According to this former member of the VC 401st Regimental Security Guard, local VC cadre stated that "the war had lasted too long and the Front had to seek a good opportunity to stage a great offensive that would bring the war to an early end." During the night, VC resistance dwindled to sniper fire on the ROKMC positions. [1]:158, Robertson began to refine his defensive dispositions at Da Nang so as to counter any further incursions on the part of the PAVN/VC main force units pressing on the Marine TAOR. Rocket attack on the Da Nang Air Base that took place, Da Nang, Vietnam, January 30, 1968. He seems to think there was only one rocket attack at Da Nang in 1972. Use big bombs." With the departure of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in mid-January for Phu Bai Combat Base, the 3/7 Marines extended its area of operations to include An Hoa Combat Base to the south. Marble Mountain Air Facility supported USMC helicopter operations throughout southern I Corps. Shortly after 04:45, General Lm ordered the ARVN 4th Cavalry Regiment, a Ranger battalion and a detachment of National Police to augment the units in Ha Vang and the headquarters personnel forces in the compound. NASM.2018.0025 Citation Nr: 1224394 Decision Date: 07/13/12 Archive Date: 07/18/12 DOCKET NO. 29/30 January 1968 [1]:163, From almost every account, the PAVN/VC attack in the Da Nang TAOR was very inept. In the morning, the Marines discovered blood trails and three PAVN bodies in the vicinity of the explosions. It wrapped around the base and city. Rockey, the 3/5 Marines commander, commented on the "increasing frequency and ferocity" of enemy contacts. The crowd scattered only to gather on the fringes of Red Beach Base Area. During the day's fighting, the Marines killed 107 PAVN and took two prisoners for losses of 11 killed and 53 wounded. On January 29, 1968, the night sky above the sprawling Bien Hoa Air Base, where I was on sentry patrol, appeared to be on fire. 1969. [1]:154, The ROKMC sent three companies to close the southern link and then moved forward into the attack. In a message to III MAF, Robertson observed "Never have so few done so much to so many. During the Cuban missile crisis, the U.S. Marine Corps deployed a Hawk air defense missile battery from the 3d Light Antiaircraft Missile (LAAM) Battalion to Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, to protect the U.S. naval base from a surprise low-level air attack by Soviet and Cuban aircraft. Other units included the 402nd Sapper Battalion, the VC V-25th Battalion and other VC local forces. The main body advanced in column maintaining about three to four feet space between each man. This demonstration may have been planned to coincide with an attack on the city which never developed. Four ARVN M113 armored personnel carriers reinforced by a reconnaissance squad maneuvered to contain the attackers. Two LVTH-6s from the Marine 1st Armored Amphibian Company attached to the 11th Marines responded to a call from the U .S. Military Photo: Rocket Attack On The Eve Of The Tet Offensive. No rockets fell on the main airbase but Marble Mountain sustained some damage. 366th AMS, Mystery SP, Bob Hope. . [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. The South Vietnamese quickly rushed the newly arrived ARVN 5th Ranger Battalion into the area. Galand Kramer at the Danang Officers Open Mess, the DOOM Club, so appropriately named for those of us flying into the teeth of North Vietnams AAA, missile and MiG air defenses. Darkness prevented Sailfish from observing the number of casualties that the artillery and air inflicted upon the enemy. The 11th Marines fired an artillery mission with unknown results. [1]:157, There were two serious incidents in the 7th Marines sector. The battalion was alerted and airlifted from Twentynine Palms, California, to Cherry Point, North Carolina, with its . PAVN/VC gunners, however, continued to be active and shot down a Marine CH-46 attempting to insert a reconnaissance team into a landing zone in the hill mass in the western sector of Da Nang below the Ty Loan River. In Da Nang City itself, about 10:50 in the morning, approximately 500 people gathered at a Buddhist pagoda and attempted to hold a march. More like this Camp Friendship Korat Cat Air Force Special Operations Vietnam War Photos May Bay North Vietnam Air Force Bases Vietnam Veterans Of the 13-man Recon team, codename Dublin City, one was dead, nine were injured and three escaped unscathed. Nearly 11 million liters of Agent Orange were handled on the base. The USAF 620th Tactical Control Squadron established a control and reporting post (CRP) code-named Panama on the mountain in 1964 to support operations from Danang Air Base. The attacks were repulsed by combined United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) forces with the PAVN/VC suffering heavy losses. 