long binh ammo dump explosion 1968

HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. In the early morning hours on 31 January, insurgent forces launched was out of the bldgs. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. M-117 bombs explode near and on road on wooden slopes near river north of Pleiku near Dak To, on 18 August, 1968. Men at Long Binh ammunition dump. Charlie Company was ordered to a large open field across Highway 15 from the Long Thanh airfield. The 2nd Platoon led the way under Lieutenant Fred Casper, followed by my track, then Lieutenant Howard Jones 1st Platoon and, finally, the weapons platoon under Lieutenant Don Muir. As 1st Lt. Brice Barnes led his scouts into Ho Nai, he ran full speed into a hornets nest. As was our normal practice, each company had sent two ambush patrols into the jungle to our front. 13. As the 2nd Platoon began to run short, Spc. 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. 3 Merge Long Binh Jail into Long Binh. At 7 a.m., as daylight was breaking, my track rolled past the ARVN III Corps compound gate. All I could think of to say was, Please clear that weapon!. When we arrived, we found the churchyard packed with thousands of civilians. introduction into country when he first came to the 118th. - When it I was not sure what to do about the bunkers we had dug. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. Aerial view of (USARV) United States Army Republic of Vietnam Headquarters Complex at Long Binh, Vietnam. Sugar Bear Dames, as he was called by his many friends, walked down a side alley toward the highway. was a point where the Ho Chi Min Trail came close to the countrys West Later, as the sun sank over the Long Binh base, they tossed a football and ate cold C rations. out of the sky. Lieutenant Barnes and one of his soldiers would be awarded Distinguished Service Crosses for their heroism that day. bodies across the road began to bloat into a grotesque scene. Company B, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, which was placed under the operational control of the 2-47, made a combat air assault under fire into the middle of the Widows Village battle and fought bravely beside the Panthers all day long. As we rolled by, we looked down into the compound and saw soldiers in khakis, boarding passes in hand, milling about. Bravo Company (one member of which was Spc. I told him that I wanted to command a company. recoil of my M14. The platoons attacked by successive bounds through the village as the tracks, forming the base of the T, gave fire support from the .50s and resupplied the troops with ammo. The remains of a stack of over 15,000 high explosive 155mm artillery projectiles after the VC attack on February 4. When Lieutenant Casper jumped up, our legs became entangled and I tripped him, Ax remembers. 939939. Satchel charges blew pallets of artillery ammunition, creating a mushroom cloud that made us think the VC had set off a tactical nuclear weapon. build bunkers, and help pick up the dead enemy across the fence. He stated that Bien Hoa airbase, the Long Binh facility, the II Field Force headquarters and the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) base camp were under heavy mortar and rocket attack. "[3]:205, The Tet offensive attacks on Bien Hoa AB and Tan Son Nhut Air Base slowly led to an improvement in air base defense across South Vietnam, with improved bunkers and heavier defensive armament including 0.50 cal machine guns, M67 recoilless rifles and M29 mortars. Shopping Cart | 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. 0.08 He said I would have to wait. 5. When I arrived at 9th Division in June, I was further shocked to learn that I was going to a mechanized battalion, rather than be assigned to one of the battalions in the Delta where I could use my light infantry and Ranger school experience. 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. We carried concertina wire, sand bags and hundreds of Claymores and trip flares to make our defensive positions practically impenetrable. That night, no one slept, but instead scanned the jungles with Starlight scopes, seeing nothing. about 1/3 mile, All this carried on for about three maybe four days and the dead Zabecki remembers taking his place on the wall with his M-79 grenade launcher. Another VC battalion infiltrated near the area of the 3rd Ordnance (Long Binh) ammunition dump [and] in a few moments, the huge dump became a fireball. When we arrived, we filed off the busses . At 07:30 the VC/PAVN force stopped and made a stand in a cemetery where they continued to be hit by the gunships and the ACAVs of Company C. At 08:00 Company C was joined by a force from 2/47th Infantry and they proceeded to methodically kill all the VC/PAVN in the cemetery. I went through the quarters making sure everyone 14. yelling Kortuem! This article incorporates public domain material from the .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Air Force Historical Research Agency. Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. No infantry school tactic fit the situation; improvisation became the order of the day. Since I was in an airborne unit, it seemed certain that I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. According to Jones, that assault went so perfectly that it could have served as a demonstration at the infantry school. I called battalion headquarters and was told to forget about them, which reinforced our sense that combat was imminent. The Long Binh ammo dump had exploded. bore in my M14 barrel had begun to flake off and the wooden stock was A burst of VC machine gun fire erupted nearby, causing the colonel, the deputy and their Vietnamese escorts to pile into their vehicles and roar off in the direction from whence they had come. In addition we detained more than 20 probable VC fighters dressed in civilian clothes. LV WATER TRUCKS ALONG ROAD, EXPLOSION IN B/G. October continued with construction efforts. Meanwhile, Huey gunships reported VC running from the village. Long Binh Ammo Dump October 29, 1966 . convoy about two days before and were repairing anything that had failed At the meeting, I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. We could shoot about 21 miles into Cambodia. Then things started falling It involved transfer of powder projectiles and fuses enough to keep The only contact I had had with M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) was during a training exercise at the officers basic course just after I entered the Army. 0.22 Love was so startled, he didnt fire. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then went in shooting. The two of them refused evacuation and neither reported his wound. 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. At that time, I received a call on my company frequency from the battalion commander, Colonel Tower, asking how things were going. About a month earlier I had been loaned out to weld the razor [3]:218, The town of Ho Nai (105812N 1065335E / 10.970N 106.893E / 10.970; 106.893) was located on Highway 1 north of the Widow's Village and Long Binh Post. As the Hueys rockets smashed the VC strongpoint, the scouts fought their way out of the encirclement and evacuated their dead and wounded. We began detaining the well-dressed young men among the refugees. Waking Dead. The village of Ho Nai, now a ghost town, still smoldered. it and only slightly pierced the skin a little. mortar rounds and 90 122-mm. Dressed as travelers returning to ancestral homes for the Tet holiday, the guerrillas had quietly drifted into their urban assembly areas and put together their weapons. [2]:347, The ARVN 53rd Regional Force Battalion was responsible for security in the countryside around Bin Ha. Troops opened their attacks with volleys of grenades, then charged in shooting. (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. 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. The first explosion was In January 1968, our battalion relocated to the area between Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa, where intelligence had located a VC battalion. The VC concentrated their attack on Bunker 10 an old French concrete bunker on the eastern perimeter, hitting it with Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and mortar fire, however the Security Police in Bunker 10 and adjacent bunkers fought back keeping the VC from penetrating far into the base. 6 comments. We rolled through Long Binh and out the main gate, then turned left onto Highway 316. Most of we RAD 152 crew members arrived in-country on July 22, 1968. Officers and soldiers examine barbed wire fence where Vietcong broke through to enter Longbinh ammunition dump. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Casper rose from a prone position and yelled for his troops to follow him. The helmet had stopped At the meeting I was joined by the S3 of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. Binh was a logistical mistake because the perimeter was so heavily armed The gun-jeeps were progressively replaced by M113s and XM-706 Commando armored cars. He manned the .50 and, with a Charlie Company driver, headed down Highway 1. (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. My Lightboxes | Toward dark, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. Charlie Company quickly reinforced Alpha, and a daylong fight ensued. After the battles for the churches, there occurred one of the most bizarre incidents of the day. (Vietnam War period). Meanwhile, Charlie Company was ordered back to III Corps. [2]:347 Weyand also requested the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) to defend the eastern approaches to Long Binh/Bien Hoa and 1 ATF had commenced Operation Coburg on 24 January. At about 6 a.m., Lt. Col. John Tower, the new battalion commander, called with orders. 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. As enemy resistance stiffened, we realized we had bottled at least a company of the VC 275th Regiment in the village. 26 VC/PAVN were killed in the attack and several captured. 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. I realize now that the track was high enough that the rounds would have passed over the troops in front of the vehicle, Love recalls. 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. In another sign that the situation was serious, the battalion commander himself gave map coordinates of company objectives in the clear. Smoke rises from surrounding area. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Under fire, Staff Sgt. I At dusk, airstrikes had to be called in to blast the VC from the hill. unless they could see someone, I went to our Operations shack Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. 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 . After much frequency changing, I finally got the commander of the bunker guards on the radio. 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. A few minutes later, a jeep drove up carrying two extremely frightened white-shirted policemen. USAF (United States Air Force) F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter aircraft drops Mark 82 (Mk.82) high-drag (HD) bombs. 