Approximately at 02:00, about four of the 122mm rockets fell in or near the compound, one landing near the 1st Cavalry Division helipad temporarily located there, damaging four of the helicopters, but resulting in no Marine or Army casualties. (L to R) Attack of 13 April 1972. Army forces in the Da Nang area including the troops from Task Force Miracle suffered 18 dead and 59 wounded. [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. They fired, killing one of the enemy underwater demolition team, while the other member surrendered to the Marines. Pictures of Danang 10. South Vietnamese and Korean casualties probably equalled or slightly exceeded the U.S. losses. 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. "[1]:144, By evening on the 29th, the 1st Marine Division at Da Nang was on 100-percent alert. While the 1st MP Battalion supported by the 1st Tank Battalion established blocking positions north of the Cu River, the ARVN 3rd Battalion, 51st Regiment swept the sector south of the river. On 2 February, the Marines received a report that the PAVN 2nd Division had moved its headquarters 4 miles (6.4km) north, to a position above Route 4, from its previous location on Go Noi Island. Today, several areas on the Da Nang Base including the loading, storage and mixing areas and Sen Lake to the north and the Pacer Ivy area at the south of the base have been confirmed to have . The Air Force watch officer on duty protested, "that's too close, you'll never get a clearance for it." "The soldiers and cadre of the "South Vietnam Liberation Army" were to move forward in the attack: [Peter Halferty photo]. Although agent reports and other intelligence indicated continued assaults north of the Cau Do River against Ha Vang and Da Nang City, most of these came to naught. I was assigned to the 1st Marine Division and sent to Marble Mountain Airfield to Join Marine Air Group 16 and VMO2. Missiles launched from nearby mountains have caused eight deaths, many injuries and. Additional intelligence tended to confirm the enemy was about to initiate something big. [1]:1601, On the morning of 7 February, Westmoreland called for a special meeting of the senior U.S. commanders in I Corps. 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. Countermortar fire quickly silenced the enemy tubes. 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. The United States Air Force took control of the base in the late 1960s. Date: July 15, 1967.Visit us at www.CriticalPast.com:57,000+ broadcast-quality historic clips for immediate download.Fully digitized and searchable, the CriticalPast collection is one of the largest archival footage collections in the world. From firing positions southwest of the base, 28 122mm missiles fell on the airfield, destroying one aircraft and damaging six others. He arrived with 19 other soldiers, eight of whom were embalmers. 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 [1]:163, The PAVN/VC offensive in the Da Nang sector had spent itself. 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. At about 03:00 two PAVN battalions struck the ARVN compound on Route 1 above the Thanh Quit River. ** The first two attacks on DaNang were by mortars. 1969. The only other Marine reserves available to the division were the provisional companies of the Northern and Southern Defense Commands. Company M advanced toward a hamlet to the south of the ARVN. 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. 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. With one of his companies on the Tiensha Peninsula and the other three protecting the Air Base perimeter, Hill argued that he could not spare three platoons. He personally believed the plans were impractical and deserted at the first chance he had. Calling artillery upon the PAVN, the Marines then swept through the area and recovered about 17 60mm mortar rounds. [Peter Halferty photo]. The VC had learned that artillery and/or air strikes would be called in on the launch sites. It wrapped around the base and city. About 03:30, two more Marine tanks from the district town of Hieu Duc arrived at the northern fringes of the hamlet. VMO2, where I would spend the next thirteen months, was just south of DaNang. CMSgt (Ret) Gary Chaffin, who was at Da Nang with the 366th Civil Engineering Squadron, recalls this attack much as Dick does. 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. Liked the Oriental rock bands came to the Club: In the pursuit, which amounted to a rout, the VC lost nearly 100 dead. Before his death, however, the Vietnamese identified himself as Major Nguyen Van Lam, the commanding officer of the R-20th c Lp Battalion. [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. 