'.

£1,
12
1• a eopy
~~I'''· . .I:'t-.. ~l""~'''1.! tt
'~~.: ..... ;'"'--... I.' 1,\ ,.

2. ':'his ,'1r.1 ycu l:r!(Ji", J.. ne ~~s+, Cgrpf; l(~y~l or~~~t:?~~_9.~.Y~

O}"'(':.1::ion ViAS,
.
c~~.£"_~~_.~:~:_.l..2::9r,ps
t ,. -I ~"
.. _:,~1. . . C7'1en,·,f.; OJI.' t .l-!A ..Jc..,~rlne
?"',. l' • ••
"lvlsJ.on, 1.&.
S,_ "'-.......
- ~T -ln,~ ~~ '"... ry
Divi~don, and 10h; ':. ,~ir1')0rne Divisif'j} rArt'iciprlted. The princir':tl ol;.~pctive:
o ~ .I..he 0PBI'0+ ion1-ra-s tc estPihlish ~ firm :,11ied prBSanCE' iYJ tl,,= ,'\ 51' 1.}U ~nd
ccrk up th,1t trA.r.iitionAl infiltr,qtion route. :'he oh.;ecti'/e ',r~5 r'crO!TTrlj.~h~~.
I t,hin~' :.~ le [:jet ~'h;1t ~ he !NA st.ood am fought, p:u-ticuln rly Rt r:ong~r ~ia,
is in(ij,eation that. lJle C?!em.y kYle", to/hat ~'ms ha,y.;penine cmd 1"ore<"l to ;:I"Pclu"'e it
I!H~~1bureer Hill" >;·~~'rJ..:- overshndoNC"rJ a ~rillirln+:ly c0nr.ci ......Bc ~n~ e~pcn~p.o
"",.,1'';111.\~1
\.\.' " i1...•
.... __ "",t... .. , ,'_ r'n •
n-'''r~·''''1.·

J.

+,0 ','011.

., ~ T ("C'
rt:' ~, . ., h

31;"",-· "i1i-i- .r'" :·i~~~('·r~.r -.1"1.. ........ ~~~r:t

 OPDAnctf "APACHI SlDf"

1OlSi' AllIBCItD DIVDlDJI

XAJal GBNIRAL ..JOHN M. WRICHr JR., CCIIIARDtm

10 KAt - 7 ..nn. 1969

..

Pre~ byt

22d H1l1tary History Det.achllent \

\

-.
 .
•
c

PBlrACI

The incloaed
The ineloaeel narrative
narrative of
ot the
the actlozm
action. involving
ilrtolY1ng elamgnts
elements of
ot the
the

lOlat Airborne Division during the XXIV Corpi directed operation,

"APACHB SIDf" wu written to elllphui.. a gal 1 ant &!Ii hard tought

victo17 b7 the Scr..m"g Baglee OYer • deterll1n.ed en..,.. The
operation took place in
oprrationtookplaoo .the r..,te andlnboqitrrbls
IUiher~k and 1Dboep1table AshraVw
A Sbau Valla7

fkon 10
troll MtQ to 7 June
lo Hq Junb 1969. It 1.11
1969. It i8 hoped
hopedthatthis narratlpb will
that this narrat1" will
be ot IOJIe benent
beofaome benef$ttoto studerdie and sem.ce
studentsand 8-0 aDd v1ll. gift
schoob,andwillgi+s
schools,
the reader • bettar UDleretanding or
th~reader8betta.rdemtandiag ofconbatin V1et.Du:l .1un8J.ese
theVletnm..s~
cOJlbat in the

•
 Ot all their i.nlUtrat,lon rout.. tr'Oll North V1etr.am and Leo.

into South VletDaa, none hae be.,; co neaY1.l1 exploited. by the

Iortb Vi.tn. . . . . . the A Shau van.,.. 51 .. ,.,. to • natural

~, the )O-li1.le=long vallq tloor i.e roll1Dg terrain covered

with elephant gr... aDd 1e rimed bT d8D8eq toreated hil.le.. '!h1.

area h.- bMll tM target ot recat operations conducted b:r the lOlst
Airborne D1da1on. One such operation vas ArlCIII fIlCN.

On the
On the ewning ot 9 Jfq the lOlet
kningof9lbythe lrDlstU.rbomeMrlaW--FIti-
Airborn. Dirt.ion - apee1t1ealq

thoThIrdBrigads~~~inconjunctI.on
the withthsIstW
Third Brigade working in conjunction with Mvfsion
the let ARVI Dirls10n
poised
Ninth Marin. Reglatnt- vas poiaed
ad NinthPIrrineBe~nt--
and tor
for the
the attack
attack a&aiast 6~
agaiDllt eMIIT

forCea,b88
tore .. , baaes aD1 l.1Dea ot co ndcatioD8 in
rrdlW5sofco~cation6 In and
a& Adjaceat
crd*ti to the
to the
Northern 1AShauVJlrq,
Northern TenarWle~batterlua
Shau VallAr;y. Ten hsdt?nslrtube~~
a,rt111e17 batteries had their tube.

in pwition at
in poaition at tire
iire bue.
buses Brldl.87 (TD 273l23),
Brsdlsy (YD 27323), Airboma
&borne (tD 35507l),
('ID 35507l),
Currahe. (m39e5%9),Berchtssgaden
currahee (m (YD424oll),urdcann8n
39891.9), Berchte.gaden (YD (n,474aw*
424(11), and Carmon (JD 474028).

