Firebases

101st Airborne Division

Twenty-nine enemy soldiers were killed May 6 during a furious attack, on Fire Base Henderson, 10 miles south of Cam Lo in Quang Tri Province. Troopers of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) and gunners of the 11th Arty. received mortar and RPG- fire, followed by a ground attack from an unknown-sized enemy force.

Division soldiers were engaged in a daylong battle in mountainous jungle 20 miles southwest of Hue May 9. Troopers, from the 2nd Bn., 502nd Inf. (501st Inf.), were searching the area when they were attacked by an enemy force firing small arms and RPGs. The Communists were hidden in a bunker complex laced with inter-connecting tunnels. Cobra gunships and airstrikes swept in to support the Screaming Eagles, who killed 18 enemy soldiers.

In the northern I Corps area of operations May 7, an air observer supporting the 3rd Squadron, 5th Armored Cav., engaged 20 enemy soldiers. Helicopter gunships gave support in that action 10 miles southwest of Cam Lo and 10 enemy soldiers were killed.

Screaming Eagles killed another 18 enemy soldiers during four actions in mountainous jungles 20 miles southwest of Hue May 5.

Elements of the 2nd Bn., 502nd Inf. approaching an enemy bunker complex were engaged by an unknown-sized force. The battalion soldiers quickly surrounded the bunkers and returned fire killing five enemy soldiers..

The Army Reporter
May 25, 1970

Fiery 5-Hour Battle

"I've Got A Company Full of Heroes"

CAMP EVANS, Vietnam - A battered 101st Airborne Div. unit which fought North Vietnamese for five explosive hours Wednesday morning at and on Fire Support Base Henderson, 45 miles northwest of Hue, returned here Friday. Although the soldiers say they lost more than the NVA, their captain said flatly, "I've got a company full of heroes."

Their captain is James E. Mitchell, 25. Mitchell and his men Friday recounted the story of an hours-long attempt amid fiery and fog-shrouded death to rescue a reconnaissance element trapped between the NVA and an exploding ammunition dump. Nearly all the while, the NVA was fighting all around the hill.

From the time the battle started, according to Mitchell, he had been unable to make contact with the reconnaissance element guarding the far end of the hill. And when the fighting began, he said, he told S. Sgt. Robert Nichol to get men and go down to find them.

Nichol, a veteran of heavy battle on the so-called "Re-Up Hill" and on Fire Support Base Granite during the past month, said he was on guard when the enemy touched off flares on his side of the hill. By the time he was ready to move down to contact the guards at the far end, Nichol said, the ammo dump straddling the hill in between was on fire and rounds were popping off.

As Nichol tells it, he told his captain, "there's a big fire down there. You can't imagine how big it is."

Still, Nichol moved his men toward the area. He pulled them back, he said, when he saw a pallet of ammo smoldering. Minutes later, he said, the pallet blew.

Then, Nichol said, they tried another approach. The explosions from the ammo dump had been, as Nichol and others described them, like an earthquake. They said one pilot in a chopper overhead radioed that one blast, almost blew him out of the sky.

One of the men Nichol took with him was Sgt. Joe Waage, a former dice-dealer in a Reno, Nev., Casino. Waage had been in Vietnam a week and he said he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

They said at one pointer a soldier, "a big farmer" who they knew only as "Silent Sam,". ran up dangerously close to the roaring fire and dragged to safety a soldier who was screaming that his foot had been blown off.

It was several hours, Nichol and Waage said, before they were able to get around the searing fire. They said that as they tried to get around the flames, risking the explosions, they could hear the trapped soldiers calling for help, yelling "GIs, GIs."

The first man we saw," one of them said, "was a recon medic and he was holding his head with part of it gone."

Despite his wounds, the said, the medic was tending to another wounded soldier.

The medic was telling the more seriously wounded soldier about his home town, trying to keep him out of shock. "I'll tell you," Waage said, "a medic is the greatest thing in the world to see."

Just as great, they said, were dustoff medevac pilots who landed their chopper amid exploding rounds and incoming fire to rescue the men at the end of the hill. The recon element, they said, took 100 per cent casualties. Had it not been for the dustoff, and perhaps for the rescue through the fire, it might have been 100 per cent killed in action.

Waage said he couldn't tell what made men do what they did. Silent Sam, one of the said, "could just as easily have said he didn't hear anything." But they said he acted on what he heard. That Waage explained is why he himself acted. " You just had to hear them calling," Waage said.

