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JUNE 22

   On June 22, A Company from 3rd Battalion, made contact with and was soon surrounded by a North Vietnamese Army Battalion. On a nearby ridge overlooking the Brigade Base Camp, two more Companies of Paratroopers were lifted into the area and began hacking their way through the mountainous terrain toward Alpha Company. Their movement became bogged down by heavy enemy sniper fire.
  Although greatly outnumbered by the wel trained North Vietnamese regulars, the men of Alpha Company fought valiantly. The communists threw several human wave assaults at the Sky Soldier perimeter. The battle raged for seven hours. Although A Company itself suffered heavy casualties, its Paratroopers dealt a crippling blow to the North Vietnamese Battalion. General William C. Westmoreland, Allied Commander, later told the Sky Soldiers at Dak To that their efforts prevented the North Vietnamese from overrunning the Special Forces camp there. He saluted the 173rd as one of the finest units in the history of the American fighting man.
  After completing a successful operation aimed at protecting the Vietnamese rice harvest west of Tuy Hoa during September and October, the Brigade once again deployed to Dak To, to join the 4th Infantry Division in Operation McArthur. During the ensuing battle for Dak To, the Sky Soldiers fought during their finest hour.

The 173 rd Airborne Infantrymen made repeated heavy contact with large forces of North Vietnamese over a bitterly fought 20 day period.

SKY SOLDIERS KILL 51 NVA

             Tuy Hoa - Operation Bolling, nearing 4 months has accounted for 238 enemy killed in the Phuyen Province. The 173d Airborne Brigade made its largest major contact Wednesday when an element of the 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry made a Heli-borne Assault on a 'Hot' landing zone.
  During the bitter fighting, Sky Soldiers reported uncovering 51 communist bodies and capturing 18 small arms. The Airborne Infantrymen suffered 12 KIA's and 34 WIA during the battle that raged most of the afternoon.
  A suspected NVA build-up was reported 35 miles north-northwest of Phu Hiep, D Company was lifted into the vicinity and began clearing the area in a northerly direction when it came under small arms fire from three directions. Air strikes and artillery were called in and small arms fire was returned.
  Shortly after, A Company was lifted into the area. The assault was preceded by air strikes and artillery barrages, but when A Company reached the landing zone they were hit from three sides. Communist soldiers shot down the last helicopter load of Paratroopers. The chopper went up into flames as the Paratroopers and crew fled the burning ships. One Door Gunner was seriously injured.
  As fire increased from all four sides of the landing zone, air strikes and artillery hammered the enemy estimated to be at Company size. The enemy broke contact late in the afternoon.
  Thursday and Friday Paratroopers continued to sweep the area for the enemy and more possible NVA bodies.

  Tuy Hoa- "The NVA Soldier had his rocket launcher pointed at my head but he didn't fire. He just sat there behind a bush staring at me," recalled a young Paratrooper after firing up his first enemy soldier.
  Private First Class Jerome Lyford an Infantryman with the 173d Airborne Brigade was acting as flank security for his Platoon northwest of here. Assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 503d Infantry, Lyford was walking a ridge line while 200 meters below, his Platoon was sweeping a valley.
  "The terrain wasn't too thick," recalled Lyford, "and after a while I came upon a freshly used trail." Sandal prints were still clearly imbedded in the ground, cautiously the 21 year old Sky Soldier continued on the trail coming upon even more footprints. At last, he broke off the trail and headed down the gradual slope to warn his Platoon of his discovery.

NVA Rather Quit Than Fight 173d

     TUY HOA- An NVA unit recently decided to disobey written orders from its Regimental Commander rather than defend a nearly impregnable Battalion sized Base Camp and Training Area against a Company of the Brigade.
     The orders exhorting the camp's defenders to stay and fight if the 173d entered the area were found among other documents in the camp by Bravo Company, 4/503d Infantry, who were on patrol several miles northwest of Tuy Hoa. According to the Company Commander Captain, Carleton P. Vencill of Yerington Nevada, Bravo Company had been moving up a stream when a 'Kit Carson' Scout, a former NVA Officer who rallied to Vietnamese government forces, spotted an NVA outpost on top of the steep stream bank.

