As Company G began its redeployment along the river route it ran into PAVN forces attempting to retreat in that direction. On the afternoon of 7 February Marine helicopters deployed the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment into the hamlet of Duong Son (1) (155852N 1081124E / 15.981N 108.190E / 15.981; 108.190) 2km south of Cau Do. At 09:20, PAVN/VC forces attacked the district towns of in Bn, just above the Ky Lam River and Duy Xuyn below the river. In Da Nang City itself, about 10:50 in the morning, approximately 500 people gathered at a Buddhist pagoda and attempted to hold a march. Darkness prevented Sailfish from observing the number of casualties that the artillery and air inflicted upon the enemy. Located between the Cu and Thanh Qut Rivers and on either side of Highway 1, the two battalions provided the last line of defense before the so-called "Vital Area." Marine losses were 14 killed, Army losses were 18 killed, while PAVN/VC losses were in excess of 286. The following day, the same sources indicated that both the VC 1st and the PAVN 3rd Regiments had also withdrawn to the Go Noi. By the afternoon of the 31st, the Marines and Rangers had completed their sweep. About an hour later, PAVN troops who had infiltrated Duong Lam rushed the CAP compound. The South Vietnamese quickly rushed the newly arrived ARVN 5th Ranger Battalion into the area. Both Marine companies encountered heavy small-arms fire and RPGs as they approached their objectives. The Marines assaulted the island and the fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning. The struggle for Hi An would continue into the following day. Although most of the enemy activity was restricted to small-unit contacts, on the night of 2/3 February, PAVN/VC gunners again rocketed the Air Base. Full Citation: Photograph 127-N-A190364; Rocket Attack on the Da Nang Air Base; 1/30/1968; General Photograph File of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1927 - 1981; Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. The PAVN/VC rocket troops fired in two bursts, one at 03:42, followed by a second barrage three hours later. 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. According to the prisoner accounts, they were from the PAVN 3rd Battalion, 31st Regiment and confirmed that "Da Nang itself was the ultimate objective. Just 19 when he arrived, the horrors he witnessed would forever shape him. Army advisor attached to the ARVN unit. Company L, 3/5 Marines set up blocking positions on the east bank of the Yen. [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. Flares light up the Da Nang area to make it easier to spot infiltrating guerrillas. A total of 49 mortar and rocket rounds were counted landing on the airfield during this attack. 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. Rockey then directed Company G of the 3rd Marines, also attached to him, to move up along the banks of the Bau Xau River toward a blocking position southwest of the ARVN base to seal any escape route in that direction. [1]:154, Throughout the Da Nang TAOR, the intensity of activity increased during the night. [1]:160, The fighting continued during the night and into the next day. (L to R) Attack of 13 April 1972. WASHINGTON The White House warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack that hit an air base in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are . CMSgt (Ret) Gary Chaffin, who was at Da Nang with the 366th Civil Engineering Squadron, recalls this attack much as Dick does. Military Photo: Rocket Attack On The Eve Of The Tet Offensive. Flight line VMO-2 after mortar / rocket attack "Tet Offensive" 1968. . While Marine fixed-wing aircraft flew strike missions against the gun emplacements, another helicopter evacuated the survivors. Large numbers of flares shot high into the air and burst into . Fires started from secondary blasts by bombs and fuel. They counted 34 PAVN dead. AP Photo U.S. Marines landing in Da Nang, March 8, 1965. West runway cratered, east runway open. The 1st MP Battalion completed three sweeps of the Air Base perimeter and the areas just southeast, southwest and just north of the airbase without incident. 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. NMCB-7 sends a Disaster. Robertson later compared the enemy activity that night to a "10-ring circus." . Two other squad patrols from Company C in the vicinity quickly joined the first squad. [1]:163, The official PAVN history records the attack as follows:[3]. [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. The Flightline, Funny Money, Rocket shrapnel. From 18:00 to 24:00 on the 30th, the 1st Marine Division reported to III MAF over 30 incidents ranging from sightings of large enemy forces, to mortar attacks and a few infantry assaults. The enemy had also planned to hit the main airfield at Da Nang. Da Nang was a major base area for United States and South Vietnamese military forces supporting operations throughout I Corps. 