Replies

As the troops of Charlie Company approached the edge of the gigantic base they received light AK-47 fire from two of the enemy bunkers. Grenade-hurling Skytroopers quickly silenced the enemy, killing four NVA while suffering no casualties. "They were the easiest kills we've ever had," commented Captain Kevin Corcoran, the company commander.

The complex was three kilometers long and one-and-a-half wide. The buildings were bulging with arms and ammunition. In the first 24 hours of the search of the complex, Charlie Company captured four bunkers loaded with .51 caliber ammo, and one building full of weapons ranging from an old flintlock to shotguns and new SKS's, 15 .30 caliber anti-aircraft machineguns complete with wheeled carriages and extra barrels and six cases of .9 mm machineguns with drums and magazines.

Uncovered later were numerous 60 mm mortar tubes and 60 mm ammo, crated 120 mm mortars, repair kits for numerous types of weapons, two bunkers of 57 mm recoilless rifle rounds, 57 mm recoilless rifles complete with stands, two bunkers of explosives, det cord and shaped charges, and medical supplies. Many of the weapons were still packed in cosmoline--protective grease.

Also discovered in "The City" by Charlie Company's Skytroopers was what appeared to be an NVA R&R center, elaborately laid out and complete with a swimming pool.

Meanwhile, tankers from the 2nd Squadron, 47th Armor, opcon to the 1st Cav, interdicted Highway 7 in the southern portion of the Fishhook. Patrolling the area around their CP, the armored vehicles overran countless enemy bunkers that the troops methodically destroyed.

The Cav's other initial Cambodian assault, north of Phuoc Long and Binh Long Provinces, also had spectacular results.

Scout pilot Charles L. Frazier of Charlie Troop, 1st of the 9th, was on a routine recon 10 miles northeast of Bu Dop near the 2nd Brigade's FSB Myron.

"We saw a road running out of a small village. Following the road, which had been heavily used recently by trucks, we could see pallets stacked off the side of the road," Recalled Frazier.

"But the overhead jungle canopy was too thick to see very far inside. Next day two of the pallets we'd seen previously were gone and we found truck tracks leading to the spot. We followed them and saw three two-and-a-half ton trucks loaded with troops in complete NVA field uniforms. They heard us and tried to dismount the truck and hide. We engaged them and killed 23 of them and destroyed their trucks."

Searching for weapons in Cambodia

Learning of the discovery, Lieutenant Colonel Francis A. Ianni of the 2nd Bn, 12th Cav sent Delta Company to make a combat assault into the contact area. The Skytroopers landed 500 meters north of the site and moved south, spotting two individuals but losing their blood trails in the jungle. Two platoons began sweeping the area. Fifty meters across the road they made heavy contact with an estimated 40 to 60 enemy soldiers.

"We broke the ambush," said Lt. Col. Ianni, "by forming the company into an assault line that scattered the enemy." During the contact Blue Max Cobras blew one of the caches with rockets, revealing the cache sites.

The company renewed the sweep and found several of the individual caches before setting up an NDP. The enemy hit the NDP that night in groups of two or three, moving toward the perimeter from all sides.

Cpt. Bennet Jones blowing bunker in Cambodia

"The company engaged them with artillery, ARA and air strikes," related 1st Lt. Gary Huesseed, artillery forward observer,"then things quieted down for the night."

Toward the end of the evening Charlie Company and recon platoons of Echo Company combat assaulted into the area, joining Delta Company the next morning, and explored the site.

Nicknamed "Rock Island East" after an arsenal in Illinois, the complex extended to 40 or 50 individual caches, stacked six feet high on 20'X15' pallets hidden in the jungle and sometimes covered with brush. The pallets were 20 to 30 meters apart on alternating sides of the trail. The cache contained millions of .51 caliber rounds and thousands of mortar rounds, recoilless rifle rounds and rockets. Large quantities of rifles, grenades and other equipment were also found.

Attention remained focused on the region north of Phuoc Long and Binh Long through the rest of May, as most Cav units moved into the area and activity declined in the Fishhook. The units surrounded a large cache site and began putting the squeeze on the enemy. The Communists put up stiff resistance, though American forces managed to hold their losses to a minimum.