Fire Exchanged

     The point element exchanged fire with the remaining enemy in the camp and one Platoon moved on line to assault the positions. The Paratroopers encountered no enemy but found a recently constructed Company sized base camp. After a quick search they pushed forward another 300 meters where they discovered a Battalion sized base camp.
     It was situated in four levels along a ridgeline and ran 600 meters in length from a jumble of huge boulders to the peak of the hill. There were 40 or 50 fortified positions dug into the base of the boulders and numerous caves scattered among them. Some of the 30 huts found were still under construction. Four of them were mess-huts which contained fresh rice and other signs of recent use. "The base camp, approximately two years old, was in the process of being rebuilt," stated Captain Vencill. "I'd estimate there was at least a Company in the camp, but it could easily hold a Battalion."
     The next day Platoon sized reach-outs further explored the base camp and the surrounding area. Outside the camp, the Platoon's pointman Pfc Bruce Welch of Roy Washington, found the training area which was 200 meters in length. It contained another mess hut, a classroom area, dummy wooden Chinese-Communist grenades and an infiltration course consisting of real and simulated barbed wire set up in single strand, double apron concertina and tanglefoot fashion with a bayonet dummy at the end. "The training area was only built about two or three days before we found it," said Psg Wilbur Ali of Cusseta Ga, "so the NVA couldn't have trained too much on the course if they did at all."

Paratroopers Win At Viet Cong Game

Two can play the game.

   Much to their chagrin, that's what Viet Cong and NVA are now learning in the 173d Airborne Brigade's areas of operation.
    Long a master at small-team ambushes, the VC/NVA have begun to learn exactly what it feels like to be hunted by unseen snipers and ambush squads. Nicknamed 'Hawk' teams, small bands of Paratroopers are now roving into jungled enemy sanctuaries with regularity and blasting away at the unsuspecting enemy soldiers.
    A typical recent foray was staged by 3 /503…  Alerted to a possible infiltration route in the An Lao Valley, northwest of Bong Son, the team was dropped into the valley and situated itself on the side of a hill overlooking a crossing point through a stream below them.
    "We set up our ambush site about 600 meters away from the stream," said team leader Thom Lemmons of Mo.. After a short wait, the troopers spotted a lone figure crossing the stream, but held their fire, assuming he was the point element for a larger group. Correct in their assumption, the Sky Soldiers soon saw nine more enemy approaching the water.
    "We waited until they were in the middle of the stream," said Bootknick, "Then I opened up with my M-60 machine gun and the rest of the team with their M-16's. It didn't take long." Five enemy were killed in the action.

Risks Death 5 Times for Men

   AN KHE- Crossing a 60-meter open area five times through intense enemy fire to get ammunition for his beleagured men completely disregarding his own wounds, has earned a 173d Airborne Brigade Paratrooper the Silver Star.
   Staff Sergeant Billy Joe Caton of Porterville, Ca. was presented the nation's third highest award for Valor by Brigadier General John W. Barnes, Brigade Commander, during recent ceremonies at the 173d Jungle School.
   The 26 year old Sergeant was a Weapons Squad Leader with Company A, 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry, when the action occurred some 80 miles north of Saigon last August.
   At that time his Company was occupying a position near the town of Di Linh when it came under attack from a large enemy force. Heavy rocket, mortar and automatic weapons and small arms fire pounded the Company's perimeter. Seeing that his Squad was taking the brunt of the attack, Sergeant Caton crossed the 60 meter open stretch from his Company CP to his men while under intense enemy fire. An enemy grenade exploded near him and pelted his leg with shrapnel but he refused medical aid.

Manned the Gun

   When he reached his men's positions he found that the machine gunner and his assistant had been wounded so he took over the gun and blasted four enemy bearing satchel charges who were preparing to overrun the gun emplacement. Low on ammunition, Caton returned to the CP through a hail of enemy fire, grabbed the supplies and returned to his troops. After distributing the ammunition he fired on the enemy with an M-16. Suddenly he spotted an enemy rocket emplacement. But without the necessary equipment to destroy it and getting low on ammunition, Caton again braved the open field to return to the CP for supplies. He brought back the ammo and a grenade launcher which he used to destroy the enemy rocket emplacement.
   SSgt Caton is now an instructor with the Brigade Jungle School.

