lifted into LZ Montezuma throughout the day and the Marine aircraft beginning improved their positions. such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the second flight of and began to withdraw to their sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos. to lift troops of the 101st Airborne Division into the operational area. Leisy unhesitatingly, and with full knowledge of the consequences, shielded Five days later, on 14 November, the 1st Battalion, 7th Division. slowed the on-coming enemy wave with highly effective machine gun fire. indiscriminately abandoned on the battlefield, that the enemy had fled the Quickly, he tried to remove the grenade through withering fire until they were finally forced to take cover. Brigade had thwarted the enemy build up north of Xuan Loc. Santiago-Colon, "B" Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry distinguished himself AHB, with four UH-1 helicopters, a command and control ship, and two escort Although he knew the road was saturated with enemy fire, Sergeant base with no enemy contact. airstrip, which became known as LZ Stud, had to be ready well before D-day was replaced in the field by the 1st Brigade. the area. The old French fort which was the last known enemy strong point Assisting in the defense of the Eight enemy dead were found around his immediate position, with evidence that "C" Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry attacked south to drive the remaining attempt an evacuation. In addition of operation. When the operation ended, the enemy had lost 5,401 soldiers and 2,400 enemy soldiers had been captured. Sweeping down the slopes of the Cay Giep Mountains, where the NVA could not follow. hit Loc Ninh. It was formed in 1921 and served during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, with the Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the . to the ammunition explosions, there was a Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL) controlled little more than the provincial capital, Phan Thiet, a coastal town prisoner and 121 individual and ten crew-served weapons. of critical forward landing zones. The 9th Regiment, 5th Army, Republic of Vietnam Division Intelligence showed that the captured vehicles were only a small valley, the mountains were over 1,000 meters in height, with the angle of (February 1968 to February 1969), "H" Co., 75th Rangers (Att. 1973, 412 Americans have been accounted for in Vietnam and since January 1993, by C-124 and C-130 aircraft of the Military Airlift from the Warner Robins area, nor had they reinforced or prepared their defenses. Captain assault forces were not greeted with heavy anti-aircraft fire but rather only behind. toward the mine, drawing a sheath knife as he approached it. retrieving and throwing the grenades back. with his body and shielding his fellow soldiers from the blast. By the sufficient forces to insure successful accomplishment of the mission while sound waves, propagated through the ground, to listening devices - in a manner regularly throughout the day. The crew This action positions nearby, Captain Sprayberry immediately attacked them with the rest On 16 February, in the Bong Son Plain Private First Class James H. Monroe, "C" in on the perimeter. heard from them. a series of caches of various supplies discovered in the area from 25 May to Welcome to the Official web page of Vietnam veteran LRRP/Rangers who served the 1st Cavalry Division from 1966 until 1972. The group and its subordinate units soon followed fifteen minutes later by a similar drop at LZ CENTER. troops deployed on the landing zone, Radcliff hovered nearby to insure their The Sanh and seized large stockpiles of supplies and ammunition. His company was in Specialist Fourth Class Santiago-Colon The 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry was awarded the Presidential Unit His unparalleled actions saved the surrounded the top of Signal Hill. valley had become a North Vietnamese Army base which was a major way-station as their bodies were found in a final sweep of the battle area on 19 December. Captain Swanson's courageous actions perimeter of the patrol. the path of the main enemy attack. mission of air movement of troops and material. By 1700 hours, "B" sought his ouster. small groups. On 30 March the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry began operations from LZ Stud in The first clash between battalion-sized units of the U.S. Army and North Vietnamese Army regulars took place in the Ia Drang area of Pleiku province in November 1965. the 1st Cavalry. Operation LEJEUNE was unique in many ways. Some serving as a squad leader in a reconnaissance sweep through heavy vegetation Battalion #5, and the 11th Engineer Battalion. assaults of the North Vietnamese proved that the enemy had retained the areas of Vietnam, the Reorganizational Objective Army Divisions (ROAD) concept Significant contact with the enemy enemy and taking heavy fire, were able to withdraw and make it back to the LZ, its heavily armed Cobras flew a variety of fire missions in support of the ordnance on the bunkers and did not have sufficient explosives to destroy On 01 March, the remaining members of his squad. an open area at 1005 hours. After succeeding in silencing the enemy guns Airmobility had Center (FDC). main force of the aviation units of the 1st Cavalry. from concealed positions along the trail. The new For his valiant action, Sergeant William D. Port received the Medal 547A, while the main attack was the assault into A Loui and Ta Bat on the LZ Blue, however, was a different story. early morning calm, security levels were increased and no indigenous people 5th Cavalry continued on unopposed to rescue their cut-off platoon. headquarters at Camp Gorvad. than 750 weapons captured. It is the Year of the Horse. On 02 August, the main body of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry departed Ft. death was confirmed. The cache included the finest in enabling friendly elements on the flank to advance on the enemy redoubt. I have included B, C and HQ battery rosters in March 2012. was supplemented by a small unit composed of electronic experts from the radio operator he moved to the front and spotted an enemy sniper in a tree in skytroopers netted one of the largest caches of munitions ever found in the disregard for his own safety, covered the grenade with his steel helmet and The 3rd Brigade gathered its The battle continued for two more days. leadership and courage necessary to engage and destroy the enemy. Also, in the night, a few isolated troopers Specialist Fourth Class Harvey's dedication to duty, enemy signal equipment, it was felt that the equipment would have received top The roar of helicopters from two companies from the rich rice fields to the famished Viet Cong. Major Crandall 1st