Elements of the 5th Bn, 7th Cav were the first to make significant munitions finds in the area when they encountered a well fortified NVA storage complex built into a hill 26 miles northeast of Song Be.

The fight for the hill began when Bravo Company watched from another hilltop as convoy headlights disappeared at night over the distant hills. As they moved through the valley toward the lights determined delaying tactics by the enemy slowed the advance to a crawl. They spent the night at the foot of the hill and started up the next morning.

"About halfway up at a five foot ledge we began getting AK-47, machinegun and B-40 fire," said Sergeant Pat McConwell of the recon platoon. "They could have rolled grenades down on us from up there. I'm sure glad they didn't."

The company withdrew and thoroughly prepped the area with artillery and air strikes before trying again the next day. "I called in artillery all night," recalled 2nd Lt. William Harrington, "and the next morning the Air Force came in again and pounded the hell out of the top of that hill." As the company advanced again, they were preceded by artillery barrages and Blue Max rocket runs.

The company formed into a three platoon assault line about a quarter of the way up the embattled slope. A torrent of B-40 and machinegun fire greeted them as they slogged 300 meters to the crest through heavy rain. By nightfall four hours later the muddy Skytroopers owned the hill. The enemy had left three dead and numerous blood trails. One American was killed.

US troops burn Cambodian village during invasion of Cambodia, 1970.

The next morning the Skytroopers found 12-foot-deep bunkers cut on all sides of the hill. At the bottom of each bunker a drainage system kept the pallets--stacked high with weapons and ammunition--dry.

That cache and others found by Cav elements in the area yielded hundreds of tons of rice and salt, and thousands of weapons and rounds of ammo. Munitions and food were not the only items found. Alpha Company, 1st Bn, 8th Cav captured 380 hammocks, 1,000 pairs of socks, 900 leather belts, and 500,000 buttons.

By the end of the first four weeks of the Cambodian operation, 1st Air Cav troopers along with units under their operational control had achieved phenomenal success. Enemy dead in the Cambodian operations counted 2,346, with 40 NVA detainees.

Captured or destroyed were 5,562 individual weapons, 906 crew served weapons, more than 1,636 tons of rice, more than 6 million rounds of small caliber ammo, and 40,875 large caliber rounds. 123 Americans had been killed and 366 wounded.

High ranking military officials estimated it would take the enemy months, perhaps more than a year to recover from these losses.

The time bought and paid for by Skyroopers would, according to President Nixon, "permit the Vietnamization Program to forge ahead, unimpeded. By the time the enemy forces are able to rebuild, if they do, the Vietnamese Army will be strong enough to handle the situation by itself, enabling us to continue withdrawing our soldiers from Vietnam."

Skytroopers have added another chapter, not only to the 1st Air Cav's history, but perhaps to the history of the world in the United States' continued quest for a just and honorable peace in the Republic of Vietnam

Additional Sources:

www.army.mil
www.acig.org
www.pieceuniquegallery.com
www.promotion.opb.org
chnm.gmu.edu
shepherd.edzone.net
www.i-kirk.info
www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/6485

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 26:
1676 Sir Robert Walpole (Whig) British PM (1721-42)
1740 Joseph Montgolfier France, aeronaut (ballooning)
1743 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier Paris, father of mod chemistry (Oxygen)
1811 Danville Leadbetter Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1866
1819 Albert "Bertie" von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha husband of queen Victoria (Prince Albert)
1833 Charles Jackson Paine Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1835 Theodore Washington Brevard Brig General (Confederate Army)
1838 John Wilkes Booth actor/assassin (Pres Lincoln)
1850 Charles Richet French physiologist (anaphylaxis-Nobel 1913)
1873 Lee De Forest Council Bluffs, inventor (Audion vacuum (radio) tube)
1884 Earl Biggers author ("Charlie Chan" detective series)
1901 Gen Maxwell D Taylor former US Army chief of staff
1903 Jimmy Rushing US blues singer
1906 Dr Albert B Sabin polio vaccine discoverer
1909 Frank Gasparro Phila Pa, US chief engraver (1965-81)
1915 Jim Davis Edgerton Mo, actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas)
1917 Jan Clayton Tularosa NM, actress (Ellen Miller-Lassie)
1917 William French Smith Attorney General (1981-85)
1921 Benjamin C Bradlee journalist (Wash Post)
1932 Joe H Engle Abilene Ks, Brig Gen USAF/astro (STS T-2, T-4, 2, 51I)
1935 Geraldine Ferraro (Rep-D-NY) 1st female major-party VP candidate
1942 John E Blaha San Antonio, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 29, 33, STS 43)
1942 Vic Dana Buffalo, singer/dancer (Talent Scouts)
1943 Ulf Sundelin Sweden, yachtsmen (Olympic-gold-1968)
1947 Candy Moore Maplewood NJ, actress (Lunch Wagon, Tomboy & Champ)
1948 Valerie Simpson Bronx, singer, Ashford's partner (Like a Rock)
1952 John Kinsella USA, swimmer (Olympic-gold-1972)
1965 Chris Burke actor with down syndrome (Life Goes On)
1981 Macauley Culkin actor (Home Alone, My Girl)

