Posted on 11/12/2004 9:16:06 PM PST by Calpernia
Xray Day 1, 14 Nov 1965
Lead elements of the under strength 450 man 1st Bn, 7th Cavalry air assault into a small clearing in scrub jungle below the 2300 foot Chu Pong Massif. Within an hour, a fierce battle is underway between the American Air Cav troopers and the aggressive 9th Bn of the 66th Regiment of the Peoples Army of Vietnam - North Vietnamese Regulars. The American Commander, Lt. Col Moore, fighting on the ground with his men, is faced with three on-going tasks to be accomplished simultaneously:
* Shuttle in the rest of his men from 14 miles to the rear on 16 Huey helicopters
* Holding onto the clearing so that the Hueys can land and take off
* Carry the fight to the numerically superior force as far into the jungle as possible so as to control the edges of the clearing
It is quickly apparent that the enemy force is determined to overrun and kill every American on the field. The afternoon is consumed in a desperate fire-storm battle for survival in 100 degree heat for Moore and his men as the PAVN commander throws the 7th Bn of the 66th and a composite battalion of the 33rd Regt in a furious attack against the 7th Cavalry left flank and center. In the action, a 29 man Cavalry platoon is surrounded by 200 enemy. Employing massive air and artillery fire support, the disciplined Cavalrymen hold onto the landing zone clearing against 7-1 odds and cause the PAVN units to fall back and break contact by late afternoon. During the action, brave Huey pilots land their choppers under fire during the action to bring in ammo and water and carry out wounded. A reinforcing Cavalry company flies in just before dark.
During the fighting that day, the 1st Bn, 7th Cavalry is reduced to approximately 340 officers and men; none missing. PAVN casualties are much higher due to awesome American fire support; six enemy are captured and evacuated.
X-Ray Day 2
Before dawn, Moore orders his company commanders to meet him prior to an attack to rescue the still cut-off platoon. Before this meeting takes place, the PAVN launch a heavy attack which shatters the early-morning stillness like a huge explosion. The attack is carried out by the 7th Bn, 66th Regiment and the H-15 Main Force Viet Cong Bn.
C Company of the Cavalry Battalion bears the brunt of the assault and is soon involved in hand to hand combat. The right portion of D/1/7 is also struck. The code word "Broken Arrow" is sent out over the radio by the Battalion Forward Air Controller. Within minutes, all available fighter bombers in South Vietnam are headed for X-ray to render close air support to "an American unit in grave danger of being overrun". A 3 hour battle that features non-stop 105mm artillery (8" artillery also participated), aerial rockets, and determined American Infantrymen, results in Charlie Company holding it's ground in a stunning display of personal courage and unit discipline. But it pays a terrible price - no officers left and only 49 men unhurt. 42 officers and men killed; 20 wounded. Scores of slain North Vietnamese and their weapons litter the bloody battleground.
"An as their firin' dies away, the 'usky wisper runs, from lips that 'aven't drunk all day: The guns! Thank Gawd, the guns!"
- Rudyard Kipling
At noon, the 2nd Bn, 5th Cavalry marches into X-ray from a landing zone 2 miles east. Joining with the 7th Cavalry parent company of the cut-off platoon, it continues out unopposed, rescues it, and brings it back with all wounded and dead. Of the 29 man platoon, 9 killed and 13 wounded. When reached, the platoon, which had lost its Platoon leader, Platoon Sgt, and one Squad leader killed, had ammo left to fight with under the leadership of a 3 stripe "Buck Sergeant" Squad Leader (SGT Savage).
C Co 1/7 Cav survivors are replaced on line by the fresh B Co 2nd Bn, 7th Cavalry. The battalion now forms a strong perimeter and prepares for more action in the night. All American dead and wounded are evacuated.
Xray Day 3, 16 Nov 1965
The PAVN Commander, knows that he had severely weakened and damaged the defenders in the Charlie Co sector the previous morning. What he does not know is that a fresh company - B Co 2nd Bn 7th Cav, had taken over the position after that engagement. That company, unmolested the previous afternoon, had cut fields of fire, dug new foxholes, fired in artillery concentrations, carefully emplaced it's machine guns and piled up ammunition.
The PAVN assaults four separate times beginning at 4:22 AM. The last is at 6:27 AM. They are stopped cold, losing over 200 dead. B Co has 6 wounded. At 9:55 AM, a sweep outward is made which results in more enemy dead and the position secured.
At 10:40 AM, the 1st Bn, 7th Cavalry, having lost 79 men killed and 121 wounded is ordered back to the rear for reorganization. By 3:00 PM, 1/7 CAV had turned over X-ray to the 2nd Bn, 5th Cav and the 2nd Bn, 7th CAV and is flying back to the Camp Holloway airfield at Pleiku City.
At the conclusion of X-ray, the sister battalion of 1/7 CAV, 2/7 CAV, was ordered to march to Landing Zone Albany for extraction from the battle area and to get out of the beaten area for an impending B52 strike. The fight of 2/7 CAV at Albany is the next chapter of the Ia Drang Campaign.