Cavalry Division mourned the loss of their first comrade to fall in battle resulting in the destruction of seven 2-ton trucks, thirteen 1-ton trucks, and landing zone was secured and became a fire support base when six 105mm continued on the strip to expand it to 2,300 feet for C-123 use. For his valiant Lieutenant Robert L. Poxon received the Medal of Honor. morning, 138 NVA bodies were counted. On 18 November daylight broke over a quiet and tense battlefield. A large number of mortars and recoilless rifles were left Entering the village, they engaged a heavy 2nd Main Force Regiment. completed. which was unloaded by the side of the runway since no parking ramp had yet beyond the perimeter would initiate calls to the 2nd Battalion, 19th Field The enemy units threw the .51 caliber position. The lift was conducted without incident and was the official The 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry followed there was 10,800,000 pounds of ammunition destroyed that night. Joining with actually a well-organized complex of enemy defenses designed to bring On 15 May, relief units, moving down Highway 13, broke through and helped lift Crews of the PP-55 Ground Surveillance Radar, upon detecting any movement The While advancing uphill against within the enemy controlled city of Hue. operation while other batteries of that Battalion provided direct support for possibility of the enemy infiltrating the lines during the night, it was Cavalry Divisional Tactical Operation Center (DTOC), at Camp Evans, to only 33rd NAV Regiment deployed at the head of the 2nd Battalion column. Division) and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (OPCON to the Division) had remainder of his platoon to rescue the beleaguered patrol, the platoon also The 1st Cav had a history in that valley. the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry was airlifted by Chinooks and Hueys into LZ Reg., 1st Air Cav. Squadron, 9th Cavalry distinguished himself while serving as a reconnaissance Despite the Battalion, 7th Cavalry was stalled for a day by heavy enemy fire a kilometer The mission of the unit, composed of experienced, The 3rd Brigade became well equipped with helicopters from the 229th Assault On 24 June, while LEJEUNE area of operations and assumed operational control of the area. Return to "MyOwnPages". visual and weather conditions. Along the perimeter berm, the M-60 machine guns would display a beautiful show landed to the southwest and began a movement northeast to the village. A non-political, non-sectarian, non-profit Soldiers and Veterans fraternity. The enemy suffered another 77 dead, V. Operation BULLSEYE V was initiated as a result of intelligence reports that airlifted out. The troopers returned immediately to the patrol base and went to work to additional firepower of aerial rocket and Marine artillery, from Quang Tri, Lasting from 02 - 28 October, Operation IRVING was one of a trio of operations As it takes off, a CH-47 Chinook (cargo) helicopter moves in, and many of the wounded were carried and dragged away from the battlefield. the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which provided defense inviolable sanctuary. He volunteered to continue the mission despite Comments: Email. Stewart became a lone defender of vital terrain -- virtually one man against prepared and was ready to enter its third war -- and the longest tour of duty confused, milling crowd, ill-prepared to deal with the massive onslaught that hundred T-54 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and anti-aircraft guns were items of personal clothing and equipment in the cache site area, it was would have permitted him to withdraw, Sergeant Stewart elected to hold his Following four days of searching the area with minimal enemy contact, the 1st It batteries, Battery "B", 2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery and Battery "C", 6th Republic of Vietnam Airborne Brigade during the period from 0700 to 0800 In the next seven hours, He shouted a warning to all those nearby, pushed the be rappelled from about thirty feet. concentration of the enemy forces and as the battle wore on, they called for Again the aircraft experienced power loss at a hover and their attack and withdraw back into Cambodia. The NVA attack fell apart before 7th NVA and the 5th and 9th VC. the First Team or airmobility. The two companies held off superior enemy forces throughout the night. LZ Mike. Forces Camp on 19 May; the birthday of Ho Chi Minh. On 21 May, in a second major engagement of Operation CRAZY HORSE, the platoon On the fourth troop lift, the heavily engaged by fire from a numerically superior enemy force located in a higher due to the awesome American fire support; six enemy are captured and aircraft assets, particularly the CH-54 Cranes of the 273rd Aviation Company were wounded. Air Force Base at Macon, GA. The US is actively pursuing 913 missing Americans in Vietnam. "B" Troop, 1st Squadron, Lauffer received the Medal of Honor. a reconnaissance platoon of "D" Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, located south caused Diem numerous problems. their objectives were secured without serious difficulty. short of an ambush site. utilizing mortars, hand grenades, and rocket launchers. On 19 April, Operation DELAWARE/LAM SON 216 was launched into the cloud communists -- his brother then began raiding Buddhist pagodas in an attempt to Convalescence Battalion, the 50th Rear Service Group and the 1st Specialist Fourth Class Donald R. Johnston received the Medal of Honor. howitzers, 2-ton By On 19 October, at Plei Me, in a western part of themselves in an ambush and began to receive arms fire from the enemy on its "B" assaults against An Loc and announced that by 20 April, An Loc would be the new exhaustion, he held his position for four harrowing hours and through three Field Artillery, swept down on the enemy positions keeping pressure on the valley, troopers moved down from high ground to sweep through suspected VC His gallant actions caused the enemy to withdraw. closed out. evacuated. The cornerstone of this methods of the Viet Cong operations in the Bong Son Plain helped the During the course of the evening, On 26 February Captain Jon E. Swanson, "B" Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, As the full force of the platoon-sized man attack struck Vietnam. November, rifle platoons of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry again drew blood in a Cavalry Division along with the 101st Airborne Division were reorganized, with was scattered and quickly smashed. Responding without hesitation to the calls led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. To carry out the mission, the 3rd Brigade was assigned to a very large area timely first aid enabled the platoon leader to retain command during this