Specialist Dave Parks and his teammate, Specialist Anderson, returned to their sleeping quarters shortly after midnight after the enemy went to radio silence. Parks recalled that he was awakened at 0300 hours by the exploding 122mm rockets. He wrote, “122mm rockets were walking toward our area. I leaped out of my top bunk and grabbed my M79, as I began running for a bunker…. The rockets walked over us and then came back. One impacted a barracks nearby—blew it down to matchsticks, all I saw was the flash and roar of it.”
After the rocket attack, Parks and Anderson jumped in their jeep and drove to their PURD site. They were stopped by an Air Police patrol and warned that sappers had entered the base under cover of the rocket attack. The pair made it back to their DF monitoring site at the end of the runway, brought their equipment up, and began to scan the airways. From atop their sandpile, they could see a firefight at the other end of the runway. Parks noted that the enemy had switched from using Morse Code on their radios to voice transmissions—a sure sign that they were on the move and launching a ground attack.
Minutes after the rocket attack on Bien Hoa airbase, another indirect fire attack was launched against the US base complex at Long Binh. Camp Frenzell-Jones (199th LIB) and the Plantation (Headquarters II Field Force) received an estimated 90–100 rounds of mixed 82mm mortar rounds and 122mm rocket fire. The barrage resulted in few US casualties since most of the defenders were already in their assigned bunkers. Material damage to the US base complex was also minimal.
AO Uniontown, “The Rocket Belt”—0300 Hours
Captain Dabney’s Delta Company was located less than 300 meters away from one of the 122mm rocket launch sites when seven rockets aimed at Bien Hoa airbase were fired. Dabney recalled that the rocket launches reminded him of “the grand finale of a 4th of July fireworks display.” The Captain’s FO immediately called for artillery counter-battery fires. It was a race against time, as the enemy artillerymen rushed to reload their launchers for a second salvo. Charlie Battery’s howitzer crews at FSB Concord responded quickly, putting five HE rounds in the air. Then they reloaded and fired again. The enemy artillerymen who were still reloading and aiming their launchers were torn to pieces as Charlie Battery’s rounds found their target.
A USAF Forward Air Controller at Bien Hoa airbase took off seconds after the first 122mm rockets impacted on the base. The FAC flew north over the Dong Nai River searching for the rocket launch sites. It didn’t take long for him to find his targets. Two fully armed strike aircraft, F-100s on strip alert at Bien Hoa, roared down the runway past the burning VNAF and US aircraft . Both pilots banked to the right on a northerly heading as the burning fuel tanks on the base illuminated the night sky. At 0350 hours, the FAC marked his target with rockets, and the jets swooped down on the enemy firing sites, dropping napalm and finishing up with 20mm cannon fire. The air strikes continued throughout the night as more launch sites were located. The enemy’s 84th Artillery Battalion was all but destroyed during the ensuing air and artillery strikes. Consequently, the 5th VC Division’s ground attacks on the US bases at Long Binh and Bien Hoa were conducted without additional rocket artillery support.
Highway 1 between Bien Hoa & Long Binh—0300–0325 Hours
Captain Tonsetic’s force halted at a road junction on Highway 1, three kilometers east of Bien Hoa. LTC Mastoris ordered the halt, anticipating a possible change of mission from brigade. The ARVN POW Compound was located one kilometer to the east. Tonsetic ordered his two infantry platoons to dismount the tracks and set up a perimeter around the vehicles. Except for the idling engines of the tracked vehicles, the night was eerily silent. A stand of rubber trees stretched toward the east on the northern side of the highway. Shortly after the Charlie Company grunts took up their positions, the first salvo of 122mm rockets streaked across the night sky toward Bien Hoa Airbase just three kilometers to the west. The explosions and fiery flames from the burning fuel storage tanks then illuminated the night sky in that direction. Captain Tonsetic radioed the Warrior TOC and requested instructions. LTC Mastoris informed him that the original mission to link up with the LRPs had been put on temporary hold by brigade. Mastoris then told Tonsetic to move east on Highway 1 to the ARVN POW Compound, where he was to await further instructions.