Thstroop4bparticipat$q
The lnthe
troops partlcipatiDg in w*ata#8aultothe
the colllbat follawfng~ninst
88sault. the tollov1ng mr~

vere being Ut-shalled in the vicinity ot

werebsingrrr8hdledintheviclnity of FB
FE Blaze
Blaze(l[D
(m 536020). The
The

paratroopers ot
paratroopers the let
of the Ist Battalion,
Battalion, 506th In1'&Dtl"Y';
Infant-; Battalion,
3d Battallon,

Infantry; and
187th Inrantry; and2d B&t-n,
2d Battalion, !SOlut InfaDt,17
50lst Infautry hurriedly
hurriedly prepared
_.-
their gear,
their gear, cleaned their weapom , and wrote
their ,,~none. wrote the
the letters
letters that
that they
they
would not
'WOuld rmthavetheti.me to write
haTe the time to writs in
in the
the coming
co&ngdaya.
da;ya. following
The following

mx-ning they
DDrning theyuouldbe heililiftedintothe
would be helllitted inhospitable
into the inhospitable A Valley.
Shau Valley.
A Shau

lOMv
XL!!&
At
At H-hOUl", 100730 Kay 1969,
H-hour,lOCV~Hey the lead elements or
1969,thelead of the four
four
battalions
battalions picked up by sixt.y-flvA
were picked sixty-five UH-1H helicopters
UH-IH helicopters from

4. 2 $ Me i1 $$2 . iii Ed;;!£. aU,,#uI ,a. gSJ&4

.. eRR.. ;
 P'B BlaISe and .,~ to their respectIve landing ;r..o;<.~ .:,!'.:! ~AP).

*ior to the ooJlb.t

Pr-1or aorabat....
waaulta each la.nd1n«
ulte each larxilng sone
u)ne W'&lJ
m boJlbft.l"ded
bodsrdad tor
for
•• mlnutw b7
seventy 1I1nute.
lev_t7 by tactical
tmtlcal aircraft
aircraft sod
MM art1l.l.ery
ertlllwy tith t1nal
with fbul
auppreal1" t1ree being deliyerec1 b.r air caval.r7 gunahiPi aDd
aerial artil.le".. 8, CI and D CClllpaDiee, in addition to the

battalion 'e 00'_"" poet, ot the let Battallon, S06tb Int&ntr7

were the t1ret to bit the grourd in the area ot operatioD8 at 081211.
Once on the laDding sone (YC 31291.9) all C~.t.8 began ....UW'eriDg

on
ori JIlUltiple
nlultAp10 ucelb
&XeS ticimrd the
to'1tard the Laotian
La&Ian Borar.
Bord..r.
l&OH all
By 1600R aLi. collpwes
coppanie~ and
and the battalion
the battxllodu fa co-.nd post or
commaadpoet of the
t&s
3d Battalion,
3d Battallon,187th lnfantrJIcombat
187th Intantl7 auatited trom
combat assaulted fPomrBma.se t&&r
FB Blase to their

two ahip landing

two landing sone
sone (YC
(PC 3a:>988).
320988)e 0Dc~
Once on the
the elephant gr&8s
gram
hovered laJding
oovered la!sli.ng BODe
son0 wh..1..cii
uhstii opeIled
opened to
to high groUDd
grmxi in
in the weet,
w9ot, tbe7
thy
began thslr reconnaiasance
began their reconna%imancein
in tore.
force operations
operationlr in
in the
ths 'fic1D1t7
ticitlitf of
ot
Laothn Border.
the Laotian Border. Conpany, which was
D CoDlpaD71 wan first
firet on
on the l.ard1Dg
landing zone,
movedalong
Dl)ved along aa ridge to the aouth.-t
ridge to aouthead as
~b plrumed.
planned. I5omnte or
KLemmte of A
A

andCCompanlsa,oncstheywer6
and ontbu
C Companies, once the;y were on land% zone,
tbe landing zone, secured
aecurdtb the
rxwthweat
northwest and aouthsrnpartims
southern portions ofthe
ot the landing zone perimeter
Janding aona pen.eter

respectively.
lwqmctivttly. Oncethelandlngzonewa~
Once the landing zone watt secured
s~ured ACoqmny
A C~
reconnoitered
reconnoitered to
to tha
the northwest
northwest and C Company
Company reconnoitered
~conno1tered to
to the
the
southwest.
southwest. B Company's
Company's amadltwm
_saUlt was co~?etd
comp)eted by16OOH.
by 16OOH. They
The,.
nerved
moved from
trom the
the landing
landing zone
zona southwest
southwest to
to the
the battalion's
battalion's location
location
where they
they received
received instructims
instructions to
to mve
lIDve southeast
southeast toward
toward Hill
Hill. 937
cr3?
(the
(the number
number reDresenting
representing
w its
its height
height in
in mter8).
.,ters). B bnpany
Coqlany established
established

2
 tt%tlr night, detensive
~~1r n1g:rt, defensive poeition
position on the lover
on lower elope"
abpsa of Dong
of kng Ap
Aga
Bia (Hill
Bla 937) and
(Hill. 9.37) and began
began preparatlone
preparatlms to
to .,
mm at tirllt
.. out at. flrstll@l1gIJt
the tollov1q
followlxqmrnlngrai eecum the h1ll.
mrn1na azd .ecure hill. Hoone
No atthir,tiPlb
one at th1a t~
realised the ai..
realised ot the en..
riseoftha msa~pforac, positionsd on
toree positioned onththe bU1
Mfl or
or

whatwaa
what ahead tor
was ahead for the battalion before this
the battalion this order
order could be
ba
fUfSUed.
tult1lled.
The third.
The third ot
of the tour battalion8 corductiD&
four battalions conducting the collb.t
co&at ... aalt.
aarratiLt8

inta the area ot

into of operatione
operatiorm was
us6 the 2d
2rJBattalion,
Battalion, ~
50lst IDtaJltJ7.
Infe.
I& C,
13, C, and Companionam
and D Companie. ad the battalion
bat%d.ion cO'-.m
comnaxrlpost
pmt assaulted
amaulted onto
onfo