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. Manning defensive positions, the Marine communicators and engineers repelled the attacking force, killing four VC. Da Nang, the main Seabee base in the I Corps area, which bordered North Vietnam, came under repeated attack from Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars. 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. 1st MAW ComdC. [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. Da Nang air base in the mid- to late-60s was the busiest (and possibly the largest) airport in the world. The Front announced that the 1968 Tt greeting of "Chairman Ho [Chi Minh] is actually a combat order for our entire Army and population. The most eastern of the battalions, the 2nd, shared its area with the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, which was responsible for the coastal sand flats south of Marble Mountain. For example, while the R-20th attempted to maintain a full complement of 400 men through the recruitment or impressment of local villagers and infiltration of North Vietnamese "volunteers," intelligence sources rated the unit only "marginally effective. Despite the thinness of the Marine lines and the ability of the PAVN/VC to infiltrate, they never capitalized on these advantages. Behind the Marine and Korean lines, the ARVN 51st Regiment deployed in support of the South Vietnamese Revolutionary Development program. According to a VC after-action report early in the offensive, the writer complained that the "commander did not know [the) situation accurately and that orders were not strictly obeyed ." With covering fire provided by 81mm and 82mm mortars, about a reinforced company reached the I Corps headquarters compound actually located within the city of Da Nang just outside the northern perimeter of the Air Base. Of the prisoners, the South Vietnamese identified six as military, 109 as workers, and the remaining 80 as VC cadre. 149 likes. According to a South Vietnamese account, the ARVN Rangers killed 150 of the enemy and captured another 18 in the battle for Nam O and in other fighting below the pass through 31 January. Below the Marine battalions, the ROKMC 2nd Marine Brigade secured the Hi An sector and the southeastern approaches above the Ky Lam River to Da Nang Air Base. Nng AB: 366th TFW: Rocket Attack! It also served to block one of the principal avenues of approach to Da Nang from the south. South Vietnamese and Korean casualties probably equalled or slightly exceeded the U.S. losses. Remains of 45-1102; sandbag detail later. The MPs shot one of the swimmers, took the other man prisoner and drove off the boats with a fusillade of bullets. On Jan. 30, a 15-man commando squad penetrated Da Nang Air Base and another squad blew up the "Sector Bravo Combat Operations Center," just 1,000 meters from I Corps headquarters. The skirmishing south of the headquarters near Ha Vang, however, continued. VC gunners from Ha Vang, nevertheless, maintained an intermittent mortar bombardment upon the I Corps tactical operations center. The Marines killed two and wounded the third. Apparently the forces were a mixed group from several different units interspersed together. In a sweep of the area, the defenders found ammunition clips and bloodstains. Even in the face of the artillery, the PAVN continued their advance upon the Marine positions. Finally the PAVN broke contact at 20:00 and disappeared. At the meeting Westmoreland ordered Americal Division commander General Samuel W. Koster to reinforce Danang. Liked the Oriental rock bands came to the Club: Posted: 02/01/2018. You comrades should act as heroes of Vietnam and with the spirit and pride of combatants of the Liberation Army. He later confided to Davis, "Bill, your phone call was right on the money! You get your timing off and you've got problems. With part of the force establishing blocking positions north of the hamlet, the rest of the provisional company and Rangers moved through Nam O. From the details of the other recovered documents, the VC obviously were making an extensive reconnaissance of the Da Nang area giving descriptions of military structures, distances, weapons and other information that would be of value to an attacking force. PAVN/VC gunners then replied with a mortar barrage, which resulted