Captain Tonsetic ordered his men to mount up and the column of ACAVs rolled eastward toward the POW Compound, arriving at 0320 hours. The Captain radioed for his 1st Platoon leader, 2nd Lieutenant Howard Tuber, to meet him at the front gate of the compound. The lieutenant, who had only been in Vietnam for two weeks and had never been under fire, assumed that he was being reinforced. His small force was stretched thin. More than 2,000 enemy POWS were confined within the compound, and all but a few members of the ARVN MP guard force were on Tet holiday leave. The barbed wire fences and guard towers that surrounded the facility were meant to keep the POWs from escaping, not to withstand a ground attack.
One of the Vietnamese MP sergeants who remained on duty informed Lieutenant Tuber that there were explosives buried beneath the POW Quonset hut barracks, and that he was under orders to “blow the whole damn place up” rather than let the prisoners escape. The ARVN sergeant refused to tell Tuber where he had hidden the electronic firing devices. The lieutenant was worried that his men might be blown up as well.
Captain Tonsetic informed Lieutenant Tuber that the ready reaction force was, as far as he knew, on its way to link up with a LRP team north of Ho Nai village. The stop at the POW compound was only temporary. Lieutenant Tuber’s platoon and the attached Cav platoon would have to defend the POW Compound on their own. While the two were conferring, the Captain’s RTO took a message for the Ready Reaction Force to move out immediately for Ho Nai village. Tonsetic bid the lieutenant farewell, warning him to stay alert. “If you get hit, it will probably come from the rubber across the road.” The rubber trees on the south side of the highway had been cleared by giant Rome plows, but the trees still grew north of the road. Tonsetic gave the word, and the Charlie Company reaction force sped away into the darkness en route to Ho Nai village.
Camp Frenzell-Jones—0330 Hours
As the Charlie Company reaction force rolled eastward on Highway 1 headed for Ho Nai village, several mortar rounds impacted along the road that paralleled the northwest side of the base camp perimeter. The enemy mortar rounds fell short of their target, the brigade helipad. Simultaneously, helicopter crews, aviation mechanics, and a “People Sniffer” team from the 503d Chemical Detachment were pinned down in their bunkers by incoming small-arms fire. Colonel Davison ordered the 7th Support Battalion’s reaction force to reinforce the helipad. The brigade’s four UH-1Ds sitting on the helipad were the brigade’s only organic aviation assets. Davison wanted to go airborne to direct the battle as soon as possible, and did not want his helicopters destroyed on the ground.
Moments later, the northern perimeter of the base began receiving small arms fire from houses on the northern edge of Ho Nai village. The brigade troops manning the perimeter bunkers opened fire with small arms and machine guns, temporarily silencing the enemy fire. The enemy fire had been premature. The VC battalion tasked to assault the base’s northern perimeter was still moving toward its attack positions.
A sketch map removed from the body of a VC after the battle, plus information received from prisoners, revealed the enemy plan of attack. One battalion of the 275th Regiment was to launch a frontal assault against the base, attacking through Ho Nai village to overrun the base’s northern perimeter. While that assault was underway, a second battalion of the 275th VC Regiment would attack Camp Frenzell-Jones from the southeast. During this attack, a sapper unit was to infiltrate and destroy the large Long Binh Ammunition Depot with explosives and rocket fire. Simultaneously, a third battalion of the 275th would attack the PLANTATION (II Field Force Headquarters and 12th Aviation Group), just down the road from Camp Frenzell-Jones. That battalion was in an attack position in Widows Village located directly west of Highway 316 from the PLANTATION complex
. The 275th Regimental machine gun company was to support the attacks against the aviation unit helipads to destroy the helicopters on the ground before they could take off to provide crucial fire support to US ground forces. Heavy enemy rocket and mortar fires were planned to support the ground attacks. It was a bold plan that was heavily dependent on surprise, timing, and coordination. The plan was a good one, but in war things seldom go as planned.
