry_2/Green Army Thanksgiving!It is turkey time, so we have a Green Army . The PAVN/VC rocket troops fired in two bursts, one at 03:42, followed by a second barrage three hours later. from Vice: That day, Mr. Trump hosted a ceremony to honor law enforcement officials who had provided security for the inauguration. At first light, a Marine reaction force found enemy blood trails. Westmoreland was convinced that this big push would come either just before or right after Tt, but not during the holidays and probably at Khe Sanh and in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone sector. With part of the force establishing blocking positions north of the hamlet, the rest of the provisional company and Rangers moved through Nam O. Mortars and recoilless rifle rounds continued to land inside the headquarters compound from enemy firing positions in Ha Vang. [1]:153, The attack on the western perimeter was probably the most serious thrust against Marine positions on the day and evening of 30 January. As the Marine platoon patrolled along the banks of the Yn, a heavy machine gun suddenly opened up. More like this Camp Friendship Korat Cat Air Force Special Operations Vietnam War Photos May Bay North Vietnam Air Force Bases Vietnam Veterans They also mortared and rocketed MAG-13 at Chu Lai on 31 January 1968. PAVN battalions from the 2nd Division had eluded the Korean and ARVN defenses in the southern sector and had penetrated the defensive perimeter of the 2/3 Marines and 3/5 Marines just below the Air Base. Elements of the PAVN 368B Rocket Artillery Regiment were in firing positions to the west and northwest of the 7th Marines. At 18:35, Recon team Ice Bound, positioned in the mountains about 8 miles (13km) northwest of Da Nang observed an enemy rocket unit prepare a firing position for their missiles. Shortly after 01:00 on the 6th, PAVN gunners opened up on the hamlet with intermittent mortar rounds and small-arms fire. He ordered the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion to form a blocking position on the southeastern bank of the Vien Dien River. Cam Ranh Bay AB: US Army 6th Convalescent Hospital debris by Sapper Attack! At first, the general and his steward confused the rockets with the traditional fireworks shot off in honor of Tt. Once more the PAVN/VC failed to cut the main lines of communication into Da Nang. The following day, the same sources indicated that both the VC 1st and the PAVN 3rd Regiments had also withdrawn to the Go Noi. The Allies claimed 343 PAVN/VC killed and 195 prisoners. Supported by U .S . About the same time as the rocket attacks on the Da Nang base and Marble Mountain, PAVN/VC mortars bombarded the command post of the 7th Marines on Hill 55 south of Da Nang and forward infantry positions. According to Marine sources, the heavy action on this small island resulted in 102 VC killed, 88 prisoners of war, 13 VC suspects and 70 laborers. Reinforced by the remainder of Company L and two platoons from Company M together with two tanks and an LVTP-5, the Marines engaged the PAVN. Suspected excavations camouflaged with tree branches were seen on a peninsula 6 miles southwest of Da Nang. The PAVN soldiers wore flak jackets and helmets and carried a machine gun, and a small rocket detachment with six 122mm rockets. [ Bob Kaatman photo ] One of the first caches of bombs to explode. artillery and air, the ARVN successfully contained the PAVN/VC units in the Nam and Lin Chiu regions. Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines alone shot off some 1,200 rounds. The Marines called in artillery and mortar missions . A detachment of four LVTP-5s from the 3rd AmTrac Battalion quickly arrived, but the enemy had already departed. Instead of calling artillery fire immediately, the reconnaissance Marines arranged with Battery K, 4/11 Marines and a detachment of the 3rd 155mm Gun Battery at An Ha for an "artillery ambush." 366th AMS, Mystery SP, Bob Hope. About the same time, from their firing positions on the western fringes of the Da Nang TAOR, PAVN rocketeers launched a fusillade of 122mm rockets aimed at the Air Base. "[1]:1545, By this time, the Tet Offensive was in full bloom, not only at Da Nang, but throughout South Vietnam. 14 New Guns For 2022 by B. GIL HORMAN; A First-Year Magnum: Shooting The S&W "Pre-29" by JUSTIN DYAL; Contact; Donate; Eye Candy for the Gentlemen out there Again, the Marines killed the VC and once more foiled an apparent enemy demolition effort. In the initial fighting for Ha Vang, the South Vietnamese and Americans accounted for 25 VC dead. About 07:45 approximately two companies or a reinforced company from the PAVN 31st Regiment ambushed a Marine platoon from Company G, 2/3 Marines. The AC-47 then called in Marine fixed-wing attack aircraft which dropped Napalm with "outstanding coverage of target." [1]:1589, For the next few days, there was a relative lull in the Da Nang sector, at least as compared to the last two days of January. Hill received a telephone call at 03:45 on the 30th from Colonel Thomas Randall, the III MAF G-3, who asked him "to send three platoons to blocking positions south of I Corps headquarters." The U.S. major remonstrated that the site was relatively close to the compound, but Lm insisted that the air strikes be flown. [Peter Halferty photo]. The only Marine casualties were two men who failed to vacate their "hootches" in time. . "[1]:1578, The greatest danger to the TAOR at this juncture, however, was from the south in that area defended by the ROKMC and the ARVN 51st Regiment. Immediately after the artillery shelling, an AC47 Spooky arrived on station and worked over the same area with its Gatling guns. ** The first two attacks on DaNang were by mortars. At Da Nang, III MAF knew that the PAVN/VC were on the move. [1]:154, Throughout the Da Nang TAOR, the intensity of activity increased during the night. [1]:1534, On the night of the 30th, elements of a battalion of the PAVN 4th Regiment attacked an ARVN outpost at the foot of the Hi Vn Pass. Vietnam Rocket City 1971-1972, Palm Bay, FL. West runway cratered, east runway open. The Sequence number refers to the sequence number assigned to all attacks on ten primary US Air Force operating bases in Vietnam. At 07:35, VC gunners fired two RPGs at the compound tower and a VC infantry platoon opened up upon the CAP unit. CAP Q-4 there continued to hold out. [1]:163, The official PAVN history records the attack as follows:[3]. [1]:157, There were two serious incidents in the 7th Marines sector. Calling artillery upon the PAVN, the Marines then swept through the area and recovered about 17 60mm mortar rounds. Da Nang Air Base was one of the major air bases used for offensive air operations within South Vietnam and for the support of USMC and ARVN forces. Although the PAVN troops fled, the Marines found five unexpended 122mm rockets on the site. The Koreans kept one company at the MACV compound for security and prepared for a sweep to clear out the city in the morning. The Vietnam Security Police Association Web site features several additional recordings of rocket attacks on Da Nang Air Base. Under pressure from the South Vietnamese relief forces and the Marine MP platoon, the VC retreated with the allies in pursuit. The attacks on Da Nang (29 January 11 February 1968), were a series of attacks in the Tet Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. The Communists carried out 26 rocket attacks on the Da Nang air base during 1972. A reluctance to cause undue damage to the historic town and avoid civilian casualties was suggested as a reason for the slow ROKMC advance. [Peter Halferty photo]. 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