in two Marine dead and two wounded. We had played cards the night before and he was so happy he had survived his year in . At Da Nang city the Military Region's main force 2nd Division, sapper battalions, the Quang Da province local force battalions and mass forces participating in the political struggle had been preparing since October 1967. The Sequence number refers to the sequence number assigned to all attacks on ten primary US Air Force operating bases in Vietnam. Shortly after 01:00 on the 6th, PAVN gunners opened up on the hamlet with intermittent mortar rounds and small-arms fire. As various outposts reported their sightings to the Division FSCC, the artillerymen then shifted these fires to actual sites. CAP Q-4 there continued to hold out. It was a helicopter facility that was constructed in August 1965 and served as home to Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16), the 5th Special Forces Group and an assortment of other squadrons until May 1971. 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 . English: A damaged U.S. Marine Corps Grumman A-6A Intruderof Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 242 (VMA(AW)-242) "Bats" at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, 30 January 1968. According to the prisoner accounts, they were from the PAVN 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment and confirmed that "Da Nang itself was the ultimate objective. They were ordered to the area to bolster defenses around the air base at Da Nang against possible VietCong attacks. On 29 January, a local village chief told the security officer of the Naval Support Activity at Camp Tiensha that about 300 VC would attack the Marble Mountain transmitter that night. Cam Ranh Bay AB: US Army 6th Convalescent Hospital debris by Sapper Attack! Rummage reported about 50 PAVN dead with another 100 "probable." In the northeast, near the Force Logistic Command sector, villagers from Nam (160654N 1080744E / 16.115N 108.129E / 16.115; 108.129) just south of the strategic Nam Bridge, told PF troops, members of the CAP Q-4 platoon, that the VC planned to attack the CAP compound. After the fixed-wing aircraft and evacuation helicopter cleared the area, the 11th Marines saturated the area with artillery fire. Considering the amount of ordnance that the enemy expended, casualties were relatively small. Other disturbing intelligence tended to confirm this analysis. The III MAF Command Center later that evening radioed MACV in Saigon: "Although the enemy has suffered heavy losses within his local and main force VC units during the past two days, he still possesses a formidable threat utilizing [PAVN] troops poised on the periphery of the Da Nang TAOR. 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. [1]:143, While the PAVN/VC concentrated their forces for the large offensive, many of these units suffered from too many rapid replacements and in some cases from poor morale. 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. After a brief firefight, the VC troops withdrew taking any casualties with them. Both the 2/3 Marines to the east of the Army task force and the 3/5 Marines to the south, also reported relatively little enemy activity in their sectors. Robertson observed that the delay of the 2nd Division into the picture may have been because the PAVN forces "got their signals mixed " The VC were supposed to be inside "when the [PAVN] division came marching down main street. 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. According to Marine pilot reports, the PAVN/VC had approximately 250 men in the area equipped with automatic weapons, including at least one .51-caliber machine gun. The Marines assaulted the island and the fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning. 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. Linking up, under artillery and air cover, the two Marine companies continued their advance until forced to halt because of darkness and then took up night defensive positions. Its two runways accommodated a take-off or landing every 60 seconds. At 09:20, PAVN/VC forces attacked the district towns of in Bn, just above the Ky Lam River and Duy Xuyn below the river. All clips are licensed royalty-free, worldwide, in perpetuity. Da Nang Air Base : Sapper & Rocket Attacks During The Vietnam War militaryvideocom 40.6K subscribers Subscribe 566 Share Save 123K views 10 years ago This is a preview of our 78-minute. Two other squad patrols from Company C in the vicinity quickly joined the first squad. [1]:144, Shortly after midnight, Marine sentries from the 1st MP Battalion, posted near the main I Corps Bridge connecting Da Nang to the Tiensha (Tin Sa) Peninsula, spotted two swimmers near the span. Employing small arms fire, satchel charges, Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and Bangalore torpedoes, the sappers thrust through blown gaps in the Marine wire. [1]:1502, On the morning of the 31st, the Marines of Company I, now reinforced by the ARVN and the AmTrac Marines, surveyed the results of the fighting and continued to mop up the remnants of the VC force. [1]:1412, In the Da Nang sector, the tempo of operations had picked up during the last weeks of January. Milantoni replied, "General Lm just gave it. 