a
a landing zone
landing cone (YC
(TC 288(15),
28001$), at
at 1047H
1047Hwhile
while A CoIIpA!V emcured am
kqaqy secured and
continusdmim6truationofW
continued Alrbome.
construction ot 1'8 AirboI1le.
The lut
The la& battalion
battakh to b.
to be be1w.tted
helilifted into the area on lO
into 10 Jfq
&y
was the4t&Battallan,
wb8 the l8t~%9gimbntWbiCh
4th Battalion, 1st a88dkOdbl'b~
ARVJI Beg1l8nt which assaulted 1Dto •

landing zone
landing sono at coordinate8 m
at coordinates YD 24lO41
24Ul.and begantheiropsrafi4ite
and began the:1r operations
in theimmdiateama ofthefentian Border.
To round
To rotxxi out
out one
one ot mat tantastio
of the most fantaatia dqa
days ot
of adrmbU.
airrobS.le operat1oDa
operatkm
for the
for the lOlat
IDW. Airborne
Airborne Division,
Mvision, one cODpan;y
conpaqy trom. the 2d
fkcvmthe 26 Battallon,
Battullm,
httAM?#'bgimedwa6
l.8t ARn Jlegil8nt aeDt into
was Ssnt F8Tigar
into 1'8 Tiger (n>
(m 25209o)to 8eCUJ-Othe
2520~) to secure the
firebam
fire base for
for the
the a88aultof2/1ARVN
asaault ot 2/1 ARVN on the followlngda$.
on the This
following dq. !hie
brought
brought the
the total
total units
units lifted
lifted to
to four
four battalion8
battalions ami
and one wqmny
colp&I\Y

and coupled
coupled with
with the
the ten
ten batteries
batteri~s of
of artllletry
art111el7 which were tm~ed
which ware myed
the dG,p
dQy lefora,
before, indicated
indicated the
the thorou@;t~ass
thoroughnesB of
of planning
planning arxi
and precieemsa
preeisene8s
of
of execution
execution of
of the
the Mvision
Division alrmblle
ai.nIDbile operations.
operations. The day8'
dqst

activity
activity pointed
pointed out
out the
th~ tremndou8
tremendous influ6nce
infiuence of
of the
the hdicoptar
hol1copter

02
on modern
nxxiern military
DX1.11tary operations.
opera.tions.

3
 Ono. on the laD1in& SO"". ud •• ow-1ty ..t.abl1ahed tM batt..12OM
-.Deuvtnd tbroqhout the area of operat.1oM. Pollow'.ac. brt.t

... enco\mter, the )cl Battalion, l8?t.h Intantrr . .eel tmI.rd the hlcb
groUDd to the ...t. It Val troll w.. pon.tioD- no~t of Daas
AI> 81&- that the Batt&l.1on headq~ COIltrou..4 aid .~

operatioDa throqhout the periOd 10-21 JIq. At l.64SR, B CoIllpaDT,

J-l8?th reoeiyed t .. BPO round. ad one burn of -'per tire fUt7

~be area with organ1c ".apgll8" art1ll..,., aerW. rocket a.rt..UlAr7 {All>
8Dd air strikes reeult1ng in two IfVA Idl1ed, aDd suttezo1D1 tm-_
wounded (eYacuatecl 17alR). The dr strike. corrt,!!.-aed to pollDCl the

suspected 8DelV' location until darkness. lD1t1al 1lIpr_skiu ware

that th. ~..,. were probably trail _tohen, but after net.1 m.
casualtior•• it
caaualti was md.ent
itwaa evldantthatthe flrewmltd too
that the tire too well.
w&coatnalUd
controU.d
for trail
tor trail watchers axI that
WhtChCW8 and that stitt..
stiff- resistance
re818tnnc. Imild
.,uld be aucoantered.
be mm3tmtdoLLbd.

‘he other
The other battakha Involved
battalicas involved u\
is tbe operation cont.~
tie operation Coat- to
to

maneuTttr in
ssamnmr in their respective zone8
their re8pectioe aM dimzovsred
zones and d1aco~ed -tab
lJUMroue s-.1l
8ti

cache8
caches containing
containing mixed small arms, mortar
mixed amall Dl)rtar rounds
rounds and
arxl crau4mmed
ere~er'led

weapon
weapon amunition.
ammunition. I

uII Hay'
On UHay,B
On 11 May, B Cornam,
COlIl)a.ny, 3487th
3-187th conducted
conducted a first
f:irst light
light check of
of

the
the previous
previous day's
day's contact
contact and found
found numerous
numerous blood
blood trails
t~ails (seven)
(seven)

and threeadditional
a.dditional
thr,s~ hodies,
todies, besides
besides cne M-47,
AK-47, one
onft ll@t
li~t machinegun,
machinegun,

one Wcf
RPG rocket
rocket launcher,
launcher, and misoellaneous
misoellaneous equipment.
equipment.