Deaths which occurred on August 26:
0526 Theodorik the Goth, King of Italy
1278 Ottokar II King of Bohemia (1253-78), dies in battle
1723 Thonis van Leeuwenhoek, biologist/inventor (microscope)
1930 Lon Chaney, actor
1966 Art Baker TV host (You Asked For It), dies at 67
1974 Charles Lindbergh dies at 72 in his Hawaiian home
1978 Charles Boyer actor (The Rogues), dies at 78
1981 Roger Nash Baldwin founder of the ACLU, dies
1986 Jennifer Levin strangled by Robert Chambers in Central Park
1986 Ted Knight actor (Mary Tyler Moore Show), dies at 62

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 DAVIS EDWARD A. MORRISTOWN PA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV,ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 DAY GEORGE EVERETTE NIAGARA FALLS NY.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 FULLER WILLIAM OTIS HOUSTON TX.
1967 KILCULLEN THOMAS MICHAEL ADELPHI MD.
1971 VENNIK ROBERT N. WYCKOFF NJ.
1972 CORDOVA SAM GARY HUNTINGTON BEACH CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/15/88]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0055 BC- Roman forces under Julius Caesar invade Britain
0580 Chinese invent toilet paper
1017 Turks defeat the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV at Manikert, Eastern Turkey.
1278 Battle of Marchfeld: Rudolf van Habsburg defeats Ottokar II
1346 English longbows defeat French in Battle of Crecy
1429 Joan of Arc makes a triumphant entry into Paris.
1629 Cambridge Agreement, Mass Bay Co stockholders agree to emigrate
1791 John Fitch grants US patent for his working steamboat
1843 Charles Thurber patents a typewriter
1846 W A Bartlett appointed 1st US mayor of Yerba Buena (SF)
1862 Confederate General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson encircles the Union Army under General John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
1863 Battle of Rocky Gap WV (White Sulphur Springs)
1873 St.Louis, Missouri First public school for kindergarten in the US was opened
1874 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
1883 Krakatoa erupts with increasingly large explosions kills 36,000
1896 Armenian revolutionairy assault on Ottoman Bank Constantinople
1907 Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec
1914 Germans defeat Russians in Battle of Tannenberg
1916 Yanks turn triple-play beating Browns 10-6
1920 19th amendment passes-women's suffrage granted (about time!)
1937 Pumping to build Treasure Island in SF Bay is finished
1938 Montreal Maroons dropped from the NHL
1942 7,000 Jews rounded up in Vichy Free Zone of France
1947 1st black baseball pitcher Don Bankhead (Hit a HR on 1st at bat)
1952 Fluoridation of SF water begins
1955 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)
1957 USSR announces successful test of intercontinental ballistic missile
1957 Ford Motor Company reveals the Edsel, its latest luxury car.
1961 Official Intl Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto
1964 LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ
1968 Thousands of antiwar demonstrators took to Chicago's streets to protest the Vietnam War during the Democratic National Convention.
1971 NY Giant football team announces its leaving the Bronx for NJ in 1975
1972 NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win the NASL championship
1972 Summer Olympics open in Munich, West Germany
1973 U of Tx (Arlington) is 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing
1973 10-year-old Mary Boitano is 1st woman to win 6.8-mile Dipsea Race in Marin County, CA, beating a field of 1,500 runners
1974 Soyuz 15 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 3
1978 Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I (dies 34 days later)
1978 Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6
1981 Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission
1981 Voyager 2 takes photo's of Saturn's moon Titan
1984 Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record)
1985 Balt Oriole Eddie Murray knocks in 9 RBIs in a game vs Calif Angels
1985 French government claims no knowledge of assault on Rainbow Warrior
1989 Trumbull Conn, is 1st US team since 1983 to win Little League WS
1990 2 slain college students found in Gainesville Florida
1991 Royal Brett Saberegen no-hits White Sox 7-0
1998 Attorney General Janet Reno asked for a 90-day preliminary investigation into alleged campaign fund-raising phone calls Vice President Gore made from the White House. Such calls would violate a 1883 law.
2001 The Tokyo Kitasuna beat Apopka, Fla., 2-1 to win the Little League championship in South Williamsport, Pa.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