New VC Hospital Found Near Dalat

By PFC Paul Sheehan

     BAO LOC- A curious group of Paratroopers recently found one of the largest and most sophisticated North Vietnamese Hospital complexes yet uncovered in South Vietnam.
     The hospital complex included over 100 adjustable beds, operating tables and two kitchens. The Sky Soldiers of the 173d Airborne Brigade made the discovery 15 miles southeast of Dalat.
     The Paratroopers got their first clue to the hidden complex when 1Lt Lance Singleton of Detroit Mi, spotted a well-hidden trail they hadn't noticed before. Singleton, a Platoon Leader with Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 503d Infantry proceeded to establish an ambush on the trail.
     Although the ambushers saw no signs of enemy activity, the following morning the persistent Platoon followed the trail and found the complex which was hidden deep within a triple canopy forest.
     A medical expert from Saigon's 521st Medical Detachment, Captain David Montgomery of Kent, Ohio, was called into the area and disclosed that, "it is the largest and most sophisticated enemy hospital I've seen in Vietnam."
     Captured medical supplies included stretchers, penicillin, saline solutions, plasma, heroin and syringes. Also a number of letters and documents were retrieved.
     Apparently, there were female nurses in the area as women's gloves and sandals were also found.
     The complex was divided into four wards. Each ward was accompanied by a series of bunkers, and some of the bunkers were constructed to accomodate litters. The beds were of typical Vietnamese bamboo construction with adjustable back rests so the patient could sit up.

Steel Roof

     Wards and other structures had apparently been covered by canvas, but this had been removed by the time the Paratroopers arrived. The kitchen roofs were made of galvanized steel. There was a corn field adjacent to the hospital. Also, a stream had been dammed off and bamboo pipes inserted in the dam to aid in drawing water. The kitchen contained a supply of rice and corn and was replete with earthen stoves.
     It was obvious that the NVA had hastily evacuated the hospital as evidenced by a mixture of plaster of paris still moist and pliable. In addition, Paratroopers found pots still wet from washing.

Troops Spotted

     The NVA cadre must have spotted the Paratroopers coming as Sp4 Mahlon Dunn of Greenwich Village, NY found and disarmed a chicom grenade trip wire booby trap.
     Captain Huba Wass de Czege, a Hungarian native who now lives in Gainesville, Fla, said, "It was obvious from the condition of the bamboo that the complex was recently built. Also some of the wards were still under construction."

C/3/503d Captures Limelight; Hawk teams Successful in Lee

    During the last week of February and the first week of March the 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry captured most of the limelight in the Brigade, as Charlie Company uncovered the largest rice cache of the war. In addition to the mammoth find, which was well over 200 tons, the same Company also found a large weapons and supply cache about a week earlier while working with a 75th Infantry Combat Tracker Team.
    In Operation Lee, Hawk teams from the 1st and 2nd Battalions continued to keep the pressure on the enemy, keeping him on the run during the day and ambushing his trails at night. Knocking Charlie off at the rate of about four a day, the Paratroopers continued to prove their expertise in small unit tactics.
    Starlight scopes were used successfully in night operations. In one instance, an 11 man patrol from Bravo Company, 2/503d set up their scope in a deserted village and spotted an NVA Platoon across a rice paddy. By calling in Artillery, they manuevered the enemy into their ambush, killing five and capturing a wounded Political Officer.
    The Brigade also continued to utilize Sky Sweep operations in AO Lee, combining the efforts of Delta Troop, 2/lst Cavalry and Infantry Platoons from the 1st and 2nd Battalions. On one mission, an LOH pilot spotted an armed Viet Cong trying to escape from a village and in the ensuing firefight seven of the enemy lost their lives.
    In Operation Marshall, the 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 50th Infantry continued to safeguard highway 19 and act as a reaction area for the An Khe Area. On two successive days near the end of February, the Mechanized Infantrymen killed 20 NVA in several incidents along the highway. With the beginning of March, attempts to sever the vital roadway decreased markedly, proving the effectiveness of the Mechanized Battalion in thwarting the enemy.
    In addition, Delta Troop pulled visual reconnaissance missions in AO Marshall, searching for enemy build-ups indicated by intelligence reports. One patrol destroyed a burgeoning base camp and accounted for five enemy kills about 22 miles southwest of An Khe.
    The 4th Battalion, which had been conducting combined operations with the ROK Capitol Division and then with the 47th ARVN Regiment in AO Wainwright, made another move at the beginning of March. They were airlifted to An Khe to begin Reconnaissance-In-Force and Hawk operations in Operation Marshall.
    While the rest of the country saw stepped-up fighting in a post Tet Communist offensive during the two-week period, the 173d stymied any enemy drives with aggressive patrolling tactics. However, they still managed to rack up almost 100 enemy kills and detain 90 Viet Cong suspects.

