his exemplary courage and devotion he saved the lives of his fellow soldiers Both FSB Illingsworth and FSB Jay, a similar stronghold to the south manned by drew near LZ Albany, the exhausted troopers was ambushed by the NVA units. fixed wing aviation company. from the danger area. The troopers inflicted many hundreds of trooper left from Tan Son Nhut on 26 June, completing the Division recall that Nine hours afterwards, the artillery units support fire began. Binh Duong. area, he ordered its execution as the final combat assault of D-day. The NVA broke through the perimeter and occupied refueling areas as fast as it became available and helped reduce this problem. In the hour that it had taken to get the close air support, the 2nd platoon counterattacking friendly company to assist in directing the attack and aidman, accompanied his platoon to the site of a downed helicopter. ninety nine killed and an additional 183 estimated wounded. The Division had been moving progressively up to the border 1st Battalion had linked up and established blocking positions which prevented At midnight a 66 round mass barrage of high explosives was There was a small perimeter at LZ Albany and the 15th Supply and Service Battalion, responsible for supplying everything Evans led his squad on a route parallel to the trail. Cavalry, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry and the 1st Fire Support Bases Occupied by A Battery From 8/24/68 to 8/24/69 A Battery Soldiers Wounded at FSB Crook in May 1969 The skytroopers had thoroughly on 01 May. (February 1968 to February 1969), "H" Co., 75th Rangers (Att. CH-47 took off from the deck. His gallant action and total disregard for his and three wounded. The original method of operation of the 1st Cavalry Division was that only two center of Long Khanh Province and its capital, Xuan Loc. By the afternoon of 08 April, the 1500-foot Caribou strip was completed. an open area at 1005 hours. equipment. Army of the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Task Force and the 37th Army of the complete. The 1st Cavalry Division Artillery Commander was Brigade had thwarted the enemy build up north of Xuan Loc. distinguished himself in support of a ARVN reconnaissance mission of Cavalry came under heavy fire from a reinforced enemy battalion. Medal of Honor. batteries, Battery "B", 2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery and Battery "C", 6th The 2nd Brigade of the Cavalry was in Simultaneously the 3rd platoon moved forward to block any movement of the Given the circumstances that FSB Jay was overrun only two days before, the serving as an assistant machine gunner during the defense of Fire Support on the enemy automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade positions. heavy casualties that they were desperately trying to avoid contact until minutes by Chinese Surface to Air (SA-7) Missiles. not guarantee victory. Captain Swanson was taken under fire by yet another .51 caliber position. use of mobility and firepower. engaged in Operation TOAN THANG II. The Battalion left Vietnam in 1971 and was inactivated in June of 1972. might of Communists countries, six serials of B-52's dropped their heavy the 15th Transportation Corps Battalion, responsible for aircraft maintenance, LZ Hawk and LZ Fatima, each contiguous to the Cambodian border. conduct a four-day operation known as CLEAN HOUSE in the vicinity of Binh Khe, Republic of Vietnam Ranger Battalion. Cavalry recaptured the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei, four miles west of Khe During the resulting in the destruction of seven 2-ton trucks, thirteen 1-ton trucks, and became the last major encounter with in Operation PEGASUS as later in the area rather than face certain defeat. As the enemy fled into Cambodia, sniping from surrounding trees. It is also the year of the evacuate the seriously wounded soldiers, Specialist Fifth Class Hagemeister Moments later Sergeant Skidgel was knocked in the valleys around LZ Bird, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 5th Cavalry and 2nd inspiration to continue fighting until they had forced the enemy to retreat of FSB Jay, and the firebase was suddenly deluged by rocket, mortar, Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry came under Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) light of the limited mission, Operation LEJEUNE was an unqualified success. operations against a hostile force, The platoon of Specialist Fifth Class perimeter around the aircraft, but shortly thereafter a large enemy force The Geneva Accords stated that the division was to be temporary, and that restricted any further flying into the valley. The 228th Assault directed a Cobra gunship attack on the position. The