Spec. 4 Seth Upksy
Stars and Stripes
Staff Correspondent

A Skycrane airlifts a 155 howitzer

Members of A Company observe artillery fire-power

"Giant" GI Routs NVA

FIREBASE BRICK, Vietnam (Special) -- Pfc. John Ray Fair, a machine gunner with A Co., 2nd Bn., 501st Inf., 101st Airborne Div. (Airmobile), stands out in a crowd. He's 6-feet-7.

Imagine the surprise registered on the face of a North Vietnamese soldier when, wandering down a trail in northern Military Region 1 about 18 miles southeast of Hue, the diminutive met the gigantic.

"We were moving down a trail when this little NVA soldier turns a corner and just walks right up. He was only about five feet away when he saw me and started looking up." said Fair.

"He looked shocked, " Fair said, "Maybe not so much that I was an American, but at my size. Then he slowly started to back up. I was really surprised too, but I recovered before he did."

The result of the meeting was one NVA soldier killed and an AK47 rifle and a rucksack captured.

Pacific Stars & Stripes
Monday, Feb. 22, 1871

FB BRICK, - Vietnam.”Drop," Fulmer rasped, lunging to the ground, dragging his two comrades into the sand of the dried-up creek bed with him. With one hand over his mouth Fulmer motioned with his other' hand toward the cause of his alert. Two feet above him, dug into the creek bank was a two-story, hut-bunker. The three men sensed imminent danger. They knew the area could be booby-trapped. Breathlessly they examined the area for trip wires.

With their backs flat against the wall under the opening, they sat still, listening for sounds of movement, Fulmer raised his head and peered into the dark hollow. When his eyes adjusted to the blackness, he could see that there was nobody inside. He crawled through the hole.

A chill came over his body. He was close to the enemy - an hour behind at the most. He shivered in the clammy cave. As he studied the inside of the cave, his eyes focused on a cooking pot on a rock stove in the middle of the 8' x 6' dirt floor. He knelt and touched the ashes. They were still warm. Nearby was a basket of wet rice and red peppers, ready to be eaten. On a bamboo shelf in one corner were a pair of sandals, a rice bag, several pieces of blue silk cloth, and one AK-47 magazine. Whoever lived there hadn't been gone very long, and it looked like he might come back anytime.

"Pssst", Fulmer jumped and slammed his back against the wall, "Hey, Bob, let's get back, it's almost dark." "Yeh, okay."

The discovery and search of bunker complexes is an every day occurrence in the mountains of Nam Hoa and Phu Loc Districts of Thua Thien Province, NVA. In the two rural districts in the first half of January, 2d Bde troopers of the 101st Abn Div (Airmob) have "discovered more bunkers and destroyed more booby traps than during the entire month of December," according to 1st Lt. John Fowler of Atlanta, assistant brigade intelligence officer.

"Usually, the bunkers are from a month to one or two years old. Almost always, they are hit with air strikes, Cobra gunships, and artillery before the infantry searches them," he added.

Following the hunch of an American infantryman and the aggressiveness of a Vietnamese scout, 1st Pltn, Co A, 2d Bn (Airmob), 501st Inf, recently discovered and searched an enemy company-sized basecamp and ambush site, and, chased the enemy’s advance party out of the area before indirect firepower destroyed the bunkers and fighting positions.

The platoon had just set up a defensive position for noon chow. "I noticed a freshly cut trail heading from our defensive position," said PFC Tommy Elliot of Holland, Miss. "I followed the trail for about 50 meters and found a dried-up creek bed."

Elliot returned to the platoon and told of his find. In a few seconds he was going back, this time with his buddy, PFC Robert Fulmer of Conshocken, Pa., and RTO Cpl. Kenneth Robbins of Atlanta. The trio moved cautiously down the trail and into the creek bed, where they spotted the bunker an arm's length away. "It was so well camouflaged that the sudden close sight of it was frightening," said Elliot.

It looked like a man-made cave with the small opening," added Robbins. “Its presence didn't even disturb the appearance of the hillside landscape."

Darkness cut the men's search short. The following day one squad, led by a Viet scout, Nguyen Hung found, attacked and searched 10 more enemy bunkers nearby, including a large 10’x10’ foot mess hall bunker and numerous interconnecting tunnels.

"Hung searched the bunker we found the first day," said Fulmer. "About 25 meters beyond that bunker was a tunnel leading to the first of a 10-bunker complex. Hung said the first bunker was an observation post. Since the first bunker was unmanned, he thought we could catch the enemy off-guard, so we attacked.