England, Channel Is, Northern Ireland, Wales : Bank Holiday ( Monday )
Namibia : Namibia Day
US : Women's Equality Day (1973)/Susan B Anthony Day (1920)
Zanzibar : Sultan's Birthday
USA : All You Can Eat Day
National Catfish Month

Religious Observances
Zen-Kyoto Japan Bodhisattva Jizo festival at Daitokuji
RC : Commemoration of St Zephyrinus, pope (198-217), martyr

Religious History
1498 In Rome, Italian artist Michelangelo, 23, was commissioned by Pope Alexander VI to carve the "Pieta" Mary lamenting over the dead body of Jesus, whom she holds across her lap). The work was completed in 1501.
1832 Death of Adam Clarke, 70, English Methodist clergyman. Clarke's name endures primarily for the 8-volume commentary on the Bible which he produced between 1810-26, and still in print today!
1901 The New Testament of the ASV (American Standard Version) Bible was first published. This U.S. edition of the 1881 English Revised Version (ERV) comprised the first major American Bible translation since the King James Version of 1611.
1956 Swedish Christian statesman Dag Hammarskjald recorded in his devotional journal (Markings): 'Bless your uneasiness as a sign that there is still life in you.'
1978 Italian Cardinal Albino Luciani, 65, was elevated to the papacy as John Paul I. His unexpected death only 34 days later left a profound sadness for millions of people who had been drawn to him by his warm personality.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"You're smart when you only believe half of what you hear, Wise is when you know which half to believe."

Translating Southern United States Slang to English...
BARD - verb. Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow."
Usage: "My brother bard my pickup truck."

Top 10 Difference Between Cats & Dogs...
3. Dogs will sit, lie down, and heel on command.
Cats will smirk and walk away.

Politically Correct Terms for Females...
She is not a bad cook,
she is microwave compatible.

Feel Smarter -- Instantly!...
Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana....The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are.

-- Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show

Morning, Foxhole!

Odd .. to hear a certain Democrat tell it, the incursion actually happened around Christmas 1968 ...

Okay, I'll be good now. Hope you are doing well!

Today's classic warship, USS Philip (DD-498)

Fletcher class destroyer

Displacement. 2,050 t.
Lenght. 376'6"
Beam. 39'8"
Draft. 17'9"
Speed. 35 k.
Complement. 273
Armament. 5 5", 4 40mm, 4 20mm, 10 21" tt., 6 dcp., 6 dct.

The USS Philip (DD-498) was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., 7 May 1942; launched 13 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Barrett Philip and commissioned 21 November 1942, Comdr. Thomas C. Ragan in command.

Philip's first mission came during the early morning of 30 June 1943, when she bombarded installations in the Shortland Islands area in the southwest Pacific. Operating in the screen of the Second Transport Group, Philip, on 15 August 1943, made a good showing in her first scrape with the enemy. Several bomb splashes were seen near Barakoma Beach, Vella Lavella, indicating that Japanese bombers were attacking the LCI's unloading there. A few minutes later, two dive bombers headed for Philip to unload their explosives. Each plane dropped a bomb but both missed. The first plane, taken under fire by the ship's guns, kept getting closer until a friendly Corsair took over the fight. Guns were shifted to the second and they soon found their range, splashing tho plane into the sea.