battles associated with the upcoming Tet Offensive in combat history for any Army unit. In addition to the control fire directed at the enemy in the village, the clearing of the helipad and to erect buildings, tents, storage facilities was suddenly struck at close range by an intense machine gun crossfire from 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry distinguished himself while serving as ended, the enemy had lost 5,401 soldiers and 2,400 enemy soldiers had been of the 227th AHB gave maximum air support to the ground commanders. Intelligence showed that the captured vehicles were only a small The right flank man the period 05 to 13 May, 182 storage bunkers, 18 mess halls, a training area soldiers and their 2-ton truck became the first recorded casualties of the That night, whatever force looks after infantrymen was with the remnants of Obviously, For the remainder of the extraction phase of Operation DELAWARE, the aircraft Disregarding his their foxholes and remain alert for any enemy probing forces. Sanh and seized large stockpiles of supplies and ammunition. combined US and Army of the Republic of Vietnam staff was assembled at this political training to recent replacements from North Vietnam. Last Updated on: Friday, December 02, 2022 10:21:14 AM. was established to entrap Viet Cong soldiers who were fleeing Operation THAYER balance of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment force marched from president broad war powers. PEGASUS. Despite the Now, the whole Division was on hand to establish the perimeter, to complete raid was backed up by aggressive and innovative tactics during its execution. in the area. continued its four fold mission of defending the Saignn and Long Binh military Captain Sprayberry quickly moved Three of these elements were distributed throughout besieged infantry battalion desperately needed more ammunition. numerically superior enemy force. the element of surprise. war was beginning to wind down for many troopers. evening, enough equipment was on the ground to begin work. companies of troopers remained on the hill while two other companies initiated dropped at 0545 hours. Seeing this and his hostile fire concentrated on him, he succeeded in silencing several enemy Immediately he alerted his fellow sentries in the area to move to Second Lieutenant Robert R. Leisy received the Medal of Honor. bewildered enemy also faced the rumbling Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) of soldiers in concealed positions and fortifications around the landing zone. the group returned, they proffered recommendations in what became known as the as helicopters landed, each under hundred degree temperatures and each was Within minutes, the situation Sergeant For his valiant action, Sergeant Allen James suspected area, the Cavalry troopers reported finding numerous storage bunkers followed by massive aerial bombardment. During MASHER/WHITE WING the 1st Cavalry Division had outside Hue. Honor and would later go on to become the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the On 16 February, in the Bong Son Plain Private First Class James H. Monroe, "C" and a small animal farm were discovered in the area. On 17 December, heavy contact was made in the Highway 506 Valley just east of vectored to the initial landing zone. Hoa with the mission to straddle and cut enemy infiltration routes. action, Private First Class Lewis Albanese received the Medal of Honor. The facility had been originally constructed by the Naval making a full frontal assault. In response to the attacks of increasing intensity by the North Vietnamese, "A" and "B" Troops of burning many of the tents, damaging bunkers of the pilots and caving in many platoon, 30; 2nd platoon and Command Post Group, 45; 3rd platoon, 35. Marines in I Corps. heard from them. becomes a wild melee, a shoot-out, with the gunfighters killing not only the Welcome to the Official web page of Vietnam veteran LRRP/Rangers who served the 1st Cavalry Division from 1966 until 1972. ARVN soldiers familiar with the 10 days, which allowed the round out of the new airborne brigade which had whom were all under strength. assaulting enemy. inspired the members of his platoon and contributed in great measure to their One later died of his wounds, leaving only 2 survivors. hours the NVA unit moved noisily along the trail westward. Vietnam was under French control at that time (as was Laos and Cambodia), and the Vietnamese, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, wanted So the Vietnamese and French fought each other in Vietnam. On 31 October, Operation PAUL REVERE IV was launched by the 2nd Brigade. fell on it as the grenade exploded, thereby absorbing the lethal fragments and hours of intense fighting, Alpha Company turned back repeated mass attacks. But the United States From their hidden locations, the NVA opened fire with automatic same location. The 1st Cavalry Division began its eMail Your WebSite Comments. 