History and Irony

Alright, I gotta let it out. I bought a map the other day, think I mentioned it but it was near the Laotion, Cambodia and South Vietnamese boarder. The unit we re-enact, the 173rd was in the area in 1967 so I picked it up and was going to check it out later, see if I can find anything.

The 173rd Airborne in the spring of 1967 was on Operation Junction City, the biggest mission at the time using 22,000 troops. Units in the area, like the 196th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB), 25th Infantry Division, 1st Infantry Division and ARVN units were going to create a horse shoe around an enemy unit crossing from Cambodia into Vietnam. The 173rd sealed the horseshoe by preforming the only Army infantry combat jump of the war, dropping the 2nd Battalion (Bn) of the 503rd Infantry Regiment right on the Cambodian/Vietnamese border and all units would close the noose. Afterwards they swept the area along the border and found several base camps but 2d Bn making light contact. They were all flown back to Bien Hoa AB as it was the Brigade's (Bde) HQ. The whole unit was flown to Pleiku and rode in trucks from Pleiku to Dak To. The situation was that the 4th Inf Div was operating in the area and found a massive enemy force crossing into Vietnam. Little did they know these units were coming off the Ho Chi Minh Trail and trying to get into position for the 1968 Tet Offensive. The 4th reported the troop movements and General Westmoreland sent up the 173rd. Dak To is in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, so it's very rocky and covered in mountains. It was named "Land with No Sun" as the jungle canopy was so thick it blocked out most sunlight so it's not a great place to be in.

Making things worse is that down around Bien Hoa the 173rd was fighting the Viet Cong, a unit made up of locals and Communists living in South Vietnam but in the Central Highlands the 173rd would be making contact with the North Vietnamese Army, a highly trained, well disciplined unit and different compared to the Viet Cong. They wore tan uniforms, were well equipped and hard fighters. The 4th Inf Div commanders warned the 173rd about this but the 173rd were airborne, so they thought they could handle anything.

Operation Greenly started and the 173rd patrolled the hills looking for the NVA. On Hill 1338 they found the NVA. Alpha company was about 137 troops knew the enemy was close and laid down CS crystals, like pepper spray so if the enemy used that trail they'd walk on the crystals and get caught up in the gas. What they didn't know is they walked into a very large North Vietnamese unit who were moving down another trail. 137 troops walked into hundreds of enemy troops and the fight for Hill 1338 began. Medics were quickly killed and M16's jammed. Alpha called in all the air and artillery support possible, but the canopy was too thick and the NVA moved so close to Alpha that they risked killing themselves calling artillery on their own position. Charlie company was ordered to move as fast as possible to support Alpha, but Charlie worried about walking into another ambush and being ineffective, plus the terrain and jungle made it impossible to move. Making things worse Charlie stepped on Alpha's CS crystals and everyone was coughing, crying and throwing up. Of the 137 Alpha troops 76 were killed and 23 were wounded. The number of killed was higher than the wounded as the NVA executed as many wounded Alpha troopers as possible.

Days later 4th Bn, 503d Regiment built fire support base 4 (FSB4) on Hill 664 and made contact taking 22 killed in action (KIA) and 62 wounded in action (WIA). The 173rd was flown to Tuy Hoa to protect the rice harvest from the Viet Cong but 2/503 stayed behind in Dak To ending Operation Greenly. Intelligence showed that the NVA's goal was to slaughter a US unit so that troops would be moved into the country instead of protecting cities and this was for the upcoming Tet Offensive. The 173rd was flown back to Dak To and the enemy had every hill top fortified so they planned to stay for a long time. This started Operation MacArthur which finding the enemy's command unit was the goal. The 173rd also built FSB's in the area and reinforced Ben Het Special Forces (SF) camp. November 4th B/4/503 made contact and had 20 KIA, 154 troops WIA and two missing. On the 12th, Dak To airbase was attacked destroying C-130 cargo planes and blew up the ammo dump, where all ammo is stored from .38cal revolver rounds to 500lbs bombs. This blast was the biggest so far in the war, knocking people a mile away off their feet and on the ground. Nov 15th, 1/503 Inf climbed Hill 882, made contact and lost 7 troops and 34 wounded. During the same time 4/503 was in the area, called in artillery to assist 1/503 but accidentally killed 6 US troops and 31 allied Vietnamese. Intel showed that the enemy was going to take Hill 875 and 2/503 was tasked with taking that Hill.

Bravo was chewed up from their first at FSB 16 but Alpha and Charlie from 2/503 went to take the hill. They walked into massive amounts of gun fire and quickly took causalities for hours. They called in all the air and artillery possible but the NVA bunkers were too well built, stopping most explosives on their roofs. Sadly on one such bombing run a USMC F-4 Phantom missed it's target and dropped two 500lbs bombs on the battalion HQ during an officer meeting and a medic station, killing most of the medics killing 42 and wounding 45 173rd troops.The battle still raged on and more troops were flown in such as the 4th Inf Div. Finally the 173rd took Hill 875 November 25th and found the enemy had left during the night. Turkey was flown out to the hill top so the troops could enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. It took several days to clean up the battle sight. In the end 2/503 87 killed, 130 wounded, and three missing. 4/503 suffered 28 killed 123 wounded, and four missing. With non-combat casualties the amount was 20% of the 173rd's fighting force. Due to their actions on Hill 875 the 173rd Airborne Brigade earned a Presidential unit citation from the White House, noting their courage and bravery from the president, LBJ. Afterwards units patrolled the area and got new replacements with their next major action Jan 31st 1968, the Tet Offensive. 4/503 went to Tuy Hoa and was in the battle for Cemetery Hill while 1/503 was sent to Ban Me Thout. Sadly after this I lose all information on the 173rd on what they did after the Tet Offensive.

Tonight I checked out my map. I found Ben Het SF Camp and the tri border area which was a good sign. I've found several 173rd bases, including FSB 16 and get this... Hill 875! What are the fucking odds of that!? I come to Vietnam and I find a 43 year old map of the unit we re-enact! What's even more crazy is that 43 years tomorrow is when the 173rd took Hill 875. I planned to be in Dak To Nov 25th but sadly that didn't turn out. I got the map for $1 but I probably would have paid $40 knowing what was on the map haha.

Tomorrow marks the 43rd year anniversary of the battle for Dak To so please take a minute to think and reflect on it. Any questions feel free to email me or hit me on MSN. Take care