Albany. Day 1, 17 Nov 65
A B-52 strike of 800 500 pound bombs (200 tons) is headed for the near slopes of Chu Pong Mountain above X-Ray early on 17 November scheduled to drop at 11:17 AM. To get out of the danger zone, both Cavalry Battalions are ordered out of X-Ray. 2/5 CAV leads enroute to the Artillery position at LZ Columbus. 2/7 CAV follows with orders to break off shy of Columbus and head for a small clearing 1.5 miles to the Northwest. 2/5 CAV reaches Columbus and goes into position without any problems. The head of the 2/7 CAV column captures two PAVN soldiers at 11:57 AM 100 yards east of Albany.
The battalion column stops while the prisoners are interrogated. The lead Company Commander, A/2/7, puts out observation posts. Weary troopers in the column, after over 50 hours without decent rest or sleep, sit down and take a break. Some light up cigarettes, some remove packs, radios, mortars, etc. Others lie down. Visibility in the 3-5 foot high grass is extremely limited.
Albany. Day 1, 17 Nov 1965
The 2/7 CAV Battalion Command Group and A Co 2/7 CAV reach Albany after interrogating the two PAVN prisoners. All Company Commanders are called forward and begin arriving at the clearing. The column is 550 yards long. C Company and A/1/5 put out flank security. PAVN soldiers of the fresh 8th Bn, 66th Regt (which had not seen action) deploy down the Northeast side of the column. Survivors of the 33rd PAVN Regiment deploy at the head of the 2/7 column.
Albany. Days 1-4, 17 - 20 Nov 1965
At 1:20 PM, PAVN mortar rounds explode in the clearing and down the length of the column of American companies followed by a violent assault which fragments the column into small groups.
When the firing begins, the Cavalrymen drop into the tall 3-5 foot high elephant grass where it is impossible for the soldiers of either side to identify friend or foe except at extremely close range. Within minutes, the situation becomes a wild melee, a shoot-out, with the gunfighters killing not only the enemy but sometimes their friends just a few feet away. When the firing begins, Captain George Forrest, commander of A Co 1/5 CAV (attached to 2/7 CAV), turns on his heels with his 2 radio operators, runs back 500 yards to his company and "circles the wagons". His two radio operators are killed beside him during that run.
For the next two hours, the battle roars. A-1E Skyraiders are brought in dropping napalm and 250 pound bombs which slow down the enemy actions, and the fire slackens. Artillery is brought in. By dark, B Co, 2/7 CAV had landed to reinforce Albany. There is now a small perimeter at Albany and one at the tail of the column. In between are American survivors being hounded and killed throughout the night. Also, in the night, a few isolated Americans escape and evade; trying to make it to the artillery position at Columbus.
When daylight breaks on the morning of 18 November, it is a quiet and tense battlefield. Survivors begin the grim task of recovering American dead from the intermingled bodies of both sides. One platoon leader describes the scene down the 2/7 column as "a long, bloody traffic accident in the jungle". Wounded and dead are evacuated.
By the 19th, evacuation of the wounded and dead is complete. On 20 Nov, after 3 days and nights on that bloody, hellish, haunted battleground, the survivors of 2/7 CAV are airlifted out. 403 PAVN dead are reported and an estimated 150 wounded. Total American casualties at Albany: 151 killed, 121 wounded and 4 missing in action. In April 1966, the remains of all 4 of the missing are recovered.
The first two Communist North Vietnamese Regular POW's of the Battle of IA DRANG fresh from LZ X-RAY are escorted from Helicopter to Helicopter at LZ FALCON by members of the HHC, 1/7 Cav. Associated Press Photographer is running to the right to get in front of them to take the picture that is in 'WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE....AND YOUNG.' Shadow of me taking this picture is at lower left. I consider this Picture one of the best. Notice M-16 POW wounded knee on one of the POW's in the middle of the picture.
bttt!
mark to read later
Then I will make that the next thread :)
Bookmarking.
I knew Aloha was a freeper. But I didn't know enough of the history of Vietnam to understand what his website or this picture meant.
The first two Communist North Vietnamese Regular POW's of the Battle of IA DRANG fresh from LZ X-RAY are escorted from Helicopter to Helicopter at LZ FALCON by members of the HHC, 1/7 Cav. Associated Press Photographer is running to the right to get in front of them to take the picture that is in 'WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE....AND YOUNG.' Shadow of me taking this picture is at lower left. I consider this Picture one of the best. Notice M-16 POW wounded knee on one of the POW's in the middle of the picture.
I was on another thread with Aloha where he quoted this comment, "There Wasn't a Single Communist North Vietnamese Army Soldier inside a then Free South Vietnam" made by the protesters
Then he pointed out that picture. AFTER he explained that to me, his site and intent made the light bulb go off over my head.
Ok, maybe it is because I'm blonde
But I'm really not alone in being uneducated in Vietnam.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a complex web of different jungle paths that enabled communist troops to travel from North Vietnam to areas close to Saigon. It has been estimated that the National Liberation Front received sixty tons of aid per day from this route. Most of this was carried by porters. Occasionally bicycles and ponies would also be used.
