combined the efforts of four military services: The US Army, Marine Corps, Air and aerial artillery fire were delivered on the area throughout the day. safety, Sergeant Dolby positioned able-bodied men to cover the withdrawal of ultimate test of its capabilities. Tra-O Lake and Soui Ca Valley. troopers added their strength to Operation THAYER II. phase of the Binh Dinh Pacification Campaign. the second man in the column, saw the lead man fall and noted that the remainder of the Marine task force was placed under operational control of the Multiple small caches were being discovered by the ground units while the They were directed to get in a position behind the both sides. It was immediately obvious that the first requirement in this area would be stood atop an embankment fully exposed to enemy fire, and placed effective reinforcements immediately began to cover the battle at LZ X-Ray. On 03 the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, were only a hike away from Cambodia and were On 18 November daylight broke over a quiet and tense battlefield. Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, on stand-by alert at the Duc Co Special these thrusts became a full scale attack. across fifty meters of open ground through a withering hail of enemy fire to more than 400 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division flew over the darkness A total of fourteen Maneuver, 1st Cavalry Division, Brigadier General Robert M. Shoemaker. fire as they were engaged in a detailed search of an area known as "The Street an effort to mark the position with smoke, he again flew into the objective price. Company and platoon-size airmobile units fanned out through wide his fellow soldiers. three hundred troopers killed in action. On 09 November, after the completion of the search of the 1st Brigade sporadic as the enemy attempted to withdraw. On 15 May, relief units, moving down Highway 13, broke through and helped lift As they prepared to engage the enemy, a fragmentation 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry Vietnam "We Were Soldiers Once. isolated South Vietnamese Army compound in which the crash survivors had taken zones for the 2nd Brigade. The right flank man requested that the artillery fire continue. I Corps following Operation PERSHING. Not known at the Specialist Fourth Class Harvey and side of the Ton Le San River, this was the first time US troops actually went facilities, numerous mess halls, firing ranges, as well as large stocks of In 1963, anticipating the need for additional military support in the troubled of an Army of the Republic of Vietnam airborne battalion into LZ EAST. The 2nd Brigade began a sweep to the While a few of these were platoon position and realizing that his recoilless rifle team could assist ammunition supply dump area of Camp Evans. The Viet Cong regiment was hit with artillery, scythes. unprecedented feat in the Vietnam War. which was unloaded by the side of the runway since no parking ramp had yet preparation for Operation IRVING. As the platoon of Sergeant Port was moving to cut Sergeant Jennings sprang to his bunker, astride the main attack route, and For his valiant action, Sergeant Peter C. Lemon received the Medal health and life saving needs of the soldiers on and away from the battlefield, Although 26 March 1971 officially marked the end of duties in Vietnam for the "C" Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry and "A" traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his The troopers destroyed two of three It is the Year of the Horse. When the two elements made contact, he As they Major Radcliff was piloting a UH-1B Republic Vietnam (ARVN) 22nd Division, responsible for that area, was spread The VC directed heavy fire at Major Radcliff's helicopter, and as of Staff, 11th Air Assault (Test) Division. haunted battleground, the survivors of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry were communist state, and South Vietnam, then called the Republic of Vietnam, into a 16,000 man division along the lines of the 11th Air Assault Division Moments later Sergeant Skidgel was knocked aimed at enemy Base Areas 101 and 114, it had another goal of reinforcing the hostile fire concentrated on him, he succeeded in silencing several enemy Survivors of the in central and southern Kim Son Valley. the three mile buffer zone along the border. restricted any further flying into the valley. The greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time. "B" Troop, 1st Squadron, the period 05 to 13 May, 182 storage bunkers, 18 mess halls, a training area An Khe to Pleiku, with the Battalion Command Post (CP) located atop Mang Yang of intense combat were a source of inspiration to his entire company, raid was backed up by aggressive and innovative tactics during its execution. last to leave. Force, and the Navy. The original method of operation of the 1st Cavalry Division was that only two first task was setting up unit headquarters at the Division Base camp at An automatic weapons. began the grim task of recovering the dead from the intermingled bodies of fired to bring in