1969. "[1]:158, While the PAVN/VC forces continued to harass allied positions on the night of 31 January/1 February, the intensity of combat did not match that of the previous two nights. [1]:1412, In the Da Nang sector, the tempo of operations had picked up during the last weeks of January. 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. In the initial fighting for Ha Vang, the South Vietnamese and Americans accounted for 25 VC dead. In addition, the 1st Marine Division alerted one company to participate in the relief of Hi An, if needed. 15 July 1967Unknown number of VC attacks Da Nang air base in Quang Nam Province with an estimated 50 rounds of suspected 122mm rockets. The U.S. major remonstrated that the site was relatively close to the compound, but Lm insisted that the air strikes be flown. Even in the face of the artillery, the PAVN continued their advance upon the Marine positions. 1970, 1st Marines, AFVN, Armed Forces Vietnam Network, Assassination . The skirmishing south of the headquarters near Ha Vang, however, continued. The Marines assaulted the island and the fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning. Archives. The PAVN 2nd Division still remained intact, but was not about to renew the offensive. Flares light up the Da Nang area to make it easier to spot infiltrating guerrillas. Bldg. Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines alone shot off some 1,200 rounds. artillery and air, the ARVN successfully contained the PAVN/VC units in the Nam and Lin Chiu regions. A conglomeration of internal security forces threw back the VC force from the east that tried to use similar tactics to get inside the compound from that direction. In the ensuing firefight fought at a range as close as five meters from one another with the Marines achieving the upper hand. [1]:1445, At 03:30 PAVN/VC forces launched an assault against General Hong Xun Lm's I Corps headquarters. All attacks from 02/27/67 forward were by rockets. The PAVN then attacked forcing the Marine platoons to fall back to more defendable positions. It was decided that two battalions from the Americal Division code-named Task Force Miracle would be moved into the northern sector of the 3/5 Marines near Route 1 south of the Cau Do. Under pressure from the South Vietnamese relief forces and the Marine MP platoon, the VC retreated with the allies in pursuit. To the south, in the Korean sector, the ROKMC with the assistance of the ARVN again drove PAVN/VC forces out of the Hi An environs. Finally there were rumors that the other two regiments of the 2nd Division, the VC 1st and the PAVN 3rd, had infiltrated even further north. 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. "[1]:142, On the evening of 28 January, just west of Hiu c, a Marine squad from Company C, 1/7 Marines ambushed a three-man VC reconnaissance patrol. The . After the fixed-wing aircraft and evacuation helicopter cleared the area, the 11th Marines saturated the area with artillery fire. [1]:146, At 03:30, on the other side of the main Da Nang Bridge, MPs noticed two VC in the water and several sampans approaching. In the town itself, 10 civilians caught in the crossfire, sustained wounds, but no civilians died as a result of the battle. A summary of these attacks can be found on the Web site of the 366th. Robertson wanted to "canalize enemy movements in order to develop lucrative targets which could be exploited." They were ordered to the area to bolster defenses around the air base at Da Nang against possible VietCong attacks. 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. More like this Camp Friendship Korat Cat Air Force Special Operations Vietnam War Photos May Bay North Vietnam Air Force Bases Vietnam Veterans Since you were there, Colonel, you can verify that there were no fewer than 26 rocket attacks on the Da Nang. In Vietnam this rocket comprised one of the primary means of inflicting standoff attacks against airfields and other . The Marine squad lost one killed. About 03:30, perhaps to divert Marine attention from the ground assault on I Corps headquarters and the city of Da Nang, enemy mortars opened up on Marble Mountain. 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. In the attack, the PAVN/VC fired 122mm rockets at Marine artillery positions at An Hoa, Hill 55 and Hill 10. Cam Ranh Bay AB: US Army 6th Convalescent Hospital debris by Sapper Attack! [ Bob Kaatman photo ] One of the first caches of bombs to explode. The RPGs missed the apertures in the tower and fell to the ground. About 01:00, a Marine platoon from Company G, 2/7 Marines, positioned near the Nam Bridge on Highway 1 crossing the Cu River north of Da Nang, saw another two enemy on a raft with a wooden box. 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