“Only one or two of the bunkers were visible from the air. Finding them was a lengthy process. Hung crawled through the dense undergrowth until be spotted one. He then alerted the search squad, jumped up and fired a burst of automatic fire with his rifle, then hit the dirt and crawled again. After two or three times repeating this alternating firing and crawling, he reached the bunker, threw a hand-grenade inside, ducked as it blew up, then stood up and sprayed the inside with a burst from his rifle.

"Twice when Hung threw a grenade in a bunker, smoke came out of the ground a few meters away, which marked another bunker connected by a tunnel. The rest of the bunkers we found by crawling and looking."

"HUNG said the area was a company-sized basecamp that until recently had not been used for one or two years," said Fulmer. "When we found the complex there had been enemy soldiers there within the last few minutes. Hung could tell by looking at the bunkers that the enemy was rebuilding and reinforcing them for reoccupation in the future."

The next day, a few hundred meters away from the basecamp and connected by trails, the unit found platoon-sized LZ. Around the LZ were at least 10 fighting positions.

1st. Lt. STEPHEN ATKINSON

Army Times, March 71

CAMP EAGLE - During the week of January 15-21 in MR1, Screaming Eagles accounted for caches of 2 recoiless rifle rounds; 275 mortar rounds and numerous fuses and small arms rounds found and destroyed or evacuated; 2 enemy warhead; 3 rocket propelled grenades and 3 122mm rockets. In addition 101st troopers were credited with 12 enemy soldiers killed in action and 117 bunkers destroyed.

January 15, B Co., 2nd Bn. (Ambl.), 501^st Inf., found 14 boobytraps, 11 of which were made of 60mm mortar rounds.

January 16. the 1/501st scored again while on a recon patrol. This time they discovered and destroyed 17 enemy bunkers about 4 miles west of Hue.

The next day, the 3rd Bn. (Ambl.), 187th Inf., engaged 19 enemy soldiers. Artillery and ARA were called in and resulted in nine enemy soldiers killed in action. The 1/501st found 10 boobytraps and a bunker

complex with sleeping positions and the 2/501st found two warheads and a 122mm rocket durring patrols.

January 18, A Co., 2/501st engaged an enemy force of unknown size about 20 miles south-southwest of Hue. ARA was called in and three NVA soldiers were killed.

Finally January 19, the 1^st Bn. (Ambl.), 327th Inf., found a cache consisting of 2 122mm rockets, 3 rocket propelled grenades, 25 rifle grenades, 120 82mm mortar rounds, 157 60mm mortar rounds and 300 12.7mm machinegun rounds about 13 miles south-southwest of Hue.

The 2/502nd discovered 275mm recoiless rifle rounds, 4 60mm mortar rounds and 8 82mm mortar rounds, about 13 miles southwest of Hue. Near the cache site the "Strike Force" troopers found 75 to 100 fighting positions.

Screaming Eagle, Feb 70

54th ARVNs Excel in Combined Operation

FIREBASE PISTOL - Recently the 2nd Bn. (Ambl.), 501st Inf. and the 2nd Bn., 54th Regt. ARVN conducted a combined operation two miles north of the Ruong Ruong Valley, 25 miles south-southeast of Hue.

The area of operation for the mission was approximately 20 square miles of rugged mountainous terrain located six miles northwest of the southern tip of the A Shau Valley. According to MAJ Jeff Chancey, El Paso, Tex., 2nd Brigade S-3, "This was an area which, in the past, was infested with enemy. However, the extensive and thorough search operation revealed no significant signs of enemy activity."

Even though there were no signs of enemy activity, LTC Michael Boos, Fayetteville, N.C.," 2/501 battalion commander, expressed continued high praise for the 54th ARVN Regiment's ability to grasp the air mobility and search and attack concepts of the 101st.

"I am continually impressed with the calibre of the men of the 54th Regiment," commented LTC Boos. "We have and are still learning from these men. We have definitely proven that American and ARVN soldiers can participate in combined military efforts to produce successful operations. This is the second successful mission we have completed in recent weeks." LTC Boos indicated that mutual respect between the 2/501st and the 54th Regt. continues to grow as operations increase.

Army Reporter, March 1971

Combat in Review

In scattered action throughout the division's AO, Screaming Eagles killed 50 enemy soldiers and captured a large quantity of weapons and ammunition.