North of Ho Nai Village—0230–0300 Hours
The VC battalion assigned the mission of attacking Camp Frenzell-Jones from the north moved into its final attack positions near Ho Nai Village. The lead elements of the battalion began to close on the area around 0230 hours after completing a 12-kilometer forced night march. The march had not gone well. Subordinate units had become separated. Some got lost, while others continued to arrive piecemeal throughout the early morning hours. Upon arrival, the enemy troops began to prepare for their upcoming assault. The attack was scheduled to begin after the heavy rocket attack on Camp Frenzell-Jones scheduled for 0300 hours. While they waited for the rocket attack to begin, scouts were sent into Ho Nai village to make contact with infiltrators already in place in the village. Meanwhile, the enemy assault troops began to dig positions for their heavy weapons. A 12.75mm machine gun was sighted on the road that led south into the village, while two additional heavy machine-gun teams were sent into the village to establish an anti-aircraft position in the 50 foot tower that was part of the village hospital. The battalion’s 61mm mortars were set up in a cemetery just north of the village to support the ground attack.
The 122mm rocket attack on Camp Frenzell-Jones began on schedule at 0300 hours. The VC battalion commander heard the explosions, but did not at once launch the ground attack. He was waiting for more of his troops to arrive, and a second barrage of rockets. The battalion waited in positions just north of a small creek bed that ran perpendicular to the road that led south to the village. A trickle of a stream ran through a culvert on the west side of the road emerging on the other side. South of the culvert the road sloped upward as it ran into the edge of the village. A few houses were situated along the road. The houses were unoccupied. The residents had fled to the sanctuary of the village’s Catholic Church when they heard the VC battalion had arrived.
Ho Nai Village—0345–0415 Hours
The Charlie Company ready reaction force rumbled east on Highway 1, through the center of Ho Nai village. Captain Tonsetic ordered the ACAVs to a halt at the intersection of Highway 1 and an engineer road that led north toward the Dong Nai River. The infantrymen dismounted the tracks and set up a security screen around the ACAVs. The night was eerily silent in the village as Tonsetic conferred with his platoon sergeants and the Armored Cav platoon leader.
The Charlie Company CO outlined his plan to move north to link up with LRP team 37. Platoon Sergeant Wyer’s 3rd Platoon was to move north on the west side of the road, while Platoon Sergeant Jaynes, leading the fourth platoon, would advance on the east side of the road. The eight ACAVs from Delta Troop would move north along the road staying slightly behind the advancing infantry on their flanks. Tonsetic and his CP group would follow Wyer’s 3rd Platoon on the west side of the road.
The Captain was preparing to give the order to his men to move out when he noticed that one of his two radio operators was walking with a bad limp. Specialist Bob Archibald had injured his ankle when he jumped off the side of the ACAV with his rucksack and PRC-25 radio strapped to his back. The Captain told his commo sergeant, Larry Abel, to find another soldier to carry the radio. Archibald was surprised that he only received a scowl from his boss rather than an “ass chewing.” Of his former CO, Bob Archibald later wrote, “He was incredibly serious virtually all the time. Heaven help the subordinate, who appeared to make a mistake.” Relieved of the extra weight on his back, Archibald picked up his M16 rifle and limped along behind the CP group as the company cautiously headed north out of the village.
As the 3rd and 4th platoons moved slowly on the flanks, the ACAV’s inched forward down the road about 50 meters behind the ground troops. The ACAVs were using blackout drive, but the noise of their 209 horsepower Chrysler engines alerted the enemy troops a few hundred meters up the road. The commander of the VC battalion ordered two RPG teams to move forward across the culvert to take up positions in a house on the east side of the road. He also ordered a 12.75 machine-gun team supported by a platoon-size force of infantry forward to a position on the west side of the road. It was a last-ditch effort to ambush the advancing US force.
The PLANTATION (II Field Force HQ)—0300–0330 Hours
An estimated nine rockets slammed into or near the compound that housed Lieutenant General Weyand’s II Field Force Headquarters. The barrage lasted about ten minutes and resulted in minimal damage. Counter-battery artillery fires and gunships located most of the firing sites in AOs North Uniontown and Columbus after the first volley, and destroyed the rocket firing batteries before they could launch another salvo. Fortunately, Weyand’s above-ground TOC was not hit. The TOC was located in a steel World War II-type Quonset hut that offered only minimal protection from shrapnel and small-arms fire. A direct hit would have destroyed it along with the General and most of his staff.
