Explore our Navy section: awards, stories, points of interest, origin of navy terminology and much, much more! The MRFA is launching our Historical Data Project (HDP), featuring as much MRF TF-117 data as possible. Sheehan, Current When recoilless fire began hitting the tracked vehicles, the die was cast. Due to the nature of the battle and the abundant use of automatic weapons on armored vehicles, two and in some cases three basic loads of .50-caliber and 7.62mm. [5], In the 3rd Platoon sector on the eastern side of the perimeter, Wolfe detected communist movement and requested night illumination from a 4.2-inch mortar, which revealed Viet Cong troops crossing the highway from east to west. / 10.43833N 106.19528E / 10.43833; 106.19528 The Battle of p Bc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War, in nh Tng Province (now part of Tin Giang Province ), South Vietnam. Losses in the 3/47th were more severe. At 23:10, Captain Alcala reported that firing had ended and that infrared equipment was being used to detect the communists. <<1580FEC57EE0BF4FA30A1AAA607739CA>]>> telegram 100910Z to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on January 10. there are days. These are all my friends., Wyoming ranks third best place to raise a dog, Governor praises Sholly for Park flood response, Big and little have been partnered for eight years, 128 South Bent StreetPowell, WY 82435 Funston. The situation was such that no fire from air or artillery could be utilized due to the nearness of the opposing combatants. To the south of the position was a rubber plantation, while wooded areas were prominent to the north and west. By 20:00 darkness and enemy fire stopped the assault with Companies B and C, 3/47th Infantry, still some 600 meters west of the ambush site. Squad leader and event organizer Dave Persson talked of the significance of the date, calling it the very worst battle any of us saw in Vietnam., We lost one person from our platoon that day, Persson recalled. The 12 members of the Tornados gathered the next morning at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for a short service and remembrance. While these deployments were being made, the 3/47th continued to alternate intense artillery fire and air strikes the enemy position, thus effectively preventing most of them from escaping. 5-17 August 1967: RSSZ operations. At the brigade commanders suggestion, it was decided to lay a heavy volume of smoke on the area, using a battery of 155-mm. 3 August 1967: 3rd Bn, 60th Inf come afloat, 4th Bn 47th Inf OpCon Funston. There was much shouting and hollering as leaders tried to find their men, ascertain their status and reorganize for the night. 0000001392 00000 n 0000001668 00000 n g. Results: heavy contact with 514th Viet Cong Battalion, and 263rd Viet Cong Main force Battalions by US and VNMC, light contact with 261st Main Force Viet Cong Battalion by the 7th ARVN. VC casualties were limited to 18 soldiers killed and 39 wounded, even though their positions had been hit by more than 600 rounds of artillery, napalm, and other ordnance released by 13 warplanes and five UH-1 gunships. Ap Bac had far-reaching consequences for the South Vietnamese government and the American involvement in Vietnam. The United States Army Command in the Pacific reported the battle to the var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'? They crossed to the southern half of the perimeter under the heaviest communist attack. xref It took a lot of guts, he wrote, on the part of those pilots and [Page 3] crews to go back into the area to Links to friends, affiliates and other sites you should visit! A relatively small engagement that had major media, political, and policy implications, the Battle of Ap Bac took place between Viet Cong (VC) and Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) forces on January 2, 1963. His Company B still occupied the blocking position to the north, and was relatively fresh. A friend is a person that would be standing by your side, even if he knew it was going to cost him his life. Mobile Riverine Force in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) from 1921 June 1967 against the Viet Cong (VC). Information obtained from a captured Viet Cong assessment of the battle To further complicate matters, the area was honeycombed with small fighting positions typical of the Delta region. Considered small-scale action, Ap Bac was fought on January 2, 1963, in the hamlet (ap in Vietnamese) of Bac. Diplomatic Couriers, Guide to Country Recognition and Joint Chiefs of Staff as one of the bloodiest and costliest battles of Forces from the 5th Cavalry Regiment were entrusted with the securing of Fire Support Base 20, around 1.5km north of the village of Bu Bng, and they had expected an attack, as their area was a known communist stronghold. By mid May this builds to full RAS at Dong Tam, while continuing operations in RSSZ, from base at Vung Tau. a. 0000002679 00000 n Please sign the MRFA guestbook! and helicopters. 7, The Washington Post printed a front-page Battle of AP Bac II, in AP Bac Hamlet, CAN/GUIOC District, Long An Province. [6] We welcome content contributions! [5] At the same time the 1st Platoon of B Troop moved down Route 13 from its position eight kilometers north. 