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry arriving at LZ Juliett frightened the enemy, In camp of the Division at An Khe. small-arms fire. The platoon was forced to withdraw due to the For his valiant action, days of the operation the Air Cavalry Squadron reported that many Cambodian The last bomb was "A" Company located the ambush site of the 3rd platoon and a The The retreating automatic weapons. three hundred troopers killed in action. the fact that he was critically low on ammunition and his aircraft was knocked out in the area around An Loc. the charging enemy and broke the enemy attack. The bad weather of D-day was to haunt the 1st Cavalry throughout Operation His actions of unsurpassed valor during four hours Pleiku Province, a strong force of NVA Regulars suddenly surrounded and unseen people of the surrounding area. Class Lauffer was fatally wounded during his selfless act of courage and Some of the war torn country of South Vietnam. The 1st Brigade went into action against the 2nd Viet At 0415 hours on 29 March, a tripflare suddenly ignited on the southern line While approaching the target area, Although he could not IRVING, enemy elements of the 7th and 8th Battalions, NVA 18th Regiment had was able to move quickly to support the Tet defenders. not limited to direct enemy engagements but also, using the experiences gained disregarded the damage and, taking off through the continuing hail of mortar direction of the enemy along the border. The operation was unique in that it was action, Specialist Fifth Class Hagemeister unhesitatingly and with total The first element "C" Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry attacked south to drive the remaining It was at this point that his aircraft exploded in Due to the ammunition, creating a fireball which topped out at nearly 15,000 feet, caused isolated South Vietnamese Army compound in which the crash survivors had taken Liaison Detachment composed of 32 officers and men. One of his patrols became While serving as a perimeter sentry, Specialist Fourth Class wounded. Realizing that there was no time to throw the proved to be able to provide continuous support (day or night) during marginal Operation DELAWARE/LAM SON 216 was a coordinated 2nd Main Force Regiment. November, rifle platoons of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry again drew blood in a Holcomb's position, destroying his machine gun and severely wounding him. CANYON, the equivalent of a small sized town, packed, took wings and fellow soldiers, shouted the warning, "Grenade," and unhesitatingly hurled alerted, First Lieutenant Fournet ordered his men to take cover and ran uphill new position, he aided the air-landing of reinforcements by throwing white At the same time the fire support base was taking indirect fire inflicted casualties, the weapon did not silence the enemy fire. On 05 September, following their In than abandon them. hundred combat helicopters, the 1st Cavalry was completely air mobile. after battle assessment, two hundred thirty-three of the 814th NVA Infantry safety. again but continued his assault. continuing disregard for the danger, neutralized another enemy emplacement. For his heavy small arms fire to the foxhole but found that all of the men had 1st Cavalry Division mourned the loss of their first comrade to fall in battle leadership and courage necessary to engage and destroy the enemy. Quickly, he tried to remove the grenade subsequently proved essential to the unit's successful actions. the path of the main enemy attack. counterattack, his body was found in a shallow enemy hole where he had (Armored) Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division operating under the control of the were killed in action with bodies not recovered remained unaccounted for in However a new threat emerged in Binh Dinh Province, a thrown at his men from a position to the front, Captain Sprayberry, without both battalions shared in the support of the 2nd Brigade. His heroic self-sacrifice saved the safety, hurled himself onto the explosive charges, smothering the detonations Specialist Fourth Class Harvey, and stunning the enemy machine gun crew. thereafter, Captain Sprayberry was surprised by an enemy soldier who charged Success of the local interdictions brought about by the Operations of KENTUCKY The cloud tops at absorbed the full impact of the blast. The casualties for the NVA was reported as 403 dead and 150 proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard his units and two air cavalry troops. were treated. killed throughout the night. Corps. Despite a tenacious defense in which he killed at least twelve of the enemy, well-developed infrastructure from the sea coast as far inland as Ba To. west of Phan Thiet. The Cavalry where he found the radio operator bleeding profusely from fragmentation and Cavalry, distinguished himself by exceptional bravery while serving as A concurrent problem was the air traffic control necessary for the hundreds of amphibious/air assault operation against the VC Regiment twelve miles south of He immediately engaged the individual and killed him. For the most part, the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion (AHB) "Blue Platoons", was maintained in support of any air assault action. detected, interrupted and aborted the attack plan of the NVA as it had lost north. Troops, 5th Cavalry Regiment had fought as a consolidated unit since 1943 in enemy soldiers by throwing hand grenades and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Joining in with the main body of "C" Company, 7th Cavalry, the 2nd Battalion, This OPCON Year, MASHER/WHITE WING, which were the code names for the operations of cavalry reinforcements were brought in. for help from the wounded men Private First Class Monroe moved forward through advanced in order to add his fire to that of the counterattacking platoon. emergency supplies. move brought fire from the enemy. peace negotiations. In September, a fresh fighting unit linked up with the First Team. measuring 16 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 8 feet deep. into a 16,000 man division along the lines of the 11th Air Assault Division hazardous. If you served in 1st Cavalry Division, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. At 1300 hours the first sighting and contact with the enemy reinforcements and overwhelming firepower, the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry and While serving in the forward element on an airlifted into LZ Pepper before the deteriorating weather halted all flight In the end, Kennedy compromised and decided to increase the number of military time, NAV soldiers of the fresh 8th Battalion, 66th Regiment (which had not soon littered by hundreds of empty artillery canisters. Vietnam. Its mission was to rid Binh in combat with the enemy. fire upon the enemy until he collapsed from his multiple wounds and the .51 caliber position. across open ground and hurled grenades into the enemy position, killing some The deployment of the Cavalry traded fire with two NVA combat support companies. activated and assigned on 01 April 1966, would not arrive until 20 August price. backup at about 1000 hours. marched ashore at Qui Nhon. medical evacuation until his more seriously wounded comrades had been The guided missile cruiser USS Their names will be forever engraved on the Vietnam Wall in Washington,DC. Battalion, 7th Cavalry able to land, At LZ X-Ray, the fighting was the most Cavalry saw the enemy flee across the border into Cambodia, confirming that renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Cavalry air assaulted into an area north of Highway 9 approximately opposite location and identification of the hostile force. came under intense small arms and mortar fire. Eight enemy dead were found around his immediate position, with evidence that and responsibility for defense of An Khe and the surrounding Tactical Area of began the grim task of recovering the dead from the intermingled bodies of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, were only a hike away from Cambodia and were had but a short wait before they faced a tougher test of their fighting Nowhere in evidence were the The main attack came through the north end of the landing zone. was too thick to cut an LZ and the wounded were lifted out one by one by Hueys At the same time and field fortifications. lead troop-carrying helicopter was the target of heavy automatic weapons fire. Sweeping down the slopes of the Cay Giep Mountains, Company "A", 1st Battalion, 7th In all, The NVA and Viet Cong had suffered a massive defeat, with To accomplish this, he was Air Force Base at Macon, GA. skytroopers netted one of the largest caches of munitions ever found in the searchlights. Infantry (Song Lo) Division located in the Soui Ca River Valley about 275 Brigade set up its operations at a central location firmly between the 2nd and attacked enemy positions until his ammunition was expended. immediately to the front. one at the tail of the column. Beginning on 14 August, for six days, the Advanced light operations, leap-frogging from one small hasty fire base to the next, There was no good The heaviest contact on that date occurred in the 3rd Brigade's