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. mms, from May of 69 to May of 70. This fighting would continue in a desultory fashion throughout the night. The Stand Off Rocket attack of July 15, 1967 was the deadliest attack of the war at Nng Air Base. DaNang earned the nickname Rocket City during the Vietnam war, having been attacked over 900 times in 10 years. Da Nang Air Base had intelligence predicting a rocket attack any day. By 11:00, Marine helicopters evacuated the most seriously wounded and brought in the rest of Company G into blocking positions on the western bank of the Yn. PAVN/VC gunners, however, continued to be active and shot down a Marine CH-46 attempting to insert a reconnaissance team into a landing zone in the hill mass in the western sector of Da Nang below the Ty Loan River. At 07:35, VC gunners fired two RPGs at the compound tower and a VC infantry platoon opened up upon the CAP unit. The crowd scattered only to gather on the fringes of Red Beach Base Area. The Marines failed to determine whether this mixed force had a specific mission or consisted of remnants from units that had participated in the earlier attack on the I Corps headquarters. 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. A reluctance to cause undue damage to the historic town and avoid civilian casualties was suggested as a reason for the slow ROKMC advance. 29/30 January 1968 Marine counter-rocket fire from the 11th Marines and 1st Tank Battalion resulted in five secondary explosions. A warning order and plan prepared by the VC Da Nang City Committee called for a preliminary attack on the city by sappers and VC troops. On 14 February 1965 the Marine 1st LAAM Battalion established its anti-aircraft operations center colocated with the USAF CRP. The attacks were repulsed by combined United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) forces with the PAVN/VC suffering heavy losses. [1]:149, The fighting did not subside with the coming of daylight. At 20:00 on the night of the 5th, a Marine platoon ambush from Company C, 1/7 Marines intercepted about 60 PAVN troops about 4,000 meters south of the Ty Loan River in the western sector of the area of operations moving northeast towards the river and the base with mortars and automatic weapons. The Front announced that the 1968 Tt greeting of "Chairman Ho [Chi Minh] is actually a combat order for our entire Army and population. 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. At the briefing, the division G-2 or intelligence officer, told the assembled officers that "they are finally going to come out and fight. Major General Donn J. Robertson, the 1st Marine Division commanding general, kept under his direct control the 3/5 Marines and the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. 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. Moreover, once the PAVN units arrived south of Da Nang they "made no further attempts at maneuver even while being hunted by Marine and Army units, and when engaged, seldom maneuvered, except to withdraw." The most eastern of the battalions, the 2nd, shared its area with the 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, which was responsible for the coastal sand flats south of Marble Mountain. 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. The area the rockets were fired from was called the "Rocket Belt". . For the most part, the PAVN/VC limited their attacks on the Marines to mortar bombardments and harassing small arms fire. [1]:156, The Da Nang Northern Sector Defense Command dispatched a provisional company to assist the CAP Marines as well as the security detachment. Headquarters Marines quickly manned their defenses and called in artillery illumination and a fire mission. Reinforced by another squad, the Company G Marines killed three and captured two. Survived many Rocket Attacks. The 3/5 Marines reported "a definite increase of enemy harassment" and the movement of sizeable enemy units into the Go Noi Island area (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}1551N 10812E / 15.85N 108.2E / 15.85; 108.2). Two days later, Marine intelligence officers learned that the PAVN 21st Regiment was in the Go Noi area. With both fixed-wing and helicopter gunships and more than 120 artillery pieces ranging from 4.2-inch mortars to 175mm guns, Robertson was confident that he could counter any threat that the enemy posed to Da Nang despite the thinness of his manned defenses. I was in Danang less than a month when the Vietcong used rockets to attack the Danang Air Base for the first time in the war, on the morning of February 27. I called all the regiments and battalions and the same was happening to them. Despite limited attacks later in the month, these were largely, as a report stated, "an attempt to maintain the facade of an offensive. The rockets destroyed five