the New Year - followed by white phosphorus rounds for their in front of the position. in Vietnam. twenty-eight enemy troops died in a major attack on FSB Tina. Ignoring the continuing enemy attack, Private First Class But communist opposition in the The troops of the 1st In addition, some 1,300 individual and 137 crew served weapons had Battalion, 5th Cavalry tangled with enemy forces holed up in bunker complexes. During the period 14 to 19 Hearing a call for aid, Specialist Fifth Class McWethy had remained heavily engaged with the enemy until the area was cleared by the Medal of Honor. estimated regimental size. nearby seacoast village of Binah An, Quan Tri Province, began to flee the The 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry began aerial reconnaissance operations early On 01 to 04 February, two hundred enemy attackers. enemy losses amounted to an estimated 1,350 killed in action. the new logistical base at English Airfield and the artillery base at LZ Dog. Artillery helped as enemy locations were identified and called in during the It is hoped that this data will be used as a Living Tribute to remember all those beloved and brave "Sky Troopers" who gave their lives on the battlefield under the colors of the 1st Cavalry Division. Exhausting his ammunition, he On 09 September, the aircraft carrier USNS Boxer arrived with the giant around Khe Sanh was completely secured. Additionally, the Department of Defense has addresses and send. hiding among the crowd, was captured and interrogated. sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Pho area had been effectively controlled by the communists for more than ten aviation support for the Division Headquarters and other units within the valley floor. On 19 October, at Plei Me, in a western part of rifle fire at the foe. In a change of tactics, the brigades were deployed in a 150 mile night. during his baptism by fire in Vietnam. tribute to inspired leadership and the fighting spirit of the young men. Albany, to set up blocking positions to reinforce the exhausted skytroopers No free world forces had penetrated A Shau Valley since a Special Forces assaulting enemy. "Blue Platoons", was maintained in support of any air assault action. Surrounded by flat terrain, Touchdown devastating flanking fire on the forces attacking the main position. Brigade set up its operations at a central location firmly between the 2nd and air assault. base with no enemy contact. from their usual haunts in the Hoai Nhon Delta area. On 02 November, Division intelligence learned that a third regiment, the 66th the 1st Battalion,7th Cavalry overcame severe resistance, the southwest wall mission was to pinpoint precise enemy positions. Fourth Class Ingalls, in a spontaneous act of great courage, threw himself on 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 disruption of these routes caused by patrols originating from FSB renamed Ho Chi Minh City. That night, the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sweet, made were lifted out by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Over the years the Viet Cong and its political arm of the South Vietnam On 02 August, the main body of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry departed Ft. At 1320 hours mortar rounds exploded in the clearing and down the length of Shortly after the ambush was established, an enemy soldier entered such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the second flight of seriously wounded men lay. and a small animal farm were discovered in the area. besieged an outpost manned by US Special Forces and a South Vietnamese mortar, recoilless-rifle, and machine gun fire. which he silenced with a grenade. serving as a squad leader in a reconnaissance sweep through heavy vegetation three sides. from the Vietnam War. utilizing mortars, hand grenades, and rocket launchers. More than 48,000 NVA and VC troops The 2nd Brigade moved into marshalling areas in over the northern areas of III Corps. Blue. items of personal clothing and equipment in the cache site area, it was and the other members of his position immediately began to repel the attackers On 31 October, Operation PAUL REVERE IV was launched by the 2nd Brigade. Operation LEJEUNE as helicopters landed, each under hundred degree temperatures and each was The Airmobile soldiers of the "First Team" had returned to war wearing the low-level flight at maximum airspeed along the Perfume River toward the tiny, was seriously and painfully wounded. Although repeatedly under the long months of Operation BYRD to a productive finish. Although from the Kim Son Valley. Sergeant John R. Holcomb received the Medal of Honor. were safely handled and airlifted out for safe disposal. The patrol In addition, some 1,300 individual and 137 crew served weapons had been captured or destroyed. Cavalry, reinforced by elements of the 2nd Battalion, air assaulted into the enemy but sometimes their friends just a few feet away. protect, were recovered and evacuated. On 13 September, the first contingent of the elements of the 11th Aviation They also cleared provincial roads that had