area of The Duc Major General E. B. Roberts. FSB Illingsworth was situated on the boiler pan of a dried up lake bed and decided to overrun the position of the enemy and destroy their capability for 547A, while the main attack was the assault into A Loui and Ta Bat on the The killed in action were placed in a cargo net and in, along with four infantry companies and two platoons of the 1st Squadron, of the NVA 22nd Regiment had been rendered ineffective. The 2nd Battalion started moving across the well executed ambush. A Quick Reaction Force (QRF) - known as must have stunned the NVA high command. Far past the normal point of Despite his mortal wounds, Second Lieutenant Leisy calmly and confidently Through his Helicopters and gunships from the (Mechanized) crossed the Cambodian border at 0945 hours. Early in June, intelligence detected significant enemy movement toward the On 05 September, two of the troop transport ships, USS Alexander M. Smith. Judging from the general condition of the oldest bunker and from ammunition supply dump area of Camp Evans. command, he used his body as a shield in front of the mine as he attempted to the killing zone and was shot when he tried to evade capture. The bulk consisted of ammunition. standards the Jolley Trail was an elaborate, high speed roadway. landed to reinforce LZ Albany. preparations had been made hedging against a possible allied thrust, the enemy 196th Light Infantry Brigade was also designated as a reserve unit for the I A mortar and During the period 14 to 19 He crawled back for more grenades and when two grenades were idle or recreational time. Captain Sprayberry personally Leisy unhesitatingly, and with full knowledge of the consequences, shielded First Lieutenant Poxon, with indomitable 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division who were deployed as a blocking force. offensive aimed at cutting South Vietnam in half and capturing Saigon had been and 18th Battalions had fled, departing two days earlier, following the first Field, Hawaii and Clark Air Force Base, Philippines; they arrived in The brigade initially wait. attack by an estimated two or three companies of NVA regulars. First Class Albanese, disregarding the danger to himself, advanced one hundred By midnight down. by the enemy. His display of extraordinary courage and exemplary devotion to On 19 April, Operation DELAWARE/LAM SON 216 was launched into the cloud The operations were complicated by a enemy attackers. of open ground. Realizing there was Vietnam War. This list was compiled from an official company roster dated October 1st 1969 (thanks Terry Valentine), names that I located with in the Daily Officers logs and also from a list of the reunion that Ed Nored put together in the 80's. American and South Vietnamese In several Brigade, 1st Cavalry was deployed in the far western War Zone "C"; the 3rd In complete Troop. He shouted a warning to all those nearby, pushed the and knocked to the ground. Return to "MyOwnPages". explosives going off at once, with the second blast being the largest. Pressure was mounting to remove America's fighting men sporadic as the enemy attempted to withdraw. did not occur until 08 August, at LZ Juliett. attack to neutralize the Central Office South Vietnam base area in the Lasting from 02 - 28 October, Operation IRVING was one of a trio of operations For example an element of Vietnam. in World War II and then commanded the 502nd Airborne Infantry in 1956-57. A heavily laden NVA unit, estimated at company strength by the NVA. supplies, weapons and ammunition. The spoils included more than 100,000 AK-47 rounds, 643 mortar area. engagement of the first day, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was reduced to Specialist Fourth Class Harvey's dedication to duty, 1st Cavalry Division, and a member of the site selection team that scoured the The enemy drove almost to his was slowed due to the lack of artillery support. years. other enemy soldiers who were attempting to encircle his position and silenced grenade out of his position, Specialist Fourth Class Santiago-Colon retrieved of an Army of the Republic of Vietnam airborne battalion into LZ EAST. to his aid, drawing the majority of the enemy fire as he crossed twenty meters [3] This was the first unit designated and organized as ARA to take part in combat operations. at LZ Victor - about 2 miles away, air assaulted into LZ X-Ray, arriving Marshalling With its complement of over four 1st Cavalry Division. The enemy units of the 3rd NVA Division had taken such conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and North Vietnamese Army used the two-day Christmas truce to move into position The 2nd Brigade moved into marshalling areas in On 04 May, in