Comments, Questions, or Suggestions send E-Mail to Webmaster
Last update on 09/23/2000 18:07
2nd BATTALION 35th INFANTRY OPERATIONS
AVDC-C-OP
5 August 1967
SUBJECT:
Combat After Action Report for the period 19 May thru 20 May 1967
THE
BATTLE OF VINH HIEN
While in the process of securing an LZ, vic 775457, at 191545H May 1967,
in preparation for a combat assault in support of C/2/35, in contact to the
north, A/2/35, began receiving enemy automatic and small arms fire from three or
four enemy positions to their north. The
CO, A/2/35, decided with the concurrence of the Battalion Commander, to attack
these enemy positions and to further develop the situation.
The initial enemy fire wounded one soldier seriously. Moving to the south, A/2/35 overran the enemy positions,
killing two enemy. By 1610H, the
enemy had disengaged and had retreated to the southwest.
A sweep of the contact area produced an FM Radio, medical supplies and
several NVA uniforms. They
continued the search and then, upon receipt of information of enemy movement to
the southwest, began a sweep in that direction.
At 1735H, A/2/35 again received some
small arms fire from the south. Realizing
that his Company might be led into an enemy ambush, CPT Barcena, CO, A/2/35,
requested and received an air observation team from B/1/9 Cav (airmobile) to
screen his flanks and front. Continuing
to move to the south, A/2/35 was again fired upon at 1830H from the south.
The observation team located the enemy and directed the company along a
concealed route to the enemy position.
The position was destroyed and two enemy were killed.
One Thompson sub-machinegun was captured.
At 1910H Company A closed for the night, vic BS774455.
At 1915H, one VC sniper fired at and wounded one of the company’s
riflemen. The VC was killed and his
weapon captured. The company dug in
and listening post were put out. The
wounded soldier was evacuated.
At 200025H, the CO, A/2/35, reported that his LP’s to the northwest and
southwest had engaged a total of eight enemy.
The LP’s threw grenades, detonated their claymores and fired their
weapons. Two enemy eith grenades were killed; the other six fled.
The LP’s shifted their locations and waited.
A sweep was conducted by one of the platoons but they only discovered
three blood trails and the two enemy killed.
The blood trails indicated that three enemy were seriously wounded.
At 0147H, CPT Barcena reported his perimeter under attack by an estimated
enemy company. Using existing
trench lines that encompassed the entire area, the enemy was able to move
undetected to within a few meters of where the LP’s had been.
The enemy, thinking the LP’s were there threw grenades and attacked the
empty positions. This brief warning
enabled the LP’s to ambush the attackers and move back to their lines.
By this time artillery defensive concentrations were being fired.
Despite the heavy volume of outgoing fire, the enemy pressed forward in a
vigorous ground attack. Using the
“hugging” tactics to avoid the heavy artillery concentrations, the enemy
threw large numbers of hand grenades into the perimeter. It was these hand grenades that inflicted most of the
casualties. Flareships and gunships
were requested. By 0222H the enemy
had ceased the coordinated ground attack and was engaging A/2/35 on only the
northern flank. DUSTOFF,
aeromedical evacuation, was alerted to stand by to evacuate the wounded once the
area was secured.
5 August 1967
SUBJECT:
Combat After Action Report for the period 19 May thru 20 May 1967
At 2047H, CPT Barcena requested a resupply of ammunition.
LTC Granger, realizing that a resupply helicopter would, in all
probability, be shot down in the attempt, decided to commit C/3/4 Cav(-); not
only to carry the much needed ammunition, but also to block the southern escape
route. Under the light from the
105mm illuminating rounds, C/3/4/Cav(-) departed LZ LIZ.
At 0355H, the armed AC-47 “Dragonship” arrived on station and rained
accurate fire on the enemy. The
aircraft commander of the AC-47 also guided the APC’s along the best route of
advance toward the besieged company. At
0418H, Co A reported ten WIA and requested medevac for them.
By 0427H, DUSTOFF was overhead and going into the LZ.
Receiving AW fire the helicopter had to pull out, unable to extract any
of the WIA’s. He flew to LZ LIZ
to check his helicopter for damage and to await the time when he could again
attempt the extraction.