4
 .,.v__ •

______ ______-L--------------,"
.. . n
~~~ ~~

/-
- I

~ ______________ ~ __________ ~ __ ~~ __ ~~ __ ~98

32 JJ

11 May
UkY Bravo COIIlJ'l8.I1Y pntrolU.ngtowmi
EJravoCanpany Hill 937 rW'ul into
patrolling toward )till~?nm8imto

a well
",ell defended
defended hut,
hut and bunker
bunker complex(327982).
complex (327m). After N.~
After f'%@b

ingtorecove~utmnded,
ing to recover wounded, the
the company
comp8.Ily pills
p.U..ls bgckto
back to artight
a night

defcsf*?- r ("" q:t tion.

rle~ e:,,~~ ., ~ yrsltion,

4-a
 1&ter
&tar that d&.Y
that day ...
a~ they
they llLUWu
manurtrrovd In the
......d in the riCiJ;1tT
viciAtr cf the
er Qw Leot!a'l
LotIm
Bordar due
Border ueat or
duo vest of A tou1.
xoul, B 00..,.113,
Co-, 3-le7tb aad.
)-187t.h mad. cont.et
cont*t w24.a
(16248)

.- with an unidentified 81s. eMII\Y tore. wll _trenched on the rSdp

line in the neWt,- of ftUl 9'J7 em 327983) (5. Sketcb 1). &ee.l..s.c
•
e~ heavy machinegun, s-.l.l .... , RPG, 8IlCl .,rtar tire the COIIpaD7

eq>l.oyed W, air strike•• and utUlery supoort ·in addition to s..u.

ama rire
ar_ fimuhichreuultedin fireNVA
wh1ch reeulted in fi )cillrd.
.... IVA Id.l.led. Theseuercdi~~~mred
These were d1.sconrecl
ir,lile the unit
\:.dle unit vas
was seare~
searchimthsthe hut and
and b1mker
tn&mr complex.
ccraple~~. B
I3 CoIt~'1I
-*=w@8
1~4
1~9d platoonsuffered
platoon +AreekllledMdnine~wbuxxiedifithe~t
suffered three killed and nineteen wounded in the ccmt.ct

and was
and ~88 forced
forced to withdraw
withdraw aa short
8kwt distance
distance to
to regrow,
repxm. leaving
leaving tbe
tbd
WuuIxiedwhere
woumed where they.tell.
thay ,fell. The eOql8l1Y
The companyinitiated
lnitlated aa secoui
8ecolxl advance
adlraYsxJto
ta
retrieve those
retrieve tho8e init1al.q
init- wounded and 8Uf'tered
.,tmded 8ufSmed additional cmualtlea.
addUi43ml canaltles.
On the
On the third atteqt me
third att..,t LTC Honeycutt,
HonaJrcutt, the
the battalion co-,
batta110n co_Dder. iiletslrcted
1Detructecl

themto
them incrsamtheirvolumeof
to !ncre."e iireazxipxahupoestth~rrotoded
tbe:lr vola. of' fire aDd pusb up l)ast the M)unded

rather than
rather thes trying
t,rying to
to retrieYe
retrieve them und.- direct en.v
undm direct eh~p~ tire.
fire. Thilr
Tb1s
was accomplished. at 1645H.

IL7OOH
At 1700H drwlag a mecl-evac
durina for B
medavac tor B Coq>&1'\Y'
Compul(vaa cobra gumMo acoompa@ag
cobra gumshi'D acco~

the zmd-evac
med -evac indvertentlybankedcurl
inadvertentlY banked ami firesixrpckeM
tire six rocketa into
into the
the

BattaUonmmmaxmipolrt,
Bat tallon cn-Ind post. DCow,and
D CoJlPlU1Y, and themrtarplakmlearing
the mrtar platoon leaYing

one
one killed
killed axxi
aD1 thirtv-five
thirtv-rive wmndead in ita
wounded in its wdre.
wake. The battalim
battalion
conmander,S2, S3,andartilleryliai8oa
colllllander, S2, S3, and art1.l1er,- liaisen offlcerweretrsomdais
officer were wunded, aad
and

aU.wsre
all were evacuated
encuated accept
exce'Pt the
the battalion
battalion comandar
co-.nder and
aDd thes3.
the 83. By
1~Hfihsuwnded~ been evacuatedandthe
lmH the loIcnmded had bean evacuated and the co@esbegan
~lIpaDie~ began eatlbliahing
establishing
t
thslr
their night
~ht defanaive
derenai~ po8ltiona.
positions.

5
 A 11gn1t10aDt dieoovel7 in the ar.. bJ the )-lB7t.b . . . '"'"
of doc __ta 1deatltr1na the wd.t 1D~wcl 1D the cont.aota . . U.
2CJt,b NYA a.~-nt. The doc~t. 1D11cated that tlw 29t;h e,,, Et

bad returned trca North VletDa111.D April ad heel be_ coad-u..

reconn.aaaDOi operationa botWMn Baa. Area 61l. 1D
. tto. ad . . .
S48 in the A Shau vaUq.

!l.e.mta or the let Battal1on, 506th IntIlDtJ7 vh1le ---ftriJa«

near the 1eot1an Border weet ot :ra Bat recelftCl ..,pet 60.. aDd 82Ia
IDOrtar roUDda resultw in aeYeDteen wounded, all of Wich were ,,,..
evacuated. The 2d BattalicU'l, SOlat Intantr,y, OIl the other baM,
oncountered JDini~ contact during the dIq, but reeulted in t1:"
en. . k~]]ed.

the battalion'
With the battalion% a colBlnd
commd post
post at FB Br.uey,
at FB Brdley, 81-""
a- of t&
2/l ARVN
2/1 ARVNBattalion
BattaUon combat
co&at assaulted
ssmulted south
8outh ot
of Pire Bake 'l'~r
Fire Bal. T-r (ID 253)430)
(m 2W)
to search out
to out the area of operations.
area ot operations.
12
12 Max
3n 12
On I.2 Mq
Hay the
the J-l87th
348'7th continued
continued their
their p,1sh
push through
through the
the thick
thick bawboo
ba&oo
ad elephant
ard tibpha,nt grass
grass along
along t.~~
t?x !"'~~h
rsq$ !'idges
ririgw or
of Dow & Bla.
Do~ ApMa. TWO
'00

air strikes
air strikes were requested
XXK@e8tedand
8nd coJllPleted
coqleted at 0804H
at 0804H in
in uupprt
su~rt of B
of

Copsarsp% advance
CoDl>&llY's advance up th~
th~hillarrl Coxgmy'e advance
hill aai C CoDlp~'S advancetothsmrtb-
to the north-
of B Company.
east ot
east Coqmny. 09'IUH B
At 09l3H Conpaqp begL~
Coq>~ beg- receiring aniper
rece1riDg sniper tire
f'lm
from their
froM their rear
rear and by
by 092lH
092lHthey
they were receiving
receiving intCM
lntenme a~tle
automtlc
fire from
fire fromthe fkont and incoming
the front incomlngmAar munds.
.,:-tar rounds. To aid
aid in
in the
the
evacuation of
evacuation of the
the lIOumed
wcmxied the
the battalion
battalion coJlll8ndet" requeuted engineer
coxmmder requested englmer

6
~~~------~---------------------,~
••

----------------~------~--~----------~--~~
33
32 \
33

12 May
12 Msry Bravo Com~T
Bravo Companycannot
cannot dislodge the enemy
dislodge the enemy from
from their
theti
bunkers.
bunkera. Delta
Delta and
and Charlie
CharUe move
move to
to assist.
assist.