Units

§                                  HHC - "Headhunters"

§                                  A Company - "Wild Bunch"

§                                  B Company - "Mad Dawgs"

§                                  B Company - "Cobra"

     D Company - "Dragons"

1st Battalion, 9th Infantry (Mechanized) is a Bradley Infantry Battalion, and proud holder of the nickname MANCHU-6. The battalion is currently stationed 20 kilometer north of Uijongbu on Camp Hovey, one of 17 Camps within the 2D Infantry Division. It is assigned to the Army's only Light/Heavy Brigade, the 2d Strike Brigade, with two Air Assault Battalions (1-503rd AA & 1-506th AA).

Bases for the 9th Infantry Division Vietnam

"Bearcat" = Camp Martin Cox

Tan An East and Tan An West

Rach Kein

Can Guioc

Dong Tam

Bien Phouc

French Fort

FSB Moore

FSB Schroeder

FSB Dirk

FSB Danger

Xuan Loc

Tan Tru

Ben Luc

  Magazine  Map

I had Two older Brothers that Served in the Vietnam conflict. My oldest Brother Leo J. Geer was Drafted in the Military in late 1964. He served with The 9th Inf in `65 & `66 in The republic of Viet Nam.    My other brother Robert F. Geer volunteered and served in 67, 68 & 69, in Viet Nam with The 223rd Combat Group But their Bothstill Legs!!!   I, Richard T. Geer, Served With The Herd in 68 & 69.

3d Bn Finds Huge Enemy Rice Cache

          By SP5 Ralph Dixon

    BAO LOC- Alert Paratroopers of Charlie Company, 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade, acting on an intelligence source, recently found a huge, 204 ton enemy rice cache in Lam Dong Province, north of Saigon.
    One of the largest enemy rice caches to have been found during the Vietnam war, it was valued at more than 1,000,000 piasters or $15,000. The gigantic cache was discovered when the Sky Soldiers were conducting a search and clear mission and came across an old enemy base camp. After a thorough search of the camp, Captain Harold G. Crowe of Elizabethon Tn, divided his Company into two Platoons to comb a wider area.
    A short while later, Paratroopers of the 3d Platoon spotted a well camouflaged trail and followed it for about 100 meters before coming into an open area containing 10 hooches. "I opened the door to one of the hooches," said Sp4 Alan J. Krueger, of Milwaukee Wi, Pointman for the Platoon. "I was almost buried by a landslide of rice.
    The rest of the Company was called to the scene and a landing zone was cleared so the rice could be extracted. It took 20 large conex containers and nearly eight days to airlift the supply of rice to the Battalion base camp where it was distributed to the local villagers. Based on the theory that a hungry soldier is not a very good fighting soldier, the VC/NVA morale should be at an all-time low. Only a week ago, Charlie Company found over two tons of rice near the same area.

