The PAVN obviously were bringing the local VC main force units up to strength, even if to do so they had to bring in replacements from the north. They counted 34 PAVN dead. Vietnam Rocket City 1971-1972, Palm Bay, FL. He remembered that because of the number of casualties his battalion sustained, "it was necessary to employ administrative personnel on patrols" with "clerks, cooks, and drivers" on line. [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. Lm arrived at the headquarters compound shortly after dawn. 00:00 00:00 What the Captain Means Unless otherwise noted all videos on this site appear on, and are posted here via embedded links to, You Tube. The helicopter burned upon crashing, but the crew and most of the patrol were able to get out. Marine counter-rocket fire from the 11th Marines and 1st Tank Battalion resulted in five secondary explosions. During the next few days, Task Force Miracle conducted sweeps in its sector and encountered relatively little resistance . For the most part, the PAVN/VC limited their attacks on the Marines to mortar bombardments and harassing small arms fire. SELECT OPTIONS SAVE TO CART The Marine company called in mortar and artillery fire. Robertson later compared the enemy activity that night to a "10-ring circus." At first, the general and his steward confused the rockets with the traditional fireworks shot off in honor of Tt. Only the 7th Marines to the west experienced an increase in incidents as PAVN/VC troops moved through the western TAOR to return to their mountain strongholds in Base Area 114 and through Charlie Ridge into Happy Valley. [1]:1556, During the day and evening of the 31st, the PAVN/VC infantry units pressed the offensive on the ground. The attack started at 12:25 AM and an estimated 50 rounds of 122mm rockets were fired at the installation. Mar 3, 2021. [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. The reaction force itself came under automatic weapons fire and RPGs disabled the two tanks. [Peter Halferty photo]. The Communists carried out 26 rocket attacks on the Da Nang air base during 1972. He was killed in action on January 21, 1968, during the Battle of Khe Sanh in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. 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. [1]:1423, From other sources, the Marine command learned of other ominous measures taken by the PAVN/VC forces in the Da Nang sector. The only other Marine reserves available to the division were the provisional companies of the Northern and Southern Defense Commands. Although most of the enemy activity was restricted to small-unit contacts, on the night of 2/3 February, PAVN/VC gunners again rocketed the Air Base. According to the prisoner accounts, they were from the PAVN 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment and confirmed that "Da Nang itself was the ultimate objective. Twenty rockets fell on Hill 10, manned by Battery G , 3/11 Marines which resulted in 23 casualties, including two dead. 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. It wrapped around the base and city. Two other platoons took up positions around nearby hills 244 and 200. 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. The Marines called in artillery and mortar missions . 1st MAW ComdC. a-~_ -~ ijsafss 0 w 86 i jun !17 history of 6994th security squadron Simultaneously, the division ordered the helilift of a company from the 3/5 Marines to reinforce the ARVN and the CAP Marines. At 08:30 a CAP saw a number of VC attempting to swim across the Cu to the island. Da Nang AB was nicknamed "Rocket City" due to the large number of attacks by 122mm and 140mm rockets. 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. Glasgow, Steve: YN3: Mar 20, 1969 - Mar 20, 1970: US Navy Post Office @ China Beach: . With the PAVN too close to call in artillery or fixed-wing air, the Marines radioed for reinforcements. One sapper was captured. Shortly after 18:00, an air observer reported seeing 25-30 enemy troops in trenchlines, bunkers and fighting holes. The Sequence number refers to the sequence number assigned to all attacks on ten primary US Air Force operating bases in Vietnam. 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. [1]:156, The Da Nang Northern Sector Defense Command dispatched a provisional company to assist the CAP Marines as well as the security detachment. Surprised by the initial assault, the engineers fell back, giving up half the camp to the attackers. The combined force then swept the general area where they found two PAVN bodies and took three prisoners. With the departure of the 5th Marine Regiment to support operations further north in I Corps, there was only one Marine infantry regimental headquarters in the extensive Da Nang Tactical area of responsibility (TAOR). Liked the Oriental rock bands came to the Club: [1]:1445, In scattered and intermittent attacks beginning before 02:00 and lasting about one-half hour, PAVN/VC gunners fired both mortars and rockets that landed near positions of Marine artillery, antiair missiles, and the Force Logistic Command at Red Beach Base Area. 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." In the ensuing firefight fought at a range as close as five meters from one another with the Marines achieving the upper hand. Accompanied by tanks and LVTP-5s, Company F maneuvered to the north of the ARVN base. They collected some 200 people that they detained for further questioning. Scheduled to last eight weeks, Rolling Thunder will instead go on for three years. In one contact about 16:45, Company M, 3/5 Marines met a force of 100 PAVN/VC troops. [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. Marble Mountain Air Facility supported USMC helicopter operations throughout southern I Corps. The two PAVN prisoners identified themselves as members of the H-2 Engineering Company, part of the 2nd Sapper Battalion. The main body advanced in column maintaining about three to four feet space between each man. Behind the Marine and Korean lines, the ARVN 51st Regiment deployed in support of the South Vietnamese Revolutionary Development program. In the extensive Da Nang TAOR, the early morning hours of 31 January were almost a repeat of the events of the 30th. [1]:147, After a lull of about an hour to an hour and a half, the enemy gunners renewed their assault on the Air Base and Marble Mountain Air Facility. 