The battalion was alerted and airlifted from Twentynine Palms, California, to Cherry Point, North Carolina, with its . A high number of casualties were Vietnamese civilians living in a village just east of Da Nang Air Base. In fact, elements of both regiments had reached jump-off points just south of the Cau Do River. According to intelligence reports, on 15 January, Group 44, the forward headquarters of the PAVN/VC Military Region 5, moved from the hills in western Qung Nam Province, to an advance position on G Ni Island. About 07:45 approximately two companies or a reinforced company from the PAVN 31st Regiment ambushed a Marine platoon from Company G, 2/3 Marines. Fourteen aircraft, six pieces of ground support equipment , five buildings, and another two vehicles sustained damage of one sort or another. They fired, killing one of the enemy underwater demolition team, while the other member surrendered to the Marines. [1]:149, The fighting did not subside with the coming of daylight. 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. The Marines assaulted the island and the fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning. Two LVTH-6s from the Marine 1st Armored Amphibian Company attached to the 11th Marines responded to a call from the U .S. Da Nang was a major base area for United States and South Vietnamese military forces supporting operations throughout I Corps. The PAVN/VC rocket troops fired in two bursts, one at 03:42, followed by a second barrage three hours later. Pictures of Danang 10. NASM.2018.0025 Flares light up the Da Nang area to make it easier to spot infiltrating guerrillas. 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. 17. In the Hi Vn Pass area in the north, PAVN troops attempted to cut Highway 1. Shortly after 01:00 on the 6th, PAVN gunners opened up on the hamlet with intermittent mortar rounds and small-arms fire. [1]:163, From almost every account, the PAVN/VC attack in the Da Nang TAOR was very inept. I was assigned to the 1st Marine Division and sent to Marble Mountain Airfield to Join Marine Air Group 16 and VMO2. At 02:40, a squad from the 1/7 Marines, supported by two tanks from the 1st Tank Battalion, moved to assist the embattled CAP unit. Two other squad patrols from Company C in the vicinity quickly joined the first squad. 180 Da Nang Air Base Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 180 Da Nang Air Base Premium High Res Photos Browse 180 da nang air base stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Still photo images extracted from the vintage footage are also available for immediate download. In the attack on the I Corps headquarters and in the defense of Ha Vang village the Allies sustained losses of nine dead and several wounded. [1]:154, South of Da Nang, in Hi An, on the 30th, the ROKMC, reinforced by elements of the ARVN 51st Regiment, tried to tighten the loop and began preparations to retake the city. One of the nicest persons died there on the day he was turning his outside plant tool kit. 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. 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. "The call for assault to achieve independence and liberty has sounded; [1]:153, The most serious ground attack against a Marine unit occurred in the western portion of the Da Nang TAOR just below the Ty Loan and Cu Rivers near the eastern bank of the Yn River. In the northern sector of Da Nang, PAVN/VC main force troops entered Nam O once again and killed the hamlet chief. Landing in large bursts, about 50 to 75 artillery rounds fell on the lead column. 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. The provisional company linked up with two ARVN Ranger companies that were operating in the area to contain the battalion from the PAVN 4th Regiment which had slipped through the Hi Vn Pass the night before. Of the 13-man Recon team, codename Dublin City, one was dead, nine were injured and three escaped unscathed. CriticalPast offers immediate downloads of full-resolution HD and SD masters and full-resolution time-coded screeners, 24 hours a day, to serve the needs of broadcast news, TV, film, and publishing professionals worldwide. 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. Built by the Colonial French government of Indochina in 1949, it became a training school for Vietnamese pilots. Army advisor attached to the ARVN unit. 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. Results of a rocket attack on Da Nang air base: revetment area building VC gunners from Ha Vang, nevertheless, maintained an intermittent mortar bombardment upon the I Corps tactical operations center. Because of the location of Hill 65, just above Route 4 about 4,000 meters west of the district town of i Lc and below Charlie Ridge (155610N 1080542E / 15.936N 108.095E / 15.936; 108.095), where the VC had heavy machine gun emplacements which precluded any helicopter lift, the Marine company had to make the move on foot. [1]:143, PAVN/VC forces throughout South Vietnam were about to strike. 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. Surprised by the initial assault, the engineers fell back, giving up half the camp to the attackers. Noting the new web gear and weapons with the PAVN bodies left on the battlefield, Marine intelligence officers believed the PAVN unit to be from the 31st Regiment. Mortar and rocket attacks followed by ground assaults were made all along the perimeter of the base. An alert ARVN sentry took the VC under fire near the flagpole. The rockets destroyed five aircraft, nine items of ground equipment, two vehicles, and one warehouse outright. We don't know why, but we know they are!" Rockey, the 3/5 Marines commander, commented on the "increasing frequency and ferocity" of enemy contacts. The Truong Son and the Mekong River are moving. As the Marine platoon patrolled along the banks of the Yn, a heavy machine gun suddenly opened up. 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." Milantoni replied, "General Lm just gave it. Nearly 11 million liters of Agent Orange were handled on the base. After calling in helicopter gunships, the ROKMC, at 13:20, reached the MACV compound and linked up with U.S. advisors there. [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. 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. According to an NCO from the PAVN 31st Regiment captured in the fighting, the mission of his unit was to "attack Hi An, five times if necessary, and set up a liberation government. He was killed in action on January 21, 1968, during the Battle of Khe Sanh in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. 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. 1969. 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. On my second combat hop on the 14th I flew below 500 feet for 30 minutes 5 to 10 miles south of Da Nang searching for rocket launching sites. 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. In the Da Nang Vital Area, the artillery regiment, the 11th Marine Regiment, continued to oversee the Northern Sector Defense Command and the 1st Tank Battalion, the Southern Sector Defense Command. [1]:1612, In the ensuing battle of Lo Giang the Marine and Army forces successfully repulsed the PAVN 2nd Division attack. Robertson remembered that "the ceasefire was to be in effect and the regimental commanders reported intense fire from the enemy and requested authority to continue artillery fire, if necessary" Robertson granted the request and then "about 18:40 we got the word from III MAF that the ceasefire had been called off.[1]:142, For some time, the American forces had been aware that the PAVN/VC was about to launch some type of major offensive. In the Southern Sector Defense Command, just north of the Cu River and west of Highway 1, a PAVN/VC 12-15-man sapper squad blew a hole in the defensive wire of the joint perimeter of the 7th Engineer and 7th Communication Battalion. Davis, the commanding officer of the 1/7 Marines, recalled that his unit began to take fewer casualties from surprise firing devices or boobytraps and began to suspect that enemy troops unfamiliar with the terrain might be attempting to move into his sector. Liked the Oriental rock bands came to the Club: [1]:159, While from 15 February, the PAVN/VC ground assaults on Marine positions appeared to diminish , Marine spotters in the tower on Hill 55 reported the constant movement of small groups of enemy troops in the western portion of the ROKMC area of operations. In the attack, the PAVN/VC fired 122mm rockets at Marine artillery positions at An Hoa, Hill 55 and Hill 10. Doc, as his friends called him, was one of 58,200 Americans that died during the Vietnam War. Four ARVN M113 armored personnel carriers reinforced by a reconnaissance squad maneuvered to contain the attackers. 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. 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. 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