C/3/4 Cav closed A/2/35’s perimeter with incident at 0451H.
Just prior to the closing, the enemy fired rifle grenades and small arms
sporadically throughout the perimeter. Contact
was broken on the arrival of C/3/4 Cav. Additional
resupply was requested and the resultant resupply helicopter and DUSTOFF
extracted the twelve WIA’s and two KIA’s. See
sketch # 1
Between 0630H and 1210H, there was no enemy contact.
A/2/35 and C/3/4 Cav conducted an extensive search and sweep in the night
area of contact, locating 10 enemy killed and 3 weapons.
In addition, one hamlet guerilla was captured. Upon interrogation, it was discovered that he was wounded
during the initial probe at 0025H. He
observed two others in his group killed. At
0900H, A/2/35 located a VC bunker Complex 100 meters west of their night
location. An engineer squad from D
Company, 65th Engineer Battalion, was airlifted with explosives to
the LZ and was carried by an APC to that location. Elements from both C/3/4 Cav and A/2/35 provided security
while the engineers worked on the destruction of the VC Camp and its bunker
complex. See sketch # 2
At 1221H, this work party came under attack by the enemy.
Firing RPG-2’s the enemy hit one of the APC’s killing the track
commander and driver. The APC was
destroyed. In reinforcing the
engineer work party A/2/35(-) and C/3/4 Cav (-) met heavy enemy resistance but
aggressively fought through it driving them to the southwest.
At 1341H, C/2/35 was alerted to move to a pickup site where they would be
extracted for a combat assault to the southwest. The Battalion Reconnaissance platoon was alerted to move from
LZ LIZ to vic DS768463. At 1410H an
airstrike helped to break up the enemy concentration. By 1448H, Recon/2/35 Inf was in position and by 1500H,
C/2/35(-) had conducted their combat assault into an LZ vic BS786443.
While elements were being moved into position, a FAC spotted twenty armed
enemy moving toward the destroyed APC. While
the Battalion Commander adjusted the fire of the 106rr from LZ LIZ, CPT Barcena
sent a ground element toward the enemy position at the APC.
When troops arrived at the destroyed APC they killed two more enemy, one
of them inside the track.
C/2/35(-) moved from the landing zone to the east linking with A/2/35.
By 1540H, C Company was in contact with a well entrenched enemy southwest
of A Company.
During a stiff village fight that lasted more than an hour C Company
killed twenty-six armed enemy. Meanwhile,
A Company and C Troop ¾ Cav had turned to the east and were pushing through the
southern edge of Vinh
5 August 1967
SUBJECT:
Combat After Action Report for the period 19 May thru 20 May 1967
Hien (3) toward Highway #1. After C
Company had evacuated their wounded and dead, they moved into the northern part
of Vinh Hien (3), paralleling A Company’s route of movement. Just inside the hamlet, C Company encountered another
entrenched enemy element. Helicopter
rockets and small unit tactics eventually overcame the remaining VC force, and C
Company established a combined perimeter in the paddy area east of the hamlet.
See sketch # 2
C/3/4 Cav had begun a sweep back toward the blocking position of the
recon platoon. At 2015H, Recon/2/35 and C/3/4 Cav(-) closed LZ LIZ to
provide FSB security. There were no
further incidents that night. An
armed AC-47 “Dragonship” reported on station at 2015H and his fires were
directed by CPT Lanning. Artillery
was fired into the hamlet throughout the night to deny the enemy assess to the
remnants of the battle area.
At 210620H, the two companies began a systematic search of the hamlet and
other areas of contact. In
addition, before the village was destroyed each and every bunker, spider hole,
and hut was methodically searched for signs of the enemy.
By the time the hamlet had been razed, all enemy material had been
evacuated. One ton of explosives
was used to destroy the complex.
1.
Results:
(a)
Friendly Losses:
1 KIA …………..5
2 WIA ………….24
(a)
KIA ………………..89
(b)
CIA ……………….. 3
(c)
Detained (suspects)..12
3.
Enemy
Losses
(a)
weapons ……………17
(b)
mixed ammunition….10,000 rds
(c)
rice ………………….1,000 lbs