At regular intervals along the route the NLF built base camps. As well as providing a place for them to rest, the base camps provided medical treatment for those who had been injured or had fallen ill on the journey.
In the early days of the war it took six months to travel from North Vietnam to Saigon on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. But the more people who travelled along the route the easier it became. By 1970, fit and experienced soldiers could make the journey in six weeks.
From the air the Ho Chi Minh Trail was impossible to identify and although the United States Air Force tried to destroy this vital supply line by heavy bombing, they were unable to stop the constant flow of men and supplies. The main danger to the people who travelled on the Ho Chi Minh Trail was not American bombs but diseases like malaria. In the early days, as many as 10 per cent of the porters travelling down the trail died of disease.
The North Vietnamese also used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to send soldiers to the south. At times, as many as 20,000 soldiers a month came from Hanoi in this way. In an attempt to stop this traffic, it was suggested that a barrier of barbed wire and minefields called the McNamara Line should be built. This plan was abandoned in 1967 after repeated attacks by the NLF on those involved in constructing this barrier.
>>>Between loading South Vietnamese children into C-130s and cargo strapping them to the floor.
So you were part of evacuating civilians before our Air Force tried to destroy this vital supply line by heavy bombing?
Welcome to FR!
>>>While the media likes to show pictures of the helicopter on top of the CIA building in Siagon or the one being pushed into the sea off the carrier. That occurred after Nixon had been chased from office and the RATs had gone back on the word of the US to provide air support if the NVA brought tanks into the south.
This is why stories like yours, Aloha's and all other Vets need to be posted.
How many Vet websites have been up in small corners of the Net telling their story and have never gotten coverage? One of the reason's the Swifties got their message out is because of the message boards which was picked up by bloggers.
Because of their messages, I started making 'research threads' from the information I found on those Vet's sites that were out there for years. It was merely copying, pasting, and sourcing it back to them. But it made some news outlets cover the information. And it was my crash course on Vietnam.
bump to read later
Hi Ron... a small tale from last week.
I had not been to the VA clinic in more than 3 years. In the current procedures one must visit annually to stay in the "system" so when I arrived last week the Nurse Practitioner was not really happy to see me. The place was jammed and it was obvious I was just one of many she was going to have to deal with that day... and since I hadn't been in recently that meant a lot of extra paperwork.
She had a "far east" appearance but I couldn't quite "locate" her so I asked what her heritage was. She said "Vietnamese". When I mentioned my tours there her demeanor and countenance immediately changed. She became attentive, questioning, probing (verbally). Wanted to know about the battle for Hue and other places I had been. She was truly searching for some reinforcing information about what really took place.
Turns out she was working in the US embassy in Saigon in the early 70s and the information being passed around was really way out. She was evacuated just prior to the end of the war but has been searching for the truth about how the war was really fought and won by the US troops and her (south Vn) people.
The visit turned out to be a long one but very interesting. It is amazing how many people have no idea of what the truth is, even those who were seemingly "in the midst" of things. The stories, or lack thereof, by the media pundits (Cronkite and his descendants) and the lack of government clarity has hurt a couple of generations of Americans. I referred her to FR and some of your posts but have no idea if she will follow up.
In many ways the defeat of sKerry was the beginning of the parade the Vietnam vets never had.
Bump!
A must read!
Bump
"The Nixon led retreat... recovered most of POWs well before Siagons [sic] fall."
Thank You, Cal.
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NEVER FORGET
The 2004 Election also marked the political maturing of the Vietnamese-American Community across the country.
It has been my honor in Little Saigon to support their fight for Freedom's Return to Vietnam by helping to register 1,000's of new Vietnamese-Americans to vote for the BUSH/CHENNY Team and the 1st Vietnamese-American to ever be elected to a State Legislature in U.S. History, VAN TRAN = http://VanTran68.com
America must now come to terms with the fact that these good folks have suffered the most in all of this. I have personally met many who were tortured by their ..VIETNAMESE.. Conquerors in Communist "Re-Education" Prison Camps for years after the Fall of Saigon. My fingers have been placed in deep body scars that came from knifings all of one's body and stomachs that have been cut open, regardless of gender, just for the "Fun" of it.
The Little Saigon Cities of Garden Grove, my home town, and Westminster CA were the 1st recently to declare themselves 'No Communist Zones' and to proclaim the Free Flag of Vietnam as the official Flag representing the Vietnamese-Americans in their communities. These official city resolutions effectively prevent leaders from Communist Vietnam from publically visiting Little Saigon and invalidate the Flag of Communist Vietnam as well. Over 75 American cities, counties and states have since followed Little Saigon's lead on the Vietnam Flag Issue.
I was blessed to speak before the Garden Grove City Council on behalf of both Anti-Communist Resolutions.
See Free Flag of Vietnam Photo:
http://www.rfvn.com/picture/BieuTinh_NKK_02_15_04/BieuTinh_Nguyen_C_Ky_02_15_04_0123.JPG
See:
GARDEN GROVE snub irks HANOI
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1135666/posts
NEVER FORGET
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