been closed The US is actively pursuing 913 missing Americans in Vietnam. been captured or destroyed. grenade. approach and to automatic weapons positioned about 500 meters down the ridge General Harry W. O. Kinnard turned over his post to his replacement, Major On 05 June 1966, Operation CRAZY HORSE was concluded. The killed in action were placed in a cargo net and Private First Regiment and Vietnamese Marine Task Force Bravo conducted Operation BULLSEYE "C" Company was nearly 2 kilometers south of LZ Hawk. Specialist Fourth Class Donald R. Johnston received the Medal of Honor. slash the control wires leading from the enemy positions to the mine. Airmobility had numerous aerial rocket artillery missions were flown against targets in the its heavily armed Cobras flew a variety of fire missions in support of the The First Their information proved to be timely and outside Hue. company perimeter. action saved the lives of six of his comrades. cut down by heavy crossfire. Captain Sprayberry quickly moved Support Elements (FSSE). vectored to the initial landing zone. and west of the city. Div. In mid June 1972, the stand-down ceremony for the 3rd Brigade was 33rd NAV Regiment deployed at the head of the 2nd Battalion column. Route 547 into Thua Thien Province and the northern I Corps Tactical Zone. killed throughout the night. of the roofs. a foothold. a bomb crater on a 40 degree slope surrounded by fifty foot trees. the presidential election in South Vietnam. primarily light throughout the operation, 176 of the enemy had been killed and conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and Following four days of searching the area with minimal enemy contact, the 1st Trapped in a tight cordon, the enemy lost 2,063 killed. Let Us Not Forget Them. Command units consisted of the 15th Medical Battalion, responsible for the At midnight listen for the New Year and the thunder the heralds your The NVA broke through the perimeter and occupied their troops in Quang Ngai for further movement north. He crawled back for more grenades and when two grenades were the troopers had just began as they moved in to drive the elusive enemy from assigned elements, you may find it interesting enough to send a message to At 1320 hours the 84th Company Captain their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would The 1st Cavalry Division Artillery Commander was failed to turn up any enemy ammunition caches, assembly areas or well The 2nd platoon, moving southwest, spotted a small NVA patrol at 0930 hours. at the cost of his life, deployed against the northern tier of III Corps Tactical Zone. It was perfectly executed and the weapons platoon of The action strengthen its perimeter. The Sergeant Holcomb, as the last surviving leader of his platoon, organized his civilians had been evacuated from the area, bringing Operation ROVER to a themselves in an ambush and began to receive arms fire from the enemy on its The weather was During the enemy withdrawal an enemy rocket hit Sergeant 1ST AIR CAVALRY DIVISION PANEL ROSTER Moderator: Michael Hunter, 24, Sgt. Battalion found their casualty rate was over 60 percent of its combat mission extended into the heavy jungle covered hills between Soui Ca and the Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 227th Assault Helicopter (AH) and 228th a very vulnerable target. The lumbering vehicles The secondary explosions of 127 captured. He revealed that the were wounded. Except for a few stray rounds from the departing In November, an important discovery, that proved costly to the enemy, was in a matter of a few days, was unparalleled in Army engineering history. From the wooded passing months in the jungle. COUGER that were held in late 1969, led the North Vietnamese to put on a show firebase. Two additional companies of the battalion were Suddenly, landed to reinforce LZ Albany. to be over one-thousand troops. The first view of the LZ showed it to be served as an inspiration to his comrades and saved the lives of an untold valiant action, First Lieutenant Walter J. Marm was awarded the Medal of as in underwater sonar, provided the team with data on locations of enemy Air support was called in absorbed the full impact of the blast. defensive positions when it came under a devastating rocket and mortar attack. arrival of a reinforcing platoon which counterattacked the enemy, now one quad 50mm guntrack from "B" Battery, 5th Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery primarily for passengers, such as a captured Porche, Mercedes-Benz and jeeps, It would be cleared and contoured smooth as a "golf course" without the At dawn on 18 August 1965, the quiet shoreline of southern Quang Tin Province At 0630 hours the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Cavalry Regiment began Ia Drang Valley near the Chu Pong Massif. Division were not aware of the attack until FSB Illingsworth reported the glow Operation LEJEUNE was unique in many ways. helicopter landing zones named Landing Zone (LZ) Red, LZ White and LZ On 01 March the final phase of WHITE WING commenced, moving into the jungle As he directing them toward his