Enemy planes came back for another attack at nightfall. Silhouetted clearly against a full moon, Philip picked out the most desirable target. One torpedo wake passed a few yards astern and another crossed parallel to the ship after it was seen in time to take evasive action. The ship's guns kept barking at one of the bombers, finally shooting it down.

Again during the next evening, Japanese planes came in to pay their regular visit. This time their objective proved to be the cumbersome LST's withdrawing from Barakoma Beach. While laying a heavy smoke screen and shooting at the planes Philip collided with Waller (DD-466) under the cover of her own smoke. Although damage to both vessels resulted, damage control parties of both ships rigged up shoring to prevent flooding and stayed in the battle. Philip kept her guns blazing away at the swarming Japanese, one plane was shot down and another was claimed as a possible kill.

There was no let-up from enemy raids on the next day as the Japanese pressed their attempts to dislodge American forces from their toehold on the Solomons. One dive bomber sent his torpedo flying between the ship's stacks and another went splashing into the sea 30 yards to port. A second attack brought another close call; two torpedoes dropped 15 yards astern. Philip's gunners shot down one of the dive bombers.

Two days later, while leading a convoy out of Tulagi, the destroyer launched a pair of attacks on what appeared to be a Japanese sub, without damage to the enemy.

On 27 October, the destroyer fired at mortar emplacements on Mono Island and then came into Blanche Harbor, Treasury Island, Solomons. Six Val-type enemy planes zoomed into the harbor in an attempt to destroy the transports sitting there. The attack was repelled and Philip did her share by sending one plane away in flames.

A barge sweep off Bougainville and bombardment of Choiseul Bay was conducted on 8 January 1944; ten days later, the destroyer returned for another blow on Bougainville, raking the island's northeast shores with surface fire.

Leading a convoy of LCI's into Bougainville on 15 February, Philip weathered a bombing attack reminiscent of her earlier days; but she retaliated in like manner, damaging one plane and repelling the others.

After a methodical bombardment of Empress Augusta Bay 14 March, Philip left to take part in a tedious campaign in the Marianas. From 17 June to the end of July, the destroyer's guns blazed red hot as they hammered almost daily at enemy positions on Saipan and Tinian. Known gun emplacements, troop concentrations, and air fields were the main targets although several swipes were also taken at small craft in Tinian and boats in Tanapag Harbor.

The Philippines came next. An assault on Mindoro, 12-15 December, was her initial step. One airplane was damaged in the battle. More fierce airplane attacks came when Philip joined a screening force around a resupply echelon traveling from Leyte to Mindoro, later that month. Frequent raids with coordinated bombing and suicide attacks by as many as six planes at one time greeted the slow convoy during its entire trip. Two of the attackers were shot down by the destroyer and another was damaged. A 20-millimeter shell, fired by an LCT at a Japanese plane, landed upon the aluminum spray shield on the ship's starboard bridge wing, tearing a hole in the structure and wounding two men. One of the wounded men died five hours after the accident.

Many of the ships were not as fortunate as Philip which escaped with comparatively little damage. Suiciders had a field day in crashing into the not easily maneuverable merchant ships.

Gansevoort (DD-608) received a suicide hit and Philip steamed to her comrade's rescue. Two of her men, acting upon their own initiative boarded the crippled destroyer, set her depth charges on safe, and jettisoned them.

Steaming out of Leyte 5 January 1945, Philip sailed to join a task group which went on to invade Lingayen Gulf, Luzon Island, Philippines, 9 January. The destroyer remained in the area until 12 January, screening the transports as they unloaded. Several air attacks and suicide boat assaults were encountered during the journey from Leyte.

During the dark early morning of 10 January, the destroyer challenged a small boat which it picked up on radar. The small craft, acting queerly, did not reply. After illuminating the small explosive-laden boat, Philip opened with its 20-millimeter and .45 sub-machine guns. The boat turned sharply headed directly for the ship's port side amidships, but was exploded 20 yards short of her mark.

Two brief fire support missions were conducted in the occupation of Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, during March and assaults on Sanga Sanga and Jolo Islands, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, were successfully conducted by Philip during 2-10 April.

