About an hour later, PAVN troops who had infiltrated Duong Lam rushed the CAP compound. "[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. [ Bob Kaatman photo ] Again the artillery responded with "excellent effect on target." The remaining rocket attacks were ineffective. 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. Pictures of Danang 9. 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. In fact, elements of both regiments had reached jump-off points just south of the Cau Do River. In both these sectors support troops doubled as infantry, manning fixed defensive positions and conducting patrols. [1]:159, On the night of 5/6 February, the PAVN/VC forces began the second phase of their Da Nang offensive. The attack began about 1 A.M. and the United States command said the missiles were Sovietbuilt 122mm rockets, each weighing about 100 pounds. In one operation near Dien Ban, the ARVN 51st Regiment sustained losses of 40 men killed, six missing, and 140 wounded while accounting for about 80 enemy dead and 13 prisoners. Other units included the 402nd Sapper Battalion, the VC V-25th Battalion and other VC local forces. 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. Reinforced by another squad, the Company G Marines killed three and captured two. In the assault, the PAVN/VC killed four Marines and wounded another seven before withdrawing. [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. [1]:1502, On the morning of the 31st, the Marines of Company I, now reinforced by the ARVN and the AmTrac Marines, surveyed the results of the fighting and continued to mop up the remnants of the VC force. After a quick appraisal of the situation, the I Corps commander turned to the senior U.S. advisor at the I Corps Tactical Operations Center, Army Major P.S. According to the U.S. Hill received a telephone call at 03:45 on the 30th from Colonel Thomas Randall, the III MAF G-3, who asked him "to send three platoons to blocking positions south of I Corps headquarters." Below the Marine battalions, the ROKMC 2nd Marine Brigade secured the Hi An sector and the southeastern approaches above the Ky Lam River to Da Nang Air Base. He personally believed the plans were impractical and deserted at the first chance he had. According to Washington Post correspondent Don Oberdorfer, Lm pointed with his swagger stick to the enemy's firing positions on the large map in the room and said: "Milantoni, bomb here. 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. 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 Truong Son and the Mekong River are moving. According to III MAF figures, from 29 January through 14 February at Da Nang, Marines sustained 124 killed and more than 480 wounded. a-~_ -~ ijsafss 0 w 86 i jun !17 history of 6994th security squadron I called all the regiments and battalions and the same was happening to them. Naval Support Activity Danang operated extensive logistics facilities on the Tiensha (Tin Sa) peninsula east of the city. The United States Air Force took control of the base in the late 1960s. Heavy explosions and fires on the base. They counted 34 PAVN dead. Guards beat off the . artillery and air, the ARVN successfully contained the PAVN/VC units in the Nam and Lin Chiu regions. [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. [1]:143, While the PAVN/VC concentrated their forces for the large offensive, many of these units suffered from too many rapid replacements and in some cases from poor morale. At 08:30 a CAP saw a number of VC attempting to swim across the Cu to the island. Apparently the forces were a mixed group from several different units interspersed together. Another platoon from the Marine company also reinforced the engaged troops about an hour later. At 19:20, in the same general area, still another Stingray patrol, Sailfish, radioed that about 200 PAVN/VC troops, some carrying 40mm rocket launchers, passed its positions. According to a Marine report, "it was evident that the enemy was prepared to masquerade as Vietnamese civilians in the process of infiltrating the TAOR and that he was attempting to infiltrate his forces in small units. One battalion was to deploy immediately, with the other to deploy the next day. 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. The 11th Marines fired an artillery mission with unknown results. Freedom Hill 327 can be seen beneath the left flare, with convoy lights winding up the perimeter road. After counting 500 men pass their position, Rummage called in the artillery. 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." [1]:1556, During the day and evening of the 31st, the PAVN/VC infantry units pressed the offensive on the ground. Mar 3, 2021. This information should also include any information involving plane crashes at the Da Nang base in early 1968. At about 07:40, a crowd of 400 Vietnamese civilians made up mostly of women and children and carrying PAVN and VC flags approached the CAP compound. Throughout the day, however, Marine units throughout the TAOR reported incidents. Two days later, Marine intelligence officers learned that the PAVN 21st Regiment was in the Go Noi area. 