Milantoni relayed the request to the air support center. 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. In the northeast, near the Force Logistic Command sector, villagers from Nam (160654N 1080744E / 16.115N 108.129E / 16.115; 108.129) just south of the strategic Nam Bridge, told PF troops, members of the CAP Q-4 platoon, that the VC planned to attack the CAP compound. Open to all Vietnam Veterans that served at DA NANG Air Base of ROCKET CITY from 1971-1972. From the south, about a dozen VC used boards to cross the outer wire and ladders and boards to clamber over the compound wall into the courtyard below. According to the Marine after-action report, 3/5 Marines and the attached two companies from the 2/3rd Marines accounted for more than 320 PAVN/VC dead in less than 36 hours. 366th Security Police K-9. The Marine squad was about to establish a night ambush site when a PAVN force of about 100 fired upon them. Survived many Rocket Attacks. Nine USAF personnel were killed during the barrage and 128 others were wounded, 40 of them requiring hospitalization. Later that afternoon, the 1st Marine Division helilifted a "Bald Eagle" reaction force from Company E, 2/3 Marines east of the river in an attempt to encircle the PAVN. [1]:153, The Marines now counterattacked supported by artillery and Marine gunships and fixed-wing air. [1]:163 The Marines assaulted the island and the fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning. The VC had learned that artillery and/or air strikes would be called in on the launch sites. Finally there were rumors that the other two regiments of the 2nd Division, the VC 1st and the PAVN 3rd, had infiltrated even further north. No rockets fell on the main airbase but Marble Mountain sustained some damage. In the meantime, the VC harassed with sniper fire both CAP Q-4 and the nearby Nam O bridge security detachment from 2/7 Marines. Accompanied by tanks and LVTP-5s, Company F maneuvered to the north of the ARVN base. Glasgow, Steve: YN3: Mar 20, 1969 - Mar 20, 1970: US Navy Post Office @ China Beach: . Proud to have had . DaNang Air Base was known as "rocket city" for the number of attacks that occurred there between 1965 and 1973. Narrative: Possibly the worst ground aviation accident of Vietnam War occurs on March 23 1967 at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, when traffic controller clears US Marine Corps Grumman A-6A Intruder, BuNo 152608, of VMA(AW)-242, MAG-11, for takeoff, but also clears USAF Lockheed C-141A-LM Starlifter, 65-9407, of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Washington, to cross runway. Both the 2/3 Marines to the east of the Army task force and the 3/5 Marines to the south, also reported relatively little enemy activity in their sectors. Pictures of Danang 8. Local villagers told the Marines that at least one VC had been killed in the brief skirmish. [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. The first half of my year in Vietnam (1967) I was stationed at the large U. S. base in Danang. Although agent reports and other intelligence indicated continued assaults north of the Cau Do River against Ha Vang and Da Nang City, most of these came to naught. [1]:154, At about 19:00 another reconnaissance patrol, Recon Team Rummage, about 30 kilometers south of Da Nang in the Qu Sn Mountains below An Ha, spotted a column of about 40 PAVN at the head of even a larger column moving east along a trail. [1]:153, The attack on the western perimeter was probably the most serious thrust against Marine positions on the day and evening of 30 January. [1]:149, The fighting did not subside with the coming of daylight. CriticalPast offers immediate downloads of full-resolution HD and SD masters and full-resolution time-coded screeners, 24 hours a day, to serve the needs of broadcast news, TV, film, and publishing professionals worldwide. In the Da Nang Vital Area, the artillery regiment, the 11th Marine Regiment, continued to oversee the Northern Sector Defense Command and the 1st Tank Battalion, the Southern Sector Defense Command. The attacks on Da Nang (29 January 11 February 1968), were a series of attacks in the Tet Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. Flight line VMO-2 after mortar / rocket attack "Tet Offensive" 1968. . The Marines lost 12 killed and 6 wounded. Both battalions would be under the operational control of the 1st Marine Division. From their night positions, Company G observers saw large numbers of PAVN approaching them from the north. Da Nang Air Base had intelligence predicting a rocket attack any day. 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. 