On 30 April, the destroyer joined a special attack unit to transport, protect, and establish units of the 26th Australian Brigade on Sanau, Borneo, N.E.I. Major landings on Tarakan Island followed a day later; enemy opposition in force was surprisingly absent.

Relieved of radar picket duty off Brunei Bay on 12 June, Philip rendezvoused with a minesweeping group and left to clear the area of Miri-Luton, Sarawak, Borneo, in preparation for an assault which was to come seven days later.

Having previously paved the way for an assault landing on Brunei Bay, Borneo, Philip covered the "sweeps" while preparations were made for the next invasion A total of 246 mines were cut loose from the heavily-planted area, not without loss of much valuable sweep gear. Hostile gun positions in the Miri area were softened by the destroyer while the minesweepers performed their chores.

Elements of the First Australian Corps, loaded at Morotai landed at Balikpapan, Borneo, 1 July, while Philip stood guard for enemy attempts to hinder the invasion. Remaining in the area until 19 July, the destroyer bombarded the surrounding shores and helped repel such feeble air attacks as the Japanese could muster.

The end of the war followed the Borneo operation but it did not bring about immediate return to the United States for the busy destroyer. She was sent to China on mine destruction duty and remained in the Pacific area until late in 1945.

The veteran destroyer got back to the West Coast just in time to allow the crew to spend New Year's Eve on home soil. She subsequently sailed to the Atlantic and, by Directive dated January 1947, was placed out of commission, in reserve attached to the U.S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed at Charleston, S.C.

Philip's classification was changed to DDE 498 on 26 March 1949.

Philip recommissioned at Charleston, S.C. 30 June 1950, and sailed to the Panama Canal Zone and San Diego enroute to her new home port, Pearl Harbor. Here she arrived 10 September 1950, and immediately assumed her part in advanced hunter-killer exercises. During the autumn of 1950 Philip acted as plane guard for the aircraft bearing President Harry S. Truman to his mid-ocean conference with General Douglas MacArthur on Wake Island.

Philip departed Pearl Harbor 1 June 1951 for Midway and Yokosuka, Japan. On 15 June, she joined Task Force 77 in the Sea of Japan for duty screening the fast carrier task force as It conducted air operations against enemy forces in North Korea. She returned to Japan for antisubmarine warfare exercises from 30 June to 10 July, and next day sailed for Taiwan and duty on patrol in the Taiwan Straits. A visit to Hong Kong which began 29 July was interrupted by Typhoon "Louise." Through August, Philip continued her patrol duties, and early in September conducted anti-submarine exercises off Okinawa until 11 September when she put into Yokosuka for upkeep.

On 24 September 1951 Philip was bound for the east coast of Korea. Here she had escort duty with Task Force 77 until 3 October, when she received orders which sent her to duty on the west coast of Korea with the United Nations Naval Forces which included Australian and English units. Here Philip screened the carrier group, and served to enforce the naval blockade on the 38th parallel.

Fighting her way through the most devastating typhoon in years, "Ruth," Philip steamed back to duty with Task Force 77, joining up 15 October. Released from this duty 31 October. Philip proceeded to Yokosuka, and departed 2 November for Pearl Harbor.

On arriving at Pearl Harbor, the ship commenced a yard period, which was followed by a period of refresher training. Underway training and plane guard duty continued until 27 October 1952, when Philip began a short drydock period, part of her preparation for another tour of duty in the Korean conflict. She departed Pearl Harbor 10 November, bound for Yokosuka, Japan, where she arrived ten days later.

Late in the afternoon of 25 November 1952 Philip joined Task Force 78, and began duty in the screen of the task force. Later duty included a shore bombardment patrol in company with Los Angeles (CA-135) in the vicinity of latitude 38° 30'N off the east coast of Korea. On 5 December, the two vessels entered Wonsan Harbor to fire on shore targets, and then returned to the bombline to carry out call fire missions. Steady steaming with TF-78 was resumed from 8 December until 27 December, interrupted only by a night search for a sonar contact and two rescue missions for pilots of downed aircraft. After a period of tender availability in Yokosuka, Philip resumed similar duty until May 1953.

Philip returned to Pearl Harbor 29 May 1953, and operated for a month in training exercises. Late in June she began an intensive three month overhaul at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Overhaul completed, she returned to a busy schedule of operations in the Hawaiian group which included search and rescue missions, anti-submarine exercises, practice shore bombardment, and carrier plane guard duties.