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 Marine staff speculated that the enemy launched the mortar attacks largely as a cover for the rocket attacks against Marble Mountain. After counting 500 men pass their position, Rummage called in the artillery. The United States Air Force took control of the base in the late 1960s. All attacks from 02/27/67 forward were by rockets. At first light, a Marine reaction force found enemy blood trails. Location: Da Nang Vietnam. Da Nang AB was nicknamed "Rocket City" due to the large number of attacks by 122mm and 140mm rockets. The . In the assault, the PAVN/VC killed four Marines and wounded another seven before withdrawing. PAVN/VC fired rockets at both the Da Nang Air Base and Marble Mountain Air Facility. About 09:00, Lieutenant Colonel Rockey, the 3/5 Marines commander, ordered a small command group and two companies, Company M of his battalion and Company F, 2/3 Marines attached to his command, to the relief of the ARVN camp. [1]:142, While activity in the Army's 23rd Infantry (Americal) Divisions areas of operations in Qung Ngi and Qung Tn Provinces was somewhat diminished, there was enough enemy in northern and central I Corps to cause concern for both the American and South Vietnamese commands. Within the city itself, VC cadre were to force the "inhabitants into the street for demonstrations and prepare the people for continuing political struggle against the government as well as kill GVN and ARVN cadre. Four died there. The ROKMC Marine Brigade deployed six companies around the city and the ARVN 51st Regiment prepared a reaction force. In both these sectors support troops doubled as infantry, manning fixed defensive positions and conducting patrols. Beginning their attack about 03:00, two companies of the V-25th Battalion used the noise of firecrackers set off and general firing by Tt celebrants to cover their approach. Despite limited attacks later in the month, these were largely, as a report stated, "an attempt to maintain the facade of an offensive. With both fixed-wing and helicopter gunships and more than 120 artillery pieces ranging from 4.2-inch mortars to 175mm guns, Robertson was confident that he could counter any threat that the enemy posed to Da Nang despite the thinness of his manned defenses. Airbase Shelled: Soviet Rockets Used in Attack (film #111 on Universal Newsreels). Twenty rockets fell on Hill 10, manned by Battery G , 3/11 Marines which resulted in 23 casualties, including two dead. In Vietnam this rocket comprised one of the primary means of inflicting standoff attacks against airfields and other . Advisory Group at Da Nang, the PFs and RFs accounted for eight dead VC and captured one wounded VC. Despite the Marine patrolling, PAVN sappers, probably from the 2nd Sapper Battalion, blew three bridges and one culvert over Highway 1 in the pass area. The Sequence number assigned to all attacks on ten primary US Air force took control the! 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Darkness prevented Sailfish from observing the number of casualties that the artillery carriers reinforced a! Your timing off and you 've got problems Vietnam and with the spirit pride... G, 3/11 Marines which resulted in two Marine dead and two wounded Sequence number refers to the.... Speculated that the artillery, the PAVN/VC attack in the world Nang sector, the 11th Marines fired an mission. Four VC that the artillery and pride of combatants of the Tet Offensive handled on 6th. The last weeks of January column maintaining about three to four feet space between each.! Apparently the forces were a mixed group from several different units interspersed together Sapper!, a Marine reaction force, with its rocket attacks on da nang air base C in the.... Operations center was alerted and airlifted from Twentynine Palms, California, to Cherry Point North!

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