6a
support to
support to blow land1n~ sane
blow aa landtip: son. for
tor B
B Cowany. Att.-pting in
COIllp&n7. Att&ing an
inaert-ion at 10248 the rrgineer
bmrt~onatl024Hthe engineer shipwlrs hit b7 RPG aid s4U
ship waa hitt?yIlpGd _11

ar- fire
arm6 \!auaing itit to
tire causing burn reeultiDg Fh
crash aD1 burnrasulting
to crasha& sevea
in sevm

casualties.
Ca8ualti88.
continued to -.neuver against the ve1l d1ec1D1 'ned
B CollpalQ" contl.nuedtomsneuvera#nstfhe~disciollzrsd
BcOapsny
.
torce, estimated
force, estimated at
at two
tl«) conpa,n%es,
coq:»anies. which
which mrdr
were dug
dug in
in about
about 200
200

m&em to the-
_teroS to front (See Sketch
their fkwnt Sketch 2). battal'on c&led
2). The battaUon called for
tor

AHA am artillery
MUand dialodge the enav tro. h1a
tire in order to dislodgetheeqtimhib
artillery flretiorderto

fortified position,
fortified position, but the en-
but the en. . hald f'ut and
held fast aDd thugbe the 4dq
throughout t)re

the 3487th
the 3-1S7th contimmd
continued to receive hea-
to receive hea'VY autmatic
auto_tie kapons
weapons 81Ki RPG
and lipc

fire interspersed
fire interspersed with
with mortar fire.
Dl)rtar fire. Heav:r air
Hsav atr1k~s consisting
air strties consisting

of 500
of and 1000 poundbode,
SO and1000 pound bombs (highdraganddelayed ruse), in addition
(high drag and delqed tie),ln additiDn

ta napalm and artillery

to napalmand artmew fire,were continu~ p2acedonthe
tire, were continuaUy e~' s
placed on the em18

position.
position.
Me-e,
Meanwhile, the other
the other battalions
battal.ions - 2-5018t and l-S06th
2-50lst 1+06th- - contAmed
cont1.'1Iled

in torce
reConnaiSSmcs in
to conduct reconnaissance force operations
operations throughout
throughbut their
their areas
srW#
of operation
of operation encountering
encountering limited
lited contact.
contact. B ColIIp~,
colmpw, l-506th
1-506thtiile
lib 118

maneuvering in
maneuvering vicinity ot
in the vicinity 30994l,mcomtersd
coordinates Ie 309941.
ofcoordinat8sYC anCOlD'ltered
three
three NVA,
lWA,kUlhg one am
killing one sml captur11lg
cspturinghlshis AX-47.
M-47.
While on
on reconnaissance in
in toree
folu:a operatioDS j.mmdiate area
in the iJII-Uate
operatialra in
of titian
of the Le.otian 3/l ARVN
Border 3/1 ARVNBattalion
Battalion discovered
discovered aa sDBll cache ot
smll cache of
miscel.lansous equipaent
miscellaneous equipment and
and weapons-eigt.t
weapons-z&@.t individual
inditridual and twelve
and twelve

crew-servsdueal~)ns.
crew-eerved wapons.

SimiNaneous with
Simultaneous with the
-
maneuvering ot
the maneuvering
e
the battalions
of the battalions on
on the
the ground.
pound,

77
A Troop, ZdSquulron,
A’bup, 2d SqUidron, 17thCavJrJconducWd~
17th Cavall7 conductAcl a.1r XWOfIMb8UlCO~
reconna,1aaance in

support ot the ground fames

support oftha tore.s thmug&utthe area ot operat1ona.
througbDut the srsaofopsratieae.

llk
The
Th. s%tuatAon
8ituatlon rwuined
r _ ned mow
unobaD&ed for
for the
the 3487th 13 w
3-187th on l,3 M.
Jfq .
'
the
the coqmniee reconnais.an~ in
. collpanie. conducted rec~nm&~ssnm in force
toree operattins in i;'ncdr
operat1ona ia tiMdr

imaediate
imaed1ate areas*
areas. ACo~novsdtothebattdion~aPlanbpostud
A CoIllpall7 .,ved to the battaliDJ'S co-.nd poet aDd

rdievsd D C~~ ot the securitym%ssiori,

relieved DCoapsnyofthe securit7 lliaeioli, & D CoIIpan7 .,yed to
au4 D~kqany~~vmlto

aasiat
assist BaxxiCCompanies.
B and C Companies. Thro~ut dq the
the day
Throughout the eDllllr ..,lo7ecl
the ew emp,lo)ed anall
na1l
RPG, automaticweapons,and?&wtsrs
arms, RFG,
ame, automatic weapons, and .,rtars rrOtpwU entrenched POSiti0D8
&0. we11 entrsnchodpoulMone

q@nat the
R.gainst the maneuvertig
maneuvering slexmnts
eleJlEtnts ot the
of 187th. The
the 187th. TM 3-3.87th retm%ed
)-l87th retumed

fire&
fire and enployed additional artillet7 aDd tactical&wh%CII
eJql107ed sdditionalartUl~az%l tactical air lfhich hea-
beaT.t.q

pounded
pounded Dong
Dong Ap
Ap H.&I
B~'s western
weatem slopes.
slopes.
During the day
During dsyamed-evac helicopter,uMle
a med-evae helicopter, axtractingwunded
while mractiDg pipa
wunded troa

Company(1536H), was
D Company uaa smt down by small
shot down small arms
arm tire from suspected
fire fro.
enemy locations
ene~ locations YC .328993
Ie 328993 and
and 1C
Yc 324988, reault~ in
324988, rmultlng 2x1six
six Jdl1ed
kXLbd and
und
one wounded. 'The third
The platoon ot
third platoon A COqlany JD:)ved to
of AConp~mvad toUnkuptith
link up with

Coqan.y at
D Company at the
the crash
crash site
site and assisted
assisted in
in the evacuation ot
the evacuation of the
the
wounded
wowxisd back to
to the
the battalion
battalian headquarters.
headquarters.