A major fleet exercise occupied Philip during the first months of 1954, and she then began preparations for another journey to the Western Pacific On 14 June, she stood out for Yokosuka, Japan, where she arrived 23 June, mooring alongside Hamul (AD-20) for two days of tender availability. Philip then got underway for the Shimonoseki Straits and Chinhae, Korea. After reporting for duty with Task Force 95, Philip steamed to Inchon to join HMS Warrior and act as planeguard for the British carrier on the United Nations Blockade. Philip escorted Warrior to Kure, Japan, 4 July, and sailed on to Sasebo for a week's restricted availability.

After further service in Korean waters, Philip left Japan for Pearl Harbor, arriving home 29 August 1954 for a month's overhaul, She resumed operations in the Hawaiian Islands until 15 March 1955, when she entered the yard for a comprehensive overhaul. Overhaul was followed by refresher training and preparation for another Far Eastern deployment. On 8 August 1955, she sailed for Yokosuka, Japan, arriving ten days later. On this tour of duty, she participated in large scale antisubmarine warfare exercises off Okinawa, operated with Task Force 77, and served on the Taiwan Patrol before heading for home 6 January 1956.

Operations in Hawaiian waters occupied Philip between 15 January 1956, and 30 October, when she once more took departure for the Far East. Serving primarily in Japanese waters, Philip completed a shorter tour than previously, and was back home in Pearl Harbor 22 January 1957. During 1957, she joined Destroyer Squadron 25, unique in its three divisions, rather than the usual two. The escort destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 25 were so deployed that one division of the three was in the Far East at any given time, and it was on this schedule that Philip once more sailed for the Orient 27 December.

Arriving in Yokosuka 5 January 1958 Philip served on exercises off Japan and Okinawa, in the Philippine Islands, and in the South China Sea until 23 April, when her division began the homeward bound voyage by an unusual route. Arriving in Brisbane, Australia 2 May, Philip visited Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, Wellington, New Zealand; and Pago Pago, Samoa, before returning to Pearl Harbor 29 May. Here she resumed her operations in the Hawaiian Group throughout the remainder of 1958.

From the latter part of June 1958 until the end of January 1959, Philip took part in hunter-killer operations conducted shore bombardment, air and surface shoots, single and dual ship antisubmarine exercises, and fulfilled the duties of planeguard destroyer for the super carrier Ranger. On 18 February Philip and the other escort destroyers of DesDiv 252 got underway and proceeded to Yokosuka, Japan. Philip operated around Japan and in the South China Sea before arriving Brisbane, Australia, 11 July. The deployment ended at Pearl Harbor 30 July.

The division sailed from Honolulu again for Yokosuka 22 April 1960. After operating in the waters of Japan and Okinawa Philip returned to Pearl Harbor 29 October 1960. On 4 February 1962 Philip was off for Yokosuka again. This cruise was spent in the waters of Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Effective 1 July 1962 Philip was redesignated from DDE to DD. Philip returned to Pearl Harbor 18 July 1962.

Philip steamed again for Yokosuka 12 November 1963 operating again in Japanese, Philippine, and Vietnamese waters, and returning to Pearl Harbor 10 April 1964. After another period of operations out of Hawaii, Philip steamed for Yokosuka again 19 April 1965. This cruise was highlighted by duty on Yankee Station off Vietnam and by patrol of the Taiwan straits. She returned home 1 October 1965. She decommissioned 30 September 1968 and was struck from the Navy List 1 October 1968. She was sold for scrapping in December 1971.

Philip received nine battle stars for World War II service and five battle stars for Korean War Service.

USS Philip was named in honor of Rear Admiral John W. Philip (1840-1900), who served in the U.S. Navy from before the Civil War until the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

Skytroopers were able to boast of being first in Manila, Tokyo, Pyongyang,

The 1st Cav may have been first into Manila and Pyongyang, but by golly they weren't first into Tokyo. The 187th Airborne Infantry (Rakkasans) landed at Atsugi Air Field shortly before dawn on 30 August, 1945. The first foreign troops to set foot on Japanese soil in 2000 years.