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. I walked back to my track, thinking this was going to be a nightmare. He read a memorandum charging that 100 days after the signing of the Vientiane ceasefire accords, the seven men had been planning to take command of groups of saboteurs recently infiltrated into the area., See the article in its original context from. 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. LONG BINH, South Viet Nam (UPII A thunderous explosion that shook the heart of Saigon 11 miles away ripped through a U.S. ammunition depot tonight and wounded a handful of Americans. The battle was significant, since Alphas leadership was seriously depleted during the days immediately prior to Tet. I yelled at Lieutenant Casper, and everybody looked around as the VC tore out running the last few yards to safety. Tet Offensive I had returned to Long Binh Post. As I remember the Tet Offensive began in the early morning of 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. The attacks were repulsed with the VC/PAVN suffering heavy losses, having inflicted minimal damage on the bases. Some of the enemy had tunneled under the fence and exploded an He assigned one to the airborne battalion and the other to Charlie Company. Alpha Company, still licking its wounds from the January 23 fight, was left intact. 1.19 At the beginning of the Tet Offensive, one rifle company was ordered to to clear the village of Ho Nai, a Bien Hoa suburb. Helicopter gunships took off from Bien Hoa AB to investigate, but were unable to locate the force in the darkness. I realize now that the track was high enough that the rounds would have passed over the troops in front of the vehicle, Love recalls. Since I was in an airborne unit, I was sure I would go to the 173rd Airborne Brigade or the 101st Airborne Division. Updated 7/26/2015. The Vietnamese brigadier general, who was the ranking man at III Corps, drew circles around two equal-sized areas of downtown Bien Hoa. During TET 1969 in front of Bunker Hill 17, VC sappers tried to penetrate our fence line. 6. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. We never saw them again. NEARER AIR V..SMOKE Some were complete projectiles weighing Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. Long Binh ammo dump was one of the "What are you firing at? " Vehicles drive past on roads between the Long Binh Post area. AIR V..AMMUNITION DUMPS AND FIRES more that happened that night. With a push-to-talk button stuck in the transmit position, no one could use the radio. Jan. 31. The first explosion was 2,400,000 pounds of 8 inch high explosive artillery projectiles. forever the big pieces stopped. In the week preceding the attack these LRRP patrols engaged 2 PAVN/VC reconnaissance teams north of Long Binh. Unconfirmed reports reports said the blasts were the work of Vietcong sabotage teams. On that fateful night, explosions began at the bomb dump, I immediately responded to CSC as the SP's . Our arrival had canceled fears that III Corps headquarters might be overrun. But no one would be leaving the country that day. The progress was slow and ammunition was becoming a scarce, particularly grenades, which city fighting consumes at an enormous rate. The 2nd Platoon pulled the damaged track out of the side street and towed it back to the III Corps compound. 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. SAIGON, South Vietnam, June 1 (Reuters)Explosions ripped through a huge ammu nition dump near here today, killing one soldier and wound ing 13. Suddenly he came upon a VC RPG team drawing a bead on my command track, which was a prime target given the number of radio antennas jutting from it. Chu Lai and LZ Baldy Photos. 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. He waved me off. Normally, operations orders issued over the radio were encoded and sent by the S3s radio operator. My only previous contact with M-113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) was during a training exercise at the officers basic course. Toggle the table of contents Talk: Long Bnh, Bin Ha. 5 Explosion at Long Binh ammunition storage facility. AMMUNITION DUMP. During this fighting, the two platoon leaders were wounded, Lieutenant Casper in the leg and Lieutenant Jones in the foot. front making it dangerous to return fire. . Terms & Conditions | My Account | 10. 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. The S3 also told Charlie Companys noncombatants to report to battalion headquarters. (Vietnam War period). We had run through the rear of the 274th VC Regiment, which was attacking the airfield. I sat behind the .50-caliber, munching and giving thanks for the fact that, incredibly, nobody in Charlie Company had been killed. remember that my right shoulder and chest were black and blue from the Ly's grandfather was a soldier stationed in Quang Binh during the war. 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. charred. The combat around III Corps headquarters was intense. I had assumed I would be assigned to one of the battalions in the Delta where I could use my light infantry and Ranger school experience. [2]:347[3]:236 The rocket/mortar attack was the signal to start the ground assaults on Bien Hoa AB and Long Binh. At 0400 Jones ordered us to pull in our ambushes and be prepared to move. U.S. military officials vVould not give the exact number of casualties for security reasons.

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