Earlier in
Earlier in the
the DDrning
m0Mn.g of
of the
the 13th (0330H) 'ir~
13th (0330H) Base Airborne,
Fire Base &borne,
defendedbyACoq.my,
defer¥ied Battalion,
by A Company, 2d Battalion, 5Olst Infantry
501st Infantry and
snd three
three
Artillery
Artillery batteries,
batteries, C-2-U (4
C-2-ll 155 How), B-2-319
(4 155 B-2-319 (2 105 How)
How) am
and
G-2-319th, was
C-2-Jl9t.h, was assaulted
assaulted on three
three sides
sides by ele!!!'Jnts
ele~nts of of two
tw NVA
NVA

battalions
battalions supportml by
supported kq 82mm
82mm1mrtam andRFG
DDrtars and ~flre.
RPG tire. After infiltrating
Atter Infiltrating
through
thro~ the concertina
the concertina wire
wire on the
the north
north side
side of
of the
the per1meter
per-tar the
the

88
 attacking force
attackiq a7Ste_t1c~ crfrs-cmssed
toree eyatenratically criae-croaaed the
the northerly
northern pfiioa
portioD

ot the .tire bue toaa1ng satchel char.- aDd gr~ •• 111 the buak...
thq eDCount..ed. Intho
theyonoountemd. glow ot the burning J>O'der in tile
In the glowofthe~pmdertith6
I
. a_udtlon storage
amunition storage area
area the
the mm ot 1urborne
..,. of Airborne dmve
droft the
the attam
attacld.Dl
..-
.
torce f'romthe
..
force hill, kUng
trom the hix1, kUling fort7 ot the
tort,. of the attacu
attacJdDg fof‘ce, ,..1
toree, &l&eM

suttering twent,.-two killedand

mfferingtwenty-two 81xt,.-one woUl'¥led in addition to
killed and eixty+newurrd&fncrdditionta

five howitzers that were damaged

fivehoniteerethatuere damaged or
or destroyed.
deetro:red. tter
1&ter lntbs da.T
in the dy

Coq,anies, 2-5Olst
B, C, and D Coqmnieer, 2-5018t were axtrscted
extracted from
from the
the fidd,
field,

Airborne, am cond~&ed
·reinserted into Mrborne,and
minsertedinto reeormaissance in
conducted recoXmlaibbaZlc8 torce
in force

operations to
operations north, south,
the north,
te the south, and east ot FB
east of FB Airborne
Airbome in
in search
search

ot the
of the attacking
attacking force.
force.
l-506th continued
The l-SO&h continued search
search and da&my
destroy xrdsaions
missions in its af,sw
in its assigned

area of
of operations mving northwest along
operationa mpovingmrthweat ~h grourrd
along hU?h checking a#temi+e
groUDi checking exteD8iTE

along the slopes

along slopea of the AShauVtiey.
o,f the A Shau Valley. During the
king the deg tound
A COIllpal17 found
day ACow-

eight
eight huts, considered to
huts, which were considered to be part
part of
of aa possible
possible staging
staging area,
amI
and small amounti of anmunition.
searching the cache
While searching cache area discovered
discovered the previous day, 3/1
previous, dq, 3/l
ARVN
dipi{ Battalion
Battalion found aa large
large cache
cache consisting
consisting of
of eight
e&ht vehicles,
vehic1e8,
seventy-eight
seventy-eight individual,
individual., and twenty-tive
and twenty-five crew-served
crtw-sermd weapons.
ueaponae

On the morning ot
On of the l..4th,
E&h, B, C,
C, and
and D Coq>an1es
Companiesof 3018'7th
the 3-l87th
of the

once
once again
again rcc ei ved intensive
received axnaJJar~,
intenaiva small army, .iutomatic,
~utmatic, and RPG
and FzlpG
fire &8
fire M
they began aa deliberate
they beg8Jl d&berate tire and maneuver
fire and BEUK+U~~~on
on the Dong Ap Bla
Dang Ap Bia complex,
comglax,
•8 under artillery,
under artillery,tactical a3r am
tactical air and gunship
gunship coVera
cover, was the first.
TMsuastha
This fir&
r! 99
 FIGtJRI ,