About twenty minutes later, the II Field Force came under machine-gun and small-arms fire from Widows Village directly across Highway 316 from the headquarters. The village housed a number of widows and children of ARVN soldiers who had found employment on the nearby US bases, and provided laundry services for the US soldiers stationed at those bases. The VC had slipped into the sleeping village several hours earlier, digging positions among the rows of shanties that faced the highway.
MPs guarding II Field Force Headquarters returned fire from their M60 machine-gun jeeps. Concerned about a ground attack, the II Field Force Commander ordered Lieutenant Colonel John Tower’s 2/47th mechanized infantry battalion of the US 9th Infantry Division to move to the Long Binh area. The battalion was in a night laager position off Highway 15 southeast of Long Binh. The mechanized infantrymen quicky rolled up their defensive wire, mounted their M113 personnel carriers, and rumbled down Highway 15 toward Long Binh, ready for a fight.
Long Binh Ammunition Depot—0300–0330 Hours
The huge Long Binh Ammunition Depot was located 1,500 meters south of Ho Nai village, and 1,000 meters southeast of the II Field Force Headquarters. The depot had one hundred ammo bunkers containing all types of Army and Air Force munitions. The 12-kilometer perimeter of the facility was protected by barbed wire fences and a series of observation towers The depot was run by the Army’s 3d Ordnance Battalion. From 0300 to 0330 hours, the enemy fired an undetermined number of mortar and RPG rounds into the northeast sector of the perimeter in the vicinity of Tower 13. When the fires were lifted, the U1 Local Forces Battalion launched a ground attack. Using bangalore torpedoes to blast their way through the defensive barbed wire, the VC penetrated the outer defenses of the facility. While the enemy ground troops battled the Ordnance troops and MPs, enemy sapper teams headed for the ammunition bunkers and pads to rig them with explosives. Three MP s were killed and several more were wounded in the fighting. The Ordnance battalion radioed II Field Force Headquarters requesting reinforcements. Bravo Company, 2/47th Infantry, minus one platoon, was ordered to move to the ammo depot at all possible speed and secure it.
ARVN POW Compound—0410–0430 Hours
At 0410 hours, Lieutenant Tuber’s reinforced platoon at the ARVN POW compound received 30 to 40 rounds of small-arms fire. Tuber’s grunts fired handheld flares to illuminate the area across the road from the compound. As the parachute flares drifted over the rows of rubber trees, Tuber’s men spotted a number of figures running through the shadows carrying individual and crew-served weapons. Lieutenant Tuber radioed the Warrior TOC and requested a helicopter gunship team to provide suppressive fires.
The gunship team arrived ten minutes later and saturated the area with its machine guns, temporarily suppressing the e
nemy fire. The ACAV platoon at the compound shifted their firing positions to defend against a frontal assault on the main gate. Two ACAVs were positioned to cover the gate. A company-size unit of the VC 275th Regiment continued to arrive in the vicinity of the POW compound. Their mission was to seize the compound and liberate the 2,000-some prisoners held at the facility.
Ho Nai Village—0420–0530 Hours
Nick Schneider’s squad was in the lead of 3rd Platoon as the Charlie Company grunts moved north from Ho Nai Village. Suddenly, Schneider signaled his men to halt. Schneider spotted three figures crossing the road from east to west in the darkness about fifty meters to his front. Unable to make out whether the men were members of the LRP team or villagers, Schneider and his men held their fire. The lead ACAV, Track 12, moving north along the road spotted the figures at the same time. Suddenly, someone popped a handheld flare, illuminating the area. Schneider’s point man, Specialist Ken Barber, sized up the situation immediately. He saw three VC running toward a 12.75 machine gun positioned on the west side of the road. The men were carrying a belts of 12.75 ammunition. Schneider yelled for Barber to take cover just as the alert 20-year-old Virginian blasted the trio with his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, killing all three before they reached the gun. Dozens of AK-47 assault rifles and light machine guns opened fire on the Americans. The battle for Ho Nai village began in earnest.
Days of Valor Page 15