366th AMS, Mystery SP, Bob Hope. Two attached U .S. 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. The area around Nng, especially military installations, was subject to rocket attacks since that February. Rockey then directed Company G of the 3rd Marines, also attached to him, to move up along the banks of the Bau Xau River toward a blocking position southwest of the ARVN base to seal any escape route in that direction. "[1]:163, Another possible explanation was that the Da Nang attack may have been a secondary assault, to cause as much damage as possible and divert Allied forces from the almost successful effort of the PAVN/VC forces to capture Hu. Posted: 02/01/2018. 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. Before his death, however, the Vietnamese identified himself as Major Nguyen Van Lam, the commanding officer of the R-20th c Lp Battalion. "The soldiers and cadre of the "South Vietnam Liberation Army" were to move forward in the attack: Remains of 45-1102; sandbag detail later. 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." . In the 3/7 Marines area of operations, about 2,000 meters west of Hill 55 on the other side of a bend in the Yen River, a squad from Company L at 11:45 ran into what eventually turned out to be a fairly large-sized PAVN unit. [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. [1]:149, About 5,000 meters to the east, in Hi An, however, PAVN/VC forces gained somewhat the upper hand. (AP) AP By dark the Korean had captured the hospital and were in position to relieve the engineer compound. By daybreak, the engineers held their own and the situation in Hi An was at a stalemate. 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. Located between the Cu and Thanh Qut Rivers and on either side of Highway 1, the two battalions provided the last line of defense before the so-called "Vital Area." 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. Darkness prevented Sailfish from observing the number of casualties that the artillery and air inflicted upon the enemy. To the south of the Air Base, other PAVN/VC main force units attacked the District Town of in Bn and the provincial capital of Qung Nam, Hi An, on Route 4. The air base at Da Nang was, therefore, a particularly enticing target. 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. 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. At 07:35, VC gunners fired two RPGs at the compound tower and a VC infantry platoon opened up upon the CAP unit. Finally the PAVN broke contact at 20:00 and disappeared. Lieutenant Colonel William K . [1]:1445, At 03:30 PAVN/VC forces launched an assault against General Hong Xun Lm's I Corps headquarters. The RPGs missed the apertures in the tower and fell to the ground. After a brief firefight, the VC troops withdrew taking any casualties with them. Four died there. After their breaching of the outer defenses, the VC squad fired B-40 rockets at the headquarters building, but then fought a delaying action, waiting for reinforcements which never came. 1970, 1st Marines, AFVN, Armed Forces Vietnam Network, Assassination . "[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. [ Bob Kaatman photo ] Second cache of bombs ignites. The Vietnam Security Police Association Web site features several additional recordings of rocket attacks on Da Nang Air Base. Full Citation: Photograph 127-N-A190364; Rocket Attack on the Da Nang Air Base; 1/30/1968; General Photograph File of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1927 - 1981; Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. Approximately 16 rounds impacted in the Marine Aircraft Group 16 sector and another four in the Army aviation company area. During the day, the division had positioned 11 reconnaissance Stingray patrols along likely enemy avenues of approach. The 3/5 Marines reported "a definite increase of enemy harassment" and the movement of sizeable enemy units into the Go Noi Island area (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}1551N 10812E / 15.85N 108.2E / 15.85; 108.2). with rocket and mortar attacks at the Da Nang and Marhle Mountain Airfields on 30 January, and hit the Marble Mountain facility once again on 31 January, They hit the new Quang Tri airstrip with Doth rockets and mortars on 24, 27, and 29 January. 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. About two-and-a-half hours later, the VC units "ceased fire and withdrew." The VC R-20 and V-25th Battalions had struck again at Hi An, engaging both the Korean Marine Brigade and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the ARVN 51st Regiment. 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. Still photo images extracted from the vintage footage are also available for immediate download. From their night positions, Company G observers saw large numbers of PAVN approaching them from the north. After counting 500 men pass their position, Rummage called in the artillery. Two other squad patrols from Company C in the vicinity quickly joined the first squad. At 07:30, the ROKMC reported about 200 to 300 enemy troops still in Hi An. We don't know why, but we know they are!" "[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. In the meantime, the VC harassed with sniper fire both CAP Q-4 and the nearby Nam O bridge security detachment from 2/7 Marines. Another platoon from the Marine company also reinforced the engaged troops about an hour later. Mortar and rocket attacks followed by ground assaults were made all along the perimeter of the base. In addition to the VC R-20th Battalion, south of Da Nang, the VC 1st and PAVN 3rd Regiments both part of the 2nd Division started to deploy toward G Ni Island. As Company G began its redeployment along the river route it ran into PAVN forces attempting to retreat in that direction. 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. Landing in large bursts, about 50 to 75 artillery rounds fell on the lead column. 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