~ __ ~~ ________ ~ __________________________ ~99

32 33

14 May
UMay lb
The first
first concerted
concerted drive
drive to
to gain Hill 937.
gain RUl c
737. C
and
and D
0 Ccnqxnies
Companies run
run into
into command
comnand detonated
detonated claymores
claymores and
and
stiff
stiff resistance.
resistance. B
B Canpany
Canpany gets
gets two
two squads
squads on
on top
top of
of 937
9Y1
'\ but
but is
is forced
forced to
to withdraw
withdraw when
when C
C and
and D
D can
can not
not advance.
advance.
 concerted effort
concerted effort to
to seize Hill 737.
seize Hill 937. COlqp4&tli88
and D Coq,anles
B, C, and were in the
were in
attack' echelon,
attack echelon, when
when heavy contact was
heavy contact wm established
establtihed (See
(See Sketch J'.
33.
By l500H
By lmHB B Comparo-
~mpanyreportedhavingtwo squadson
reported having tl«> squads ot the hill,
topoftthe
on top hill,
but and C Conpanies
but B a.."d Companies had
had received
received heaVY' camzslties due to
heavy casualties ta comand
comwnd
detoriated clqmres
detonated and were
claymores and. unable to
WWQUflAble ti a.c1vance
advance sn:l
snd the
the battalion
battalion
.
was forced to
was forced to break: contact. Throughout
break contact. Throughout the
the day Light
Light Observation
Helicopters used
Helicopters used as
a8 md-evaca
_d-evacs were called in to
c&&xi in to evacuate
evacu&e all
ain the
the
a small
serious~ wo1mded from a.
S~~OUS~WOIXI~~~ 8~~lllmdingson8onthe Adge down
landing zone on the ridge dawnto the
to the
~attalion
attalionlSUii.llg
landing zone* This
zone. This method
mthod of
of shuttling
shutttig the wounded
the wounded worked
wmrkai
wall
yg well and drew III1ch
much praise From the
praise from the Ii..,
XMII on the
the ground.
ground. A rapid
A rapid
cwnt on
c.W'1t on the
the battlefield r8su"t.d
battlefield res,'- in forty-seven
t, d in forty-sevan NVA
NVAkill.ed
killed by
b s:aall
8ti
arms fire am
ams fire and twenty-nine
twenty-nine killed
killed by aJr 8trlkea.
by' air Arikes. 30187th lDst
The J-187th lost
-*Y five
five killed
killed and fifty-eight
fifty-eight uourxied.
woUD1ed.

The other
The other maneuver
maneuver battalion8 involved in
battalions involved in APACHE SNOWcontinued
APACHESNOW contimmd to
ti
accomplish their
accomplish their search and destroy
destroy missions
missions in
in the
the area of
of operatioDa
operationa
encountering light
encotmtering light enemy
enemy resistance.
resistance. Many of
Many of the
the contacts
contacts were with
were with

enenrs-
en- trail watchers
trail watchers and the
the reJlll8nts
rennants ofof the retreating
retreating Airborne
Airborne
attack force.
attack force.
15 May

!DI~ 3-1S7th,
The 34Wth, with
with A Coxtpanyrelieving
A Company relieving C CODlp&1'\Y,
Coxnpw, continued
continued its
its
drive along
drive along the
the ridges
ridges ot
of Hlll
Hill 937
937 on the
the DOrmng
morning ot
of 15 May.
~. As the
As the
line companies
line companies maneuvered
maneuvered toward
toward their
their cbjective
cbJective UlXler
tier enaq
heavy enemy

fire they
fire they discovered
discovered fourteen
fourteen W!
NVAbodies the previous
bodies from the days'
previous dqs'
contact.
contact. md C Companies,
B and &4mnies, once
once they
thag reached the
the line
U.ne of
of departure,
departure,