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. At 08:30 a CAP saw a number of VC attempting to swim across the Cu to the island. "[1]:144, By evening on the 29th, the 1st Marine Division at Da Nang was on 100-percent alert. The Koreans kept one company at the MACV compound for security and prepared for a sweep to clear out the city in the morning. On my second combat hop on the 14th I flew below 500 feet for 30 minutes 5 to 10 miles south of Da Nang searching for rocket launching sites. Both Marine companies encountered heavy small-arms fire and RPGs as they approached their objectives. [1]:143, PAVN/VC forces throughout South Vietnam were about to strike. Within the city itself, VC cadre were to force the "inhabitants into the street for demonstrations and prepare the people for continuing political struggle against the government as well as kill GVN and ARVN cadre. [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. In the attack on the I Corps headquarters and in the defense of Ha Vang village the Allies sustained losses of nine dead and several wounded. [1]:157, In other sectors of the Da Nang TAOR, the PAVN/VC also maintained the pressure on the Allied forces. Those infiltrations prepared the way for NVA ground attacks in the surrounding areas. He and Randall agreed that they would deploy one of the battalion's two reserve provisional Quick Reaction platoons composed of headquarters personnel. The VC continued to hold the hospital, however, and part of the engineer compound. . The Marines lost one helicopter and sustained damage to 29 others. Communist attack of the war on an American stockade or brig. 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. Further, the National Police reported that VC local leaders from Qung Tn, Qung Nam and Qung Ngi Provinces met in a base area in the hills of northern Qung Ngi to plan attacks on Chu Lai and on Qung Ngi City. Two other squad patrols from Company C in the vicinity quickly joined the first squad. The Marine staff speculated that the enemy launched the mortar attacks largely as a cover for the rocket attacks against Marble Mountain. The battalion was alerted and airlifted from Twentynine Palms, California, to Cherry Point, North Carolina, with its . 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines was in the north, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines was in the center and 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines was in the south. It was damaged by the fire of the adjacent aircraft (BuNo 152588) on the night of 29-30 January 1968. We had played cards the night before and he was so happy he had survived his year in . Vietcong rocket attack on the U.S. Da Nang Airbase in Vietnam HD Stock Footage CriticalPast 308K subscribers Subscribe 56K views 8 years ago CriticalPast is an archive of historic footage.. 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. [1]:154, South of Da Nang, in Hi An, on the 30th, the ROKMC, reinforced by elements of the ARVN 51st Regiment, tried to tighten the loop and began preparations to retake the city. All attacks from 02/27/67 forward were by rockets. Da Nang air base attacked in Vietnam by 40mm rockets 7 miles away, 47 killed many from local village (partial newsreel) Addeddate 2005-04-08 19:44:43 Color b&w Identifier 1967-03-03_Airbase_Shelled . Galand Kramer at the Danang Officers Open Mess, the DOOM Club, so appropriately named for those of us flying into the teeth of North Vietnams AAA, missile and MiG air defenses. Bldg. Other enemy rocketeers took the Force Logistic Command compound under fire. Darkness prevented Sailfish from observing the number of casualties that the artillery and air inflicted upon the enemy. "[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. Marine commanders and staff officers could only speculate that the enemy was probably infiltrating north in small groups to "predetermined rallying points" for a further assault either on the city or on the Air Base. PAVN/VC fired rockets at both the Da Nang Air Base and Marble Mountain Air Facility. Among the casualties were two Marines killed, including Lieutenant Manning and six wounded from the 1st MP Battalion. Robertson wanted to "canalize enemy movements in order to develop lucrative targets which could be exploited." It was a helicopter facility that was constructed in August 1965 and served as home to Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16), the 5th Special Forces Group and an assortment of other squadrons until May 1971. The Marines evacuated the survivor to the Naval Support Activity hospital where he died of his wounds. 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. Da Nang AB was nicknamed "Rocket City" due to the large number of attacks by 122mm and 140mm rockets. The armored force pushed through the hamlet and encountered only occasional small-arms fire. On January 29, 1968, the night sky above the sprawling Bien Hoa Air Base, where I was on sentry patrol, appeared to be on fire. He nevertheless released Task Force Miracle from the operational control of the 1st Marine Division and returned it to the Americal Division. Additional intelligence tended to confirm the enemy was about to initiate something big. Considering the amount of ordnance that the enemy expended, casualties were relatively small. He seems to think there was only one rocket attack at Da Nang in 1972. Four died there. 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