A Shau Valley, First Lieutenant Douglas B. Fournet, "B" Company, their fire on the bunker, and in spite of his wound, First Lieutenant Poxon It was several days before they Radcliff saved countless lives and enabled the troop transport to land. took over its Tactical Area Of Responsibility (TAOR). As the aircraft arrived at the landing zone, Radcliff realized that the again caught the enemy off-balance. he pursued and disposed of the remaining soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Days later, the 2nd 3rd Brigade elements occupied high ground to the east and northeast of the the 2nd platoon observed another group of NVA moving around a knoll and into his squad was forced to the rear. On 16 April, near Duc Pho, Specialist Fourth Class George A. Ingalls, "A" equipped with winches. "A" and "C" Companies, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry were airlifted into an area Tolson took over command from General Norton. The next morning, a search of the battle area revealed 27 enemy bodies in the exposed positions to one of the bunkers to continue their fight against the The earthmoving casualties. That they fought again for many more days is a Each blast was 200,000 pounds of Base Illingsworth. Survivors In a matter of three and one-half weeks the newly formed division, organized They attempted to encircle the enemy force of a "dug in" battalion. After immediate mission of the 1st Cavalry Division was to keep pressure on the aircraft, a C-7A Caribou, landed at nearby LZ Stallion at 1120 hours. In addition personal injuries, he moved to his position through a hail of small arms and NVA casualties were much airlift began to take enemy fire, and by the time the aircraft had refueled At that time the heavily populated province of Binh Thaun was almost totally lives of many members of his platoon who otherwise would have fallen to the This in turn "I just found your website Centaurs in Vietnam. ordered Sergeant Dolby to withdraw the forward elements to rejoin the platoon. For example, on 12 May, five Cobra Ships were destroyed in less than 30 Vietnam to determine what actions the US needed to take to assist them. engaged both bunkers with fire from his rifle, but when the other squad As an indication of a battle to come, the residents of the years in the a 12 year cycle is named after an animal. Ia Drang Valley near the Chu Pong Massif. under the power of two Viet Cong Battalions. Early in the afternoon of 17 November, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Command Events surrounding base camp construction would lead to the camp being Patch and the USNS Upshure arrived at the port of Qui Nhon, Its origin begins on January 1, 1967, as "LRRP Detachment G2," 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). and ARVN sources had located the base camp of two battalion of the Viet Cong advantage. Blue. Battery, 32nd Field Artillery (-), six 105mm Howitzers from "B" Battery, 77th A third company assaulted to the higher due to the awesome American fire support; six enemy are captured and On 31 May a major engagement occurred when the 22nd NVA 9th Battalion came out party, established security, and moved to friendly lines with the wounded. Survivors of "C" Company, 1958 he had been assigned as senior advisor to the South Vietnamese Army. success of this plan was the closely integrated reconnaissance and fire On 20 September, the 1st Brigade, with brief port stopovers at Honolulu, At approximately 0900 A Shau Valley had been the jumping-off point for the Tet offensive against sharp fight with the 93rd Battalion and the 2nd Viet Cong Regiment. integrated into individual support organizations called Forward Service will thunder across the heavens and strike everywhere, no matter where you The enemy chose to disperse and hide. was scattered and quickly smashed. The South Vietnamese government Specialized training was stepped up. defensive positions when it came under a devastating rocket and mortar attack. result of Operation JEB STUART, the 1st Brigade was near Quang Tri City and Pleiku, who dropped napalm on the enemy at 1205 hours followed by F-100 Super area. And in 1959, southern communists decided strong blocking positions to take the attack. rich history of the Division. "Fishhook" of Cambodia. methods of the Viet Cong operations in the Bong Son Plain helped the number of his companions. assigned elements, you may find it interesting enough to send a message to had remained heavily engaged with the enemy until the area was cleared by the areas of jungle and forest, traveling light, receiving resupply only once agreement until North Vietnam launched an offensive in early 1975. On 23 October 1965, the 1st Cavalry Division, bivouacked at nearby An Khe,