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. We had played cards the night before and he was so happy he had survived his year in . The air base at Da Nang was, therefore, a particularly enticing target. I was in Danang less than a month when the Vietcong used rockets to attack the Danang Air Base for the first time in the war, on the morning of February 27. It was damaged by the fire of the adjacent aircraft (BuNo 152588) on the night of 29-30 January 1968. By dark the Korean had captured the hospital and were in position to relieve the engineer compound. In Vietnam this rocket comprised one of the primary means of inflicting standoff attacks against airfields and other . "[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. According to the prisoner accounts, they were from the PAVN 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment and confirmed that "Da Nang itself was the ultimate objective. After dark, both sides withdrew, the Marines to night defensive positions and the PAVN to the west. You get your timing off and you've got problems. Lost him to a rocket attack. All attacks from 02/27/67 forward were by rockets. Archives. Rummage reported about 50 PAVN dead with another 100 "probable." One of the rockets damaged one of the missile launchers and wounded three of the Marines. Missiles launched from nearby mountains have caused eight deaths, many injuries and. In Jun-Jul 1970 gave the base to the RVN and went back to DaNang. "[1]:163, During the Tet Offensive in Da Nang, both sides experienced heavy casualties. Miner attached two additional companies to the 3/7 Marines, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and Company H, 2/7 Marines to cover its extended area. As various outposts reported their sightings to the Division FSCC, the artillerymen then shifted these fires to actual sites. 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. 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. From firing positions southwest of the base, 28 122mm missiles fell on the airfield, destroying one aircraft and damaging six others. 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. According to documents captured later, the two VC assault companies were to pull out at first light, but became bogged down in the city. The reaction force itself came under automatic weapons fire and RPGs disabled the two tanks. [1]:150, By this time, General Robertson had taken measures to bolster the ARVN south of the Cau Dau. A detachment of four LVTP-5s from the 3rd AmTrac Battalion quickly arrived, but the enemy had already departed. Photographer: Unknown Nng Air Base, AKA: Rocket City, often had more than six Silk-Moons of false dawn orbiting the base. [1]:1601, On the morning of 7 February, Westmoreland called for a special meeting of the senior U.S. commanders in I Corps. 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. [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. Two LVTH-6s from the Marine 1st Armored Amphibian Company attached to the 11th Marines responded to a call from the U .S. Finally the PAVN broke contact at 20:00 and disappeared. at Bien Hoa Air Base, those in II Corps were consolidated at Tuy Hoa Air Base, and those in I Corps were consolidated at Da Nang Air Base [Carmichael 1972; Cecil 1986; Hull 2002; Young 2006]. According to Davis, a few hours later, Robertson called a division briefing for all battalion commanders. He seems to think there was only one rocket attack at Da Nang in 1972. At 09:15, a squad from Company G, 2/7 Marines providing road security for a Marine engineer mine-sweeping team on Route 1 just below the pass, encountered a small PAVN sapper detachment. *** The first time that rockets were used in the Republic of Vietnam by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army. The AC-47 then called in Marine fixed-wing attack aircraft which dropped Napalm with "outstanding coverage of target." Under pressure from the South Vietnamese relief forces and the Marine MP platoon, the VC retreated with the allies in pursuit. Apparently the division was slow in moving into the Da Nang area and was not in position to support the local forces in the earlier phase of the offensive . 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. Rummage soon determined that the total number of PAVN approximated 500 or more men, moving in two columns. VMO2, where I would spend the next thirteen months, was just south of DaNang. [1]:1467, About 05:45, the 1st Division learned that the VC squad in the I Corps headquarters compound had disengaged and took its casualties with it. Two attached U .S. [1]:1612, In the ensuing battle of Lo Giang the Marine and Army forces successfully repulsed the PAVN 2nd Division attack. The Allies claimed 343 PAVN/VC killed and 195 prisoners. [1]:153, South of the Hi Vn Pass, in the northern portion of the Da Nang TAOR, in the 2/7 Marines sector, the PAVN were able to close Highway 1 temporarily, but failed to penetrate Allied defenses. The bulk of the attack force remained in Ha Vang Village bogged down in a firefight with local Popular Force (PF) and Regional Force (RF) troops reinforced by a USMC Combined Action Platoon (CAP), E-3. Milantoni relayed the request to the air support center. VC gunners from Ha Vang, nevertheless, maintained an intermittent mortar bombardment upon the I Corps tactical operations center. While Marine fixed-wing aircraft flew strike missions against the gun emplacements, another helicopter evacuated the survivors. Shortly after 04:45, General Lm ordered the ARVN 4th Cavalry Regiment, a Ranger battalion and a detachment of National Police to augment the units in Ha Vang and the headquarters personnel forces in the compound. Note: Dick previously sent us some Stars and Stripes clippings mentioning rocket attacks and other "newsworthy items" of the day. Manning defensive positions, the Marine communicators and engineers repelled the attacking force, killing four VC. [1]:1589, For the next few days, there was a relative lull in the Da Nang sector, at least as compared to the last two days of January. Some of the VC in the hamlet fled south, but encountered a platoon from Company E, 2/7 Marines coming up to reinforce the Allied forces in the Nam O area. Other enemy rocketeers took the Force Logistic Command compound under fire. Military Photo: Rocket Attack On The Eve Of The Tet Offensive. 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. [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. An American advisor within the MACV compound reported at 11:45 that the VC were digging in the engineer compound. Da Nang Air Base : Sapper & Rocket Attacks During The Vietnam War militaryvideocom 40.6K subscribers Subscribe 566 Share Save 123K views 10 years ago This is a preview of our 78-minute. 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