Meanwhile, the two companies already on the line of departure would begin the operation by advancing to a series of objectives to the north. On the north, the mechanized company moved forward at about ten miles an hour in a general line, while hosing down the countryside with .50 caliber-fire. By 1600, everything was ready for the coordinated attack. If you would like to purchase a subscription click here. Darkness finally came to the rice paddies of Dien Thoung Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, but it came slowly. The APC operators decided to fire their canisters on each other to remove the Viet Cong, as they were too close for an APC to clear from itself. Early on 2 May, elements of the Wild Ones composed of Company B and Company C, 3/60th, plus the battalion command post and combat support company (less elements), moved out and arrived at the attack position with out incident. WebThe Battle of p Bc was a major battle fought on January 3, 1963, during the Vietnam War. reports printed in the press on the battle of Ap Bac. This was prompted in part by the need to get as close to the enemy as possible before assaulting, plus the necessity of crossing the tracked vehicles over the two tracked vehicles, would continue to advance by using fire and maneuver within the platoons to destroy individual enemy positions as they were discovered. The brigade commander ordered the assault as soon as the air strike, then in progress, was finished. mistakes at Ap Bac based upon faulty intelligence and inexperience, but The gunship immediately attacked this group, killing an estimated 40. 0000001392 00000 n We continued to pour fire into his position and to inch forward, taking best advantage of the cover. After that, the men spent the rest of the week exploring the area, meeting up at Hellers cabin at the end of each day. 13-17 June 1967: Operations in southern NHOM TRACH, including attach I-10 Headquarters. During this battle with elements of this Division and attached units your officers failed to accomplish their mission and left the battlefield covered with dead and wounded from their units. trailer WebOn the morning of January 2, 1963, the South Vietnamese Civil Guards spearheaded the attack by marching toward Ap Tan Thoi from the south. Its a good family of vets, and its always a joy to see them.. Explore a glossary of terms, manuals, statistics, historical accounts and reports, maps and articles by MRFA members. Continuing its advance, the company began to meet more and more fire as it crossed the open rice fields opposite a built-up area of thatched huts along a deep stream that ran across their front. One enemy soldier was beaten to death by a soldier who used his steel helmet, and another was stabbed to death, thus indicating the ferocity of the assault. Cong battalion inflicted heavy casualties on the government forces and press reaction across the country to the battle of Ap Bac noted that D. Wheeler, General Earle While these operations were being carried out, the gunship, which has been constantly circling the area, reported a Viet Cong force of company size moving across the fields to the northeast. S. Vietnam war and noted that the battle will provide enemy with Explore our Navy section: awards, stories, points of interest, origin of navy terminology and much, much more! In half an hour they had advanced to within 100 meters of the main enemy line, but were held up by intense fire from small arms and mortars. So far as the battalion commander of the 3/60th was concerned, all his chips were in the pot. Joint Chiefs of Staff as one of the bloodiest and costliest battles of Articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History, Vietnam articles missing geocoordinate data, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1967, United States Army Center of Military History, http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/90-7/cont.htm. [1] The mortars fired from afar while a large number of infantrymen dressed in black charged from the foliage. the Secretary of State, Travels of It was as hoped that in this manner the tracked vehicles could compensate for the lack of a blocking force. %PDF-1.4 % discipline in battle. if (document.context) document.write ("&context=" + escape(document.context)); Then we went back to Dong Tam and then in an incredible operation the MRF moved 19 August 1967: Relocate to SOIRAP?VAMCO to the Joint Chiefs at the end of January, see Document 26. <<1580FEC57EE0BF4FA30A1AAA607739CA>]>> Explore our catalog and purchase official MRFA gear here. Due to the nature of the battle and the abundant use of automatic weapons on armored vehicles, two and in some cases three basic loads of .50-caliber and 7.62mm. of the Secretaries of State, Travels of zoneId = '8'; Finally, the battle has proven the wisdom of the axiom; once you have an enemy force in a trap, destroy it without delay. Festa's track was hit, wounding his sergeant, as fire came in from the west. 209 0 obj <> endobj Aboard USS Pope. 11 September 1967: Operation Coronado V. Operations in CAM Son/ BAN LONG against 514th Viet Cong Battalion and 263rd Viet Cong Main Force Battalion. In front of it stretched some 1,500 meters of open rice fields that were cut at 500-meter intervals by two irrigation ditches, the last of which was some 500 to 600 meters from the enemys position. Thus, the battle ended. Then when the fire lifted to the rear of the enemy, to block his escape positions, the infantry would assault before the enemy could recover. It took place in an area of the Mekong Delta that had been dominated by VC guerrillas. At first this was sporadic sniper fire which did little to slow the advance of this unit. Haszard was fired on as he left the APC to attach the towline. The concern of fire falling in the fire support base was so great that it was decided briefly not to attack. The intent was to bring the artillery fire on the enemys positions and then advance the infantry to as close as possible under cover of this fire, crawling the last few yards in the case of Company A. [5] Later Wolfe's track was directly hit for a second time by an RPG-2 rocket. During the battle, 29 US air strikes delivered 29 tons of ordnance, and American artillery fired nearly 3,000 rounds. Who was the American commander at Ap Bac? Series, History of the Diplomatic Couriers, Guide to Country Recognition and zoneId = 'Array'; Considered small-scale action, Ap Bac was fought on January 2, 1963, in the hamlet (ap in Vietnamese) of Bac. Battle of Ap Bac. For text Join us for our 2017 reunion by making a reservation today! But the most prevalent feeling now that the major, recognizable danger had passed, was one of elationhigh elation. Get the recipe! Zies was carrying ammunition for Saiz, an assistant machine gunner, and followed him to a clump of palm trees. Company C, 3/47th Infantry was deployed by helicopters south of the reported VC location while Company C, 4/47th Infantry was moved by patrol craft northeast of the location. Sheehan, Current As the second group, under the platoon sergeant, began moving down the dike, the lead man, a squad leader, was killed by fire form a foxhole along the dike. [3], American intelligence sources had indicated that the area was densely populated with Viet Cong guerrillas, noting the existence of a well-used trail to the north of Fire Support Base 20 which ran east and west. Alcala sent his 2nd Platoon commanded by First Lieutenant Harlan E. Short to establish an ambush along the trail at a point 1.5km north of the fire support base and approximately 350 meters west of Route 13. The bomb dropped, but the pilot had been blown up in the blast. 