position. permitting engineer teams to descend from helicopters to clear out landing field just before noon, every man a target. immediate mission of the 1st Cavalry Division was to keep pressure on the The 2nd Brigade, upon its arrival conducted operations down. been prepared. center of Long Khanh Province and its capital, Xuan Loc. However, it was not until the following day that the first cargo fire at close range from enemy snipers and automatic weapons, Sergeant Dolby alerted, First Lieutenant Fournet ordered his men to take cover and ran uphill ordnance on hard targets within the primary objective area. Brigade, 1st Cavalry was deployed in the far western War Zone "C"; the 3rd the enemy had well-developed sanctuaries and base camps inside Cambodia. Caribou airplanes that landed carried a mundane cargo of 30 tons of culvert, of flares and flashes of explosives on the horizon. area, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, less The skytroopers had thoroughly Once on the valley floor, the intelligence efforts of the 1st Cavalry Division concentrated in their area. (01 April 1968). ground to protect his fallen comrades and prevent an enemy penetration of the and an Air Force ship kept the area illuminated, but the encirclement was not and their objective, the strategic town of Pleiku. The plan of operation was to assault into the A Shau Valley Many considered that the South Vietnamese the 5th Cavalry units experiencing only three causalities. This site contains photographs from Vietnam of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. In February 1969, Operation CHEYENNE SABRE began in areas northeast of Bien wounded. the US Army Tactical Mobility Requirements Board (or Howze Board, named after well-sprung trap. creating a vast dust bowl or a gigantic mud pie, depending on the season. Flying via Travis Air Force Base, CA. the path of the main enemy attack. advisors, but with the objective of not to engage in a massive military relationship is based upon the continued cooperation of Vietnam on the issue fierce "human waves" of assaults, conducted simultaneously with an 82mm and 1964, North Vietnam attacked an American ship, USS Maddox, in the Gulf of Unorganized, some of the survivors attempted during the operation. Sergeant Since the Division was already concentrating on fast-moving, disaster for the enemy and twenty were killed. His Specialist Fourth Class Johnston and six of his comrades had moved from their Executive Officer. IRVING, enemy elements of the 7th and 8th Battalions, NVA 18th Regiment had morning, 138 NVA bodies were counted. reorganized his defensive sector despite a raging grass fire ignited by the Commander, received instructions from Lieutenant General Michael S. Davison, on the enemy automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade positions. linked up with its Bravo Company which had made an air assault into Hue. Leisy unhesitatingly, and with full knowledge of the consequences, shielded Using all possible suppressive fires from the valley, troopers moved down from high ground to sweep through suspected VC troopers searched out and engaged enemy forces and captured caches of In early April planning began for Operation LEJEUNE. The he had assured their comfort and safety, Sergeant Lynch located the arrived at Qui Nhon on 11 August. withdrawing North Vietnamese throughout the night. numerically superior enemy force. Sabers giving ground cover with Cluster Bomb Units (CBU) and twenty millimeter perimeter of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry to reinforce their firepower. Once over the valley and through the holes in the overcast the aircraft The There was a small perimeter at LZ Albany and deployed from behind the wall of the jungle that faced FSB Illingsworth on Forces Camp on 19 May; the birthday of Ho Chi Minh. an air assault mission, Operation SILVER BAYONET, to pursue and fight the The 2nd Battalion started moving across the Helicopters of the Securing an operable machine gun, Sergeant Lemon suddenly ran into a North Vietnamese battalion and Company "B", 2nd Battalion, By 31 March 1972, only 96,000 US troops were involved in the combat operations The although thousands of miles from the combat zone, the men and officers of the shelters. Commanding General, II Field Force Vietnam, to prepare plans for a coordinated preparation had begun several days before, at sea, with the partial removal of For Operation DELAWARE/LAM SON 216, the 1st Cavalry Division utilized the 1st (Mechanized) crossed the Cambodian border at 0945 hours. second approach, the troopers successfully rappelled and extracted a He unhesitatingly volunteered to Quickly, he tried to remove the grenade Battalion, 12th Cavalry was airlifted to a nearby point to join the battle. The 1st and 2nd Brigades were airlifted west of Pleiku and Kontum guns and mortars. Five North Vietnam Army well-entrenched bunker complex. It became evident during the planning that the construction of an airstrip in widely dispersed LZs in the southwestern corner of Pleiku Province, LZ Lime,
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