15 May 1967: 1st CAM SON riverine operation, using TF-117 boats. 209 0 obj <> endobj This past June 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Ap Bac. (After-Action Report by Senior Adviser 7th 0000008029 00000 n Also, all commanders were concerned about the possible effects the .50 caliber fire of the armored personnel carriers would have when they assaulted. By 11:50 Company C 3/47th Infantry had swept the area but failed to locate any VC, however Company C, 4/47th Infantry encountered VC positions as they moved west. Chester V. Felt, Admiral Harry - William Shakespeare, Henry V, Navy Cross recipients, Distinguished Service Cross recipients, and Medal of Honor recipients from the Navy Mobile Riverine Force and Army 9th Infantry Division. military problems and report on future prospects for the war. Early on 2 May, elements of the Wild Ones composed of Company B and Company C, 3/60th, plus the battalion command post and combat support company (less elements), moved out and arrived at the attack position with out incident. [6], During the battle of Ap Bau Bang III, the Americans killed at least 227 Viet Cong, and captured 3, as well as much equipment and weapons. 27 July 1967: Relocate to Dong Tam. Explore our catalog and purchase official MRFA gear here. The Battle of p Bc was a major battle fought on January 2, 1963, during the Vietnam War.It was fought in nh Tng Province (now part of Tin Giang Province), South Vietnam.On December 28, 1962, US intelligence detected the presence of a radio transmitter along with a sizable force of National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF/Viet Cong) soldiers, [3] One tank operator trained his searchlight on the Viet Cong machine gun position and returned fire along with three APCs for around three minutes. Calling for artillery fire and air support, the commander attempted to maneuver his company across the stream. F. Taylor, General Maxwell Those on the north had been swept by Company B earlier, and were known to be free of enemy troops. The troop formed into a circular (wagon train) perimeter defense. He fell and I said, Crawl back to me. He said, Charlie, Charlie, hold my hand. I held his hand, his body started quivering and then he died. Finally, the battle has proven the wisdom of the axiom; once you have an enemy force in a trap, destroy it without delay. The terrain in the area consisted of rice paddies surrounded on four sides by narrow earthen dikes. A relatively small engagement that had major media, political, and policy implications, the Battle of Ap Bac took place between Viet Cong (VC) and Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) forces on January 2, 1963. Of the men who participated in this assault, most had been in the Army hardly a year. American intelligence analysts believed that the whole regiment participated. Encapsulating the great terrors, mistakes, ironies, and courageous acts of the Vietnam War, The Battle of Ap Bac recounts the clash in which the Viet Cong first won their spurs. Company C, 3/47th Infantry was deployed by helicopters south of the reported VC location while Company C, 4/47th Infantry was moved by patrol craft northeast of the location. Ive never had a bond like I have with these people.. While fighting continued, part of Festa's unit were trying to evacuate their wounded. assessment of the battle by Neil Explore historical photos, gripping stories, poetry and song submitted by MRFA members. At the same time, he recalled the personnel carrier company (Company C, 5/60th) from its barren search farther to the west and began moving it toward the point of contact. Naval Forces Vietnam Monthly Historical Supplement June 1967", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Concordia_(Vietnam)&oldid=1101635797, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1967, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 August 2022, at 01:43. The Americans reported their battle losses at 3 killed and 63 wounded. Cn Giuc District in Long An Province was a VC stronghold in the Mekong Delta. fighting and five helicopters were shot down. Few people were seen, although there were many houses of mud and thatch in these densely vegetated areas. he added along with the bad news of damage to helicopters and three At 23:00 the Viet Cong opened fire on the northeast section of the perimeter with a wheel-mounted .50-caliber machine gun located on the railway embankment. The South Vietnamese forces enjoyed a 4-1 numerical advantage in the States helicopters carrying Vietnamese troops into battle. The perimeter was manned on the west by the 1st Platoon, commanded by First Lieutenant Roger A. Festa and to the east by the 3rd Platoon under Second Lieutenant Hiram M. Wolfe, IV.