The largest cache was discovered (near Firebase Bastogne) by Drive On troopers of Co. A, 2^nd Bn. (Ambl.) 501^st Inf., while operating in thick jungle vegetation southwest of Hue. Hidden in two bunkers were 142 B-40 rockets, 30 60mm mortar rounds, 17 82mm mortar rounds and two antitank mines.

In action near FB Brick, Drive On troopers of Co. B, 2/501st killed two NVA soldiers and captured their AK-47 rifles, one RPG launcner, three RPG rounds and several satchel charges.

The Geronimos of the Ist Bn. (Ambl.), 501st Inf., operating near FB Vandergrift in Quang Tri Province, killed 30 NVA soldiers in several encounters and discovered numerous caches. The caches contained 330 60mm mortar rounds, 30 82mm mortar rounds, 200 rounds of AK-47 ammunition and a quantity of grenades.

Stand Alone troopers from Co. B, 3rd Bn. (Ambl.), 506th Inf., discovered eight bunkers, 40 60mm mortar rounds and various items of clothing near FB Tomahawk. The Stand Alone troopers also discovered and destroyed a 16-bunker complex.

The lst Bn. (Ambl.), 502nd Inf., while operating near FB Brick, killed one NVA soldier and captured three AK-47 rifles, seven 82mm mortar rounds and two B-40 rockets.

No Slack troopers from the 2nd Bn. (Ambl.), 327th Inf., killed two NVA soldiers and captured a 9mm pistol and a machinegun. A closer search revealed a fragmentation grenade, with the pin still in it, clutched in the hand of one of the enemy soldiers.

Co. C, 1st Bn. (Ambl.), 327th Inf., killed eight enemy soldiers in the FB Normandy area. The Above the Rest troopers captured six AK-47 rifles, two SKS rifles, four machineguns and four M-1 carbines.

Rakkasans from the 3rd Bn. (Ambl.)., 187th Inf., called for and directed Cobra gunships against enemy soldiers while operating in the FB Scotch area. The next morning the Rakkasans killed seven NVA soldiers in repelling a sapper attack. The Screaming Eagles also captured four AK-47 rifles, one machinegun, one RPG launcher and two RPG rounds.

The total cache count for the Screaming Eagles for the two week period was 146 B-40 rockets, 409 60mm mortar rounds, 54 82 mm mortar rounds, 41 grenades, four RPG launchers, five RPG rounds, 16 AK-47 rifles, 200 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, eight machineguns, four M-1 carbines, two SKS rifles and two 12.7 machineguns. In addition, Screaming Eagles destroyed more than 110 bunkers and huts.

Screaming Eagle, Apr 71

Eagle Diary

During this period, the Drive On 2nd Bn. (Ambl.), 501st Inf. operating in two locations approximately 10 and 17 miles southwest of Hue, was busy destroying the enemy and his cache.

The action began with the 3rd Plat, Co. C, 2/501st, uncovering a buried cache of RPG rounds and boosters and tunnel digging equipment north of FB Bastogne.

The next morning, the 3^rd Plat. of Co. B discovered a large bunker south of FB Veghel. An investigation revealed six 82mm mortar rounds with one box of fuses, one 60mm mortar round and six antitank mines.

Co. C discovered a second cache consisting of several 82mm mortar rounds and fuses, one grenade, an RPG round, two helmets and shovel.

Co. D got into the show by digging up 10 60mm mortar rounds and 25 AK-47 rounds. Then, Co. E's Recon Team No. 1 found an AK-47 rifle with magazine along a stream bed.

The biggest fight came the next day south of FB Veghel. The 3rd Plat. of Co. B came under attack from an unknown size enemy force. An attempt by the 3rd Plat. of Co. A to air assault and reinforce the element was aborted due to heavy fire from enemy gunners around the LZ. Co. A moved by land toward the "Bravos" while artillery, ARA and tactical air strikes were employed. As the elements attempted to link up, both units received mortar and small arms fire. The Screaming Eagles returned organic weapons fire and again artillery was employed.

The 4th Plat. of Co. B then came under attack. The element returned fire and routed the NVA. A search of the areas of fighting revealed seven enemy dead.

At noon the next day during a CA, Co. A, 2/501st, received 12.7mm machinegun and small arms fire from the area surrounding the LZ. The “Attack" troopers returned organic weapons fire and ARA was employed. A sweep of the area revealed three NVA killed. During the sweep the 101st troops were again engaged by the enemy and again the U.S. troopers sent the NVA force, minus one dead, fleeing.

All equipment, supplies and munitions captured during the operation were evacuated.

Screaming Eagle, Apr 71