Operation Toll at 2000 Enemy

   BONG SON- The 173d Airborne Brigade recently terminated three combat operations, which accounted for nearly 2,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Soldiers killed during the past year.
   The Sky Soldiers conducted Reconnaissance in Force, Search and Clear type operations in three primary areas; around An Khe (Operation Walker), the coastal mountains west of Tuy Hoa (Operation Bolling/Dan Hoa) and heavily populated Binh Dinh Province (Operation Cochise/Dan Sinh).
   Operation Cochise, which commenced 31 March 1968, featured Reconnaissance-in-Force operations against the 3d NVA Division, the 22d NVA Regiment and several Viet Cong local force Battalions. In 10 months, the Brigade accounted for 929 enemy dead, 1,987 detainees, 122.1 tons of rice and 247 pounds of documents, 233 individual and 22 crew served weapons.
   The operation was highlighted by heavy contact by the 1st Battalion (Mechanized) 50th Infantry, during May, accounting for 329 KIA, a joint sweep and clear operation, titled 226, with the 40th ARVN Regiment during September which ended with over 300 confirmed Viet Cong killed or apprehended and the largest money cache of the war, $150,000 in 50-dollar greenbacks, found in July.
   During the operation, the Brigade expelled the 3d NVA Regiment from the province, totally secured coastal highway QL 1, and from Qui Nhon to the southern border of I Corps and conducted extensive pacification programs.
   In Operation Bolling, which began in October 1967, elements of the Brigade killed 705 enemy, apprehended 2488 suspects and captured 237 individual weapons.
   Two major battles occurred during the Operation, the first in January 1968 when the 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry decimated a Battalion from the 95th NVA Regiment at Tuy Hoa North Airfield, killing 189, and the second in March, when Delta Company, 16th Armor killed over 200 NVA and VC in a four hour battle.
   Operation Walker, with the purpose of providing security for highway QL 19 between the port of Qui Nhon and the central highlands, resulted in 272 enemy killed since January 1968.
   Replacing the three terminated operations are Operation Dung Cam/Lee (Cochise), Li Do/Wainwright (Bolling) and Suc Manh/Marshall (Walker).

Buddha Brings 3rd Bn Luck

By PFC Paul Sheehan

     BAO LOC, RVN- Paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade's 3rd Battalion believe in Buddha and it's not because they've changed their religion.
     Buddha is a Scout Dog whose keen senses recently helped avert a devastating ambush on a hillside near Dalat and resulted in 10 NVA dead.
     "Without Buddha I don't know what might have happened," asserted 1Lt Rory S. Fausett of Madison, Wisc. "Those NVA were pretty well set up."
     According to reports, the Paratroopers from Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 503d Infantry, were moving up a ridgeline when Buddha suddenly "alerted" to enemy in the area.
     Seeing the Dog's signal, PFC Jerry Whitcomb, the Platoon's flank security took another look in his own area and caught sight of three NVA bushwackers. Whitcomb fired up all three with his M16 before the enemy reacted.

Quick Reaction

     Whitcomb's quick action also caused the NVA to prematurely detonate two command detonated mines, which exploded harmlessly 50 meters in front of the Sky Soldiers.
     The NVA were heavily entrenched atop the hill, and in the ensuing fire fight they unleashed a heavy barrage of machine gun and automatic weapons fire. They also had several snipers tied in trees.
     Although the NVA in their fixed positions gained an immediate fire superiority, Bravo Company quickly moved on line and gained the initiative.
     The Paratroopers used an old favorite ploy of yelling and shouting at the NVA, and it seemed to unnerve the defenders.
     "GO LIMA, GO, GO LIMA GO, GO LIMA GO," shouted the Sky Soldiers as they charged through the foliage toward the enemy emplacements.
     Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Berke of Fairfax, Va., the 3rd Battalion Commander, pointed out that, "Bravo Company maintained excellent control of the fight, especially considering the disadvantage of deploying uphill."
     Charlie Company, which was trailing Bravo up the hill, deployed to provide flank security. C Company's Medics were instrumental in prompt care and evacuation of the wounded.
     1st Lieutenant Peter Wright of Palo Alto, Ca, called in Artillery within a hundred meters of the advancing Paratroopers. Meanwhile, Lima Platoon led the frontal assault.

Artillery Helps

     Due to the Artillery falling to their rear and small arms fire to their front, the NVA were mounting casualties rapidly and began to disperse. To add to their plight, a flock of Gunships had little trouble in locating and blasting their positions.
     Field First Sergeant Billy Yates of Carrolton, Ga said, "When we reached the top of the hill we found three dead NVA snipers strapped to the trees."
     Seven more bodies were found in the 20-bunker hilltop base camp. There were signs of numerous other NVA dead and wounded.
     The bunkers were built with three foot thick ceilings and could hold five soldiers each. "They had definitely planned on staying," smiled one Paratrooper.