[3]. Initially the artillery covered the northwest, west, and southwest sides of the perimeter while aircraft attacked on a north-south axis east of Route 13. Were all so close; these are brothers. of the facts. He conceded that the South Vietnamese forces had made Situated near Ap Bac Village in the Long An Province of Vietnam, the soldiers of Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry were slogging through a couple hundred yards of open rice paddies when they stumbled into chaos. The entire crew was wounded and evacuated. We knew they were there. In view of this, the brigade commander, Col. William B. Fulton, changed his scheme of maneuver. Instead he continued to fire white phosphorus, some of which by this time, was falling dangerously close to Company A. Thirteen men had died in the little pasture and many more had been wounded. Farther to the north (about 30 meters) was another dike, parallel to the one behind which the dead lay. Continuing its advance, the company began to meet more and more fire as it crossed the open rice fields opposite a built-up area of thatched huts along a deep stream that ran across their front. They all had to be searched and cleared, even though most were found to be unoccupied. The company commander reported that his unit was in a state of chaos and he was extremely pessimistic about its ability to attack. These were the troops of the 273d Viet Cong Regiment, who had been waiting in position in the rubber trees before moving forward under mortar fire cover,[4] wearing dark clothes. These vehicles quickly joined and began to add the fire power of their .50 calibers to the combat, which at the moment was very much in the balance. But one officer, John Paul Vann, saw darker omens for the futureand in the Battle of Ap Bac, the Viet Cong proved him correct. a. MACV MDMAF concept postulated a maximum radius of 50 KM from MRB. Persson said their platoon was unique in that they had been together since the beginning of boot camp, so the absence of another member of the tight-knit group was always felt. 0000000016 00000 n of the Department, Foreign Relations of the United States, 19611963, Volume Its what happens, unfortunately, Heller said. 2. thus this was not a real and valid test test of operating radius. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, For he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother." Companies B and C continued attacking east, while Company A moved into a blocking position to the north. General, Status of the WebOn January 2, 1963, regular army and civil guard forces of the Republic of Vietnam engaged a Viet Cong battalion at the village of Ap Bac in Dinh Tuong province, 35 miles southwest At 22:50 that night a Viet Cong probe signaled the start of the battle. D. Gilpatric, Roswell After discussing the pros and cons with the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, the brigade commander decided to continue the operation, even though the loss of the blocking force did not augur well for success. General Earle G. Wheeler to lead A reinforced company, and possibly more, had been lost for the time being to the Viet Cong 514th Battalion. In addition, some men were having trouble with their rifles, due to the terrific volume of the fire they were pouring out. Haszard noted the growing size of the communist offensive and decided to move with his command element to A Troop's position. [7] The original English was, This is to advise you that during the battle of Ap Bau Bang on 20 March the Regimental Commander of Q763 (273d Regiment) and his Battalion Commanders disgraced themselves by performing in an un-soldierly manner. December 1966: 2nd Coronado Conference 11 September 1967: Operation Coronado V. Operations in CAM Son/ BAN LONG against 514th Viet Cong Battalion and 263rd Viet Cong Main Force Battalion. e. GVN Committed a 2nd Battalion Brigade of VN Marines in US Zone. In the first 10 minutes, 95 percent of them were killed. Besides, the area which the artillery and air were attacking had become smaller and smaller. Explore our catalog and purchase official MRFA gear here. At the direction of Alcala, the platoon swept 1.5km south of the defenders along the rubber tree line. Click most pictures to enlarge. The dead lay along a small dike extending perpendicular to their front. Anything and everything that couldn't fit in any of the other categories. THE BATTLE : At 07:00 on the 2nd January, 10 Shawnee Helicopters landed West of Ap Bac, dropping the first wave of the 3 Rifle Companies. The attacking force was stopped within 15m of the perimeter. Each infantry Battalion operates one week in RSSZ and trains one week at VAN KEP Training Center at BARIA in PHOUC TUY Province. From Albert's Peach Cobbler to an Irish Chicken Dinner, we have them all! escaped with minor losses. Their mission was to secure the base for B Battery (105-mm.) We have buried your dead and taken care of your wounded from this battle.[7]. You play a dangerous game, and people get hurt. That was a rarity in the Vietnam era much rarer than people ever realize, Persson said. Heavy harassment of route 4. Timeline, Biographies '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? We looked across the field and saw a lot of bodies, recalled platoon chaplain Charlie Zies. and the operation is being continued. (Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Vietnam In short, a nice, tidy plan had gone awry. American Army captain was killed while out front pleading with them to