aircraft, nine items of ground equipment, two vehicles, and one warehouse outright. The communications bunker bore the brunt of the attack where the sappers destroyed both the bunker and the equipment inside and put the division tactical net off the air until 04:00. This platoon under First Lieutenant John E. Manning departed the airbase about 04:15 and arrived in the blocking positions about 05:15. Spent many watches all over the city of Da Nang. Proud to have had . Shortly after 01:00 on the 6th, PAVN gunners opened up on the hamlet with intermittent mortar rounds and small-arms fire. Further to the east Company G, 2/3 Marines, at the battalion's command post about 500 meters north of in Bn town, remained as the division mobile reserve mounted in LVTP-5s and supported by tanks. The Da Nang airbase was a major Ranch Hand facility during the American War in Vietnam. Rocket attack on the Da Nang Air Base that took place, Da Nang, Vietnam, January 30, 1968. Soon reports came in that the base was under attack and a Marine helicopter flew the general from his quarters to III MAF headquarters. [1]:1467, About 05:45, the 1st Division learned that the VC squad in the I Corps headquarters compound had disengaged and took its casualties with it. Among the casualties were two Marines killed, including Lieutenant Manning and six wounded from the 1st MP Battalion. Air Force rocket attacks in Vietnam Share 9 posts gleyhjr 44 Aug 30, 2010 #1 The following link is a list of all rocket attacks on Air Bases by date: Hope this helps someone needing a stressor of a rocket attack on a Air Base http://www.afhra.af.mil/timelines/index.asp George Binh Thuy AB RVN Sept 1968-Sept 1969 JimM44 683 Base orientation brochure, Perimeter, Tent City. by Edward H. Phillips 2/1/2017. Elements of the VC R-20th and local force units which participated in the attack on Ha Vang and I Corps headquarters attempted to escape the dragnet of Marine and ARVN forces. To the south, in the Korean sector, the ROKMC with the assistance of the ARVN again drove PAVN/VC forces out of the Hi An environs. Employing small arms fire, satchel charges, Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and Bangalore torpedoes, the sappers thrust through blown gaps in the Marine wire. Company M advanced toward a hamlet to the south of the ARVN. About 50 minutes later, another recon team, Air Hose, about 2,000 meters to the northeast of Saddle Bag, saw more than 50 enemy troops moving eastward. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) had its headquarters at Hill 327 west of the Air Base, while ARVN I Corps had its headquarters north of the Air Base. In the resulting engagement, Company E killed about 13 VC from the Q-55th Local Force Company, which normally operated in the area. The U.S Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF (AW) 232, also based here, lost some of its F-8E Crusader aircraft in this attack. Caught east of the Cm L Bridge and Highway 1, on a small island formed by the convergence of the Cu , a small tributary of the river and the Vien Dien River, the VC turned to fight. Battle in Vietnam involving the United States in early 1968, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tet_offensive_attacks_on_Da_Nang&oldid=1098267255, Battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War, Articles needing additional references from August 2021, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 July 2022, at 01:30. 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. [1]:1478, The Marine response to the bombardments was rapid, the 11th Marines artillery units "initiated counter-rocket fires" at suspected avenues of approach. Cleaning up and repairs at Gunfighter Village. Under pressure from the South Vietnamese relief forces and the Marine MP platoon, the VC retreated with the allies in pursuit. Mortar and rocket attacks followed by ground assaults were made all along the perimeter of the base. 1969. U.S. air policemen take cover and leave their jeep as they come under sniper fire near Da Nang Airbase in Vietnam on January 30, 1968, after it was hit by a rocket barrage. Countermortar fire quickly silenced the enemy tubes. Again the crowd dispersed and this time did not recongregate. After calling in helicopter gunships, the ROKMC, at 13:20, reached the MACV compound and linked up with U.S. advisors there. [1]:160, By this time, Robertson was worried about the ability to contain the PAVN/VC offensive south of Da Nang. The Marines called in artillery and mortar missions . VC gunners from Ha Vang, nevertheless, maintained an intermittent mortar bombardment upon the I Corps tactical operations center. Click here to view those.. Update: 12 December 2020. The Marine company called in mortar and artillery fire. After dark, both sides withdrew, the Marines to night defensive positions and the PAVN to the west. Two attached U .S. 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