1 June 1967: MRB arrives at Dong Tam. Become a member of MRFA! if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); [6], During the battle, resupply and medical evacuation missions continued under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Paul F. Gorman of the 1st Infantry Division. The Battle of p Bc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War, in nh Tng Province (now part of Tin Giang Province), South Vietnam. This past June 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Ap Bac. A relatively small engagement that had major media, political, and policy implications, the Battle of Ap Bac took place between Viet Cong (VC) and Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) forces on January 2, 1963. In front of the platoon was the small pasture where the lead squad of Company A, 3/47th, had been destroyed earlier. [4] Throughout the mortar and antitank bombardment, Alcala maintained radio contact with his squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney S. Haszard, who was located to the south. Howitzers to screen the battalions approach. 3 August 1967: 3rd Bn, 60th Inf come afloat, 4th Bn 47th Inf OpCon Funston. Vann attributed the failure [5], The perimeter now contained the artillery battery, all of A Troop, and the two relief platoons, which provided a large quantity of armor. Those on the south were believed to harbor Viet Cong, and the southern platoon of Company A would attack through that area. Battle of Ap Bau Bang II happened on 1967-03-20. [6], During the battle of Ap Bau Bang III, the Americans killed at least 227 Viet Cong, and captured 3, as well as much equipment and weapons. Although unexpectedly Out there at my place on the Willwood where things were quiet, there were no agendas, no one had to go anywhere for food. Each infantry Battalion operates one week in RSSZ and trains one week at VAN KEP Training Center at BARIA in PHOUC TUY Province. (SACSA Briefing, April 24; Department of of the Wheeler report, submitted In short, a nice, tidy plan had gone awry. You play a dangerous game, and people get hurt. [1]:1067[2]:37 Artillery and air support could not be used initially due to confusion over the location of the 4/47th Platoons, but from 12:00 helicopter gunship and artillery fire began to supplement the fire from small arms and nearby patrol craft. Trong trn p Bc, qun Vit Nam Cng Ha tn tht 83 cht v t nht 100 ngi b thng. 27 July 1967: Relocate to Dong Tam. Following this operation the aircraft would pass to the 3/47th for a similar operation. Against overwhelming odds, the Viet Cong achieved their first major victory. Battle of AP Bac II, in AP Bac Hamlet, CAN/GUIOC District, Long An Province. Their mission was to secure the base for B Battery (105-mm.) Moving into the perimeter, the platoon took up positions between A Troop's vehicles on the western half of the defensive ring. On 20 June 4/47th Infantry searched south of the ambush area locating a VC force north of the Rach Gion Ong stream at Ap Nam and assisted by a Company from the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, wiped out a VC Platoon. These were the troops of the 273d Viet Cong Regiment, who had been waiting in position in the rubber trees before moving forward under mortar fire cover,[4] wearing dark clothes. Company A was to move by trucks furnished by the brigade besides organic vehicles form the battalion, and upon arrival would go into battalion reserve near the line of departure. since Ap Bac the complaint has been increasingly heard that the September 1966: 2nd Bde designated Army Component of (MDAF- Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Base). g. Results: heavy contact with 514th Viet Cong Battalion, and 263rd Viet Cong Main force Battalions by US and VNMC, light contact with 261st Main Force Viet Cong Battalion by the 7th ARVN. Squad leader and event organizer Dave Persson talked of the significance of the date, calling it the very worst battle any of us saw in Vietnam., We lost one person from our platoon that day, Persson recalled. The gradual tightening of the circle around the enemy force had brought the friendly troops in close to each other; so close that the fires of one unit endangered the others. Fire was immediately returned and the enemy automatic rifle gunner was killed; however, he was quickly replaced by another, who continued to fire on the exposed squad and within minutes all who had crossed the stream were casualties. At 22:50 that night a Viet Cong probe signaled the start of the battle. Forces from the 5th Cavalry Regiment were entrusted with the securing of Fire Support Base 20, around 1.5km north of the village of Bu Bng, and they had expected an attack, as their area was a known communist stronghold. That was a rarity in the Vietnam era much rarer than people ever realize, Persson said. February 1966: 2nd Bde Activated Fort Riley, KS. Because of a shortage of transportation, the 3/47th was delayed, and did not move until later. The quarry this time was a concentration of guerrillas near the village of (Initially 3rd-Bn 47th Inf then 4th-Bn, 47th Inf) Suddenly, a concealed automatic weapon opened fire at a range of 50 meters, completely enfilading the line of troops. Colonel Haszard then alerted the 1st Platoon of B Troop and the 3rd Platoon of C Troop to the north and south of Ap Bau Bang respectively to move to Fire Support Base 20. They all had to be searched and cleared, even though most were found to be unoccupied. We dont sit around and tell war stories, we just celebrate each other and the fact that its great to be alive.. Those on the north had been swept by Company B earlier, and were known to be free of enemy troops. Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber. WebThe battle of Ap Bac, Vietnam, 2007. found : Wikipedia, viewed Apr. 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