10
10
~~~~--------~--------------------------~99

700

800

32 33 <]a

15
15 May
MY A
A Company
Companybroke
broke out
out of
of the
the tree
tree line
line and
and secured
secured
the
the small knoll when BBCcmpany
smallknollwhen Company came heavy fire.
under heavy
cillhe under fire, The
Thep
ARAships
AliA ships attanpting
attmpting to
to suppress
suppress the
the enemy
enemyfire
fire inadverte.ntly
inadwrtent2y
hit the
hit the lead
lead platoon
platoon of
of BB Company.
Company.

lOa
 found clapmxes
fad claymores implaced.by
implaced .by the
the mew
enelO" the
the night before. By
night before. 1300H
By l,300#

al.l conpanles
all co,q,anies were in
in extremely heav,r contact
extremely' heavy contact ati suttering cammlttfeb~
ani Buffering casualties.

B
B Colppoxsy
CoDpa1.V requested
requested an ARA
AliA &%ce to aupprsss
strike to sUR>res8 the
the heavy enemy
eneJV fire
tire
to their
to their front.
tront. AConpnywas
A COJll)any was on the
the right
right ofB
otB Compe~ly
CoDp8.ll1' w%thC
with C

Company approx1at~ 200 m&n-a

Company app~tuly to theleft
meters to the lett when
when the
the ARA
AM B)p1pIved
arrived

on' station at
on'etation l4OOH. (Sue
at U&OH. (See Sketch 4) Instead
Sketch 4) Instead of
of cam&
coming in
in from
trom the
the

rear ot B Coqmny
rear ofB CODpany and fixxiing its taPget
tiMing it8 target on the hill, the
the hi& AlU. ship8
the ARA ships
came fbmttheright
cane from the right overnying
overf'l\ying ACco~aplutyanci
A COIIp&nl' and raked
raked theleadptitoon
the lead platoon
ot 3B Compeay
of Company with
with rockets
rockets &owing
slowing the
the mmntum ot tha
momentum of attack. A
the attack. A

Company
Compan;y at the sam
at the same t&n8
time earn wxi~ heavy
cams u&e eneDO'" fim
heav,r enepDT tire and
ard at l6)OH
at 163OH
the companisa
companies had to
to withdraw
withdr., waler
ur.d.er heaoy'preame to the
heaY7pressure ta the landing
landing

zone
zone inorder
in order im
to ev&xatethe wounded. fater
evacuate the wmmded. Later in
in the
the day thu
the battstlian
battal1Dn
CodpostwaS
commarxJ post was hit b.r RPG rounds 'WOunding 8eoar~oftheparatmopePs.
hit bgtFpcround8umnding several of the paratroopers.

Among
Among those wounded
wourxled ua8
was the
the battalion
battalion conmar&r,
eomarder, LTC
LTC Honeputt,
Honeycutt, who
who
r~ceived RPG
received RPG f?a@ent8
fragments in
in the
the back*
back, with
with one piece
piece lodged clibse
close

to his
to his spine.
apIne. He refused
He evacuation am
refused evacuation and remained
mmeine;d in
in control
control and
and was
w8,8
able to
able to continue
contirnr8 his
hi8 duties
&tie8 following
folbwing medical
medic&l. aid
aid .?.dmL~istered
zwistered fifiii
him
in th{., f leld.

Rates ot
of fire
fire experienced
scperimced du..~g
du.zzg the
the dq
dq were extreme:Q"
extremly heavy
heav
and the enelJGT
and enerqgskillr~
skillfully employed cOTIINm
employed commxid detonated
detonated cl~res,
claymres,
satchel charges, and
satchel and grenades, which the;y
thny rolled
x&Led down
down the hill
W-intointo
the advancing US
the us forces.
fOrc98. &tilIl!%tO8 of
Kstimates of the size
size ot
of the eneD\1
eneqy torce
force

rangedas
ranged a8 &aregQmnta2headquartera.
as high as regimental headquarters. Theenamy
The werewell
eneDtV were well

entrenched - occupying bunkers il!

entrenched-occup@ng in cone
concentric mw8 which afforded
entric rows afforded

11
 maxi DlJm utSUzation
xmdmm ot the
ut.tlization of the terrain
·t,errain avaUable. Similar q thw
available. Sitilsrb "Are
they me

well trairzed,
wdl. experts at
trained, experts at concmalnmnt
concealment and camoutlage, hard
aDd carmuflage, hard to detect I
to detect,

and delivered a tremendous volw. ot accurate iire

sndde~~ar9datrsmsndbusvolwnroit~~tar tire into advancing
into advancing

US tZYIop8.
11s was 8U8pctsdthateMEqyreinfo~~t8
troops. ItIt me suspected that e!*IIT rein.t"orcements -robe*
were being
into the
brought into
brought the contact
contact zom continuoU8~ because
zone contlmously because each
each day the
dq the
.
enell\Y force
eneqy haircuts, clean
fresh haircuts,
torce had fresh clean uniforBI8, new weapoxla~
un1.t"orms, and new weapons.
The intensive to bunker
intensive bunker to bunker fight ot thd-l8?thleftlaom
tight of the 3-187th lett lION than
than
sixty-t1«3 NVA soldiers
sixty-tuaNVA dead. A8
soldiers dead; As of
of iiha
ths l%h,
15th, *ration
Operation flkcm
APACHE mw
SNOW
losses .1n terms
liasses,in terms of
of friw casualties were thirty-efght
triendq casualties US killed
thirty-eigbt. m kUled

and 245 woumied.

and 245 wounied.

Due to the
Due to the heavy
heavy' contact
contact 1'-37thwaswas experiencing,
:'-ld7th experiencing, the
the l+Cl6th
l-506th Wa8
was
to Dl)ve oorthward to linkup
ordered tomovamrthwardtO
ordered link up with
with 3-mh am aupp~rt
3-l.87th ami support thsatb~~k
the attack
on Dong
tin Dong Ap with 3487th
Bla with
Ap Bia 3-1S7th +c&ing
acting as a block- toree on thu
blocking force northeast.
the northea&

Light contact
id&& contact ~58 experienced b.r
was gtperienced the 1-506
& the its IMUMUVB[C
l-506 on it8 maneuver into
into the

vicinitY' of
vicinity of Hill 937.
Hill 937.
2+Olst, stU!
2-501st, still on reconnaissance
reconnaisssnce in
in force
force operations
operations in
in the
the area
surrotmding FB Airborne,
surrounding Fa Airborne, encountered light
light ene.
enemy resistance in the
resistance in 6he torce
force
ot
of trailll8.tchers,
trail watchers, t.,
two to
to three
three men
men groups
&rot438which
which continualq
continuil~ harassed
the le8d 818IQkWIt8.r.a
lf%d elements. Z3 Airborne
Airbrne at 1915H
at ths 15th
1%5H on the 15th received
received 8ix
six 82lD
82nm
mrtar
mrtar rounds
rounds causing
causing little
little damage,
damage, iDiicat1ng
Micating that
that the
the NVi
NVAwere still
still
very
v~ much interested
much interested in
in this·area.
this.area.
Throughout the slight ot
the liight of 15-16
1516 Mq elemmts ot
Xsy elements the 3-1S7th
of the 3-187th were
involved in
involved iI; m:xierate
mderata contact.
contact. At2J10HCCompaqyheardmmmsntout-
At 2310H C Compan;y heard movement out-
side of
of their
their perimeter
perimt~ and responded
and with grenades
responded with grenades untU the lIDvement
until the mvement
.
12
12
 at 2330H. kter
ceased at Le.ter that night (~&lOrJ,)
that night {l6CllOH) they
they begm
began receiving
receiving

grenades,
grenades, satchel. charges, and SIII&~
satchel charges, small 8rms
arms ii.233 trom probe8
tire from to~
probes on aall fOy
f

sides of
sides of their
their night
night defensive position. A
defensive position. A Spoo&
Spooky (AC-47 flare
.flare ahip
ship

\-.-ith mini-guns)
with mini-guns) was requested am arrived
requested and arrived on station
station working in
working in

conjunction withI a Snadow

c9njunction witF Shadow (Cl19
(C119 with
with aearcM&jht). AHA gun tern
searchlight). AR-A teams

were also
nlso emloyed,
employed, workin*
workil'..g under
under the sea.rc~~ight throughout
the searcM.igh% throughout the ~st
the rest

of the
of night. One
the night. One rocket
rocket pass restited
resulted in
in three
three secondary
secondary exploatinse
exploaions.

The enema
enentV' broke
broke contact
contact at
at 053OH a. first
0530H and a lildlt check of
first l&&t or the
the area
area

SurrOl.mdin~ their
~surraundine: their night
night defensive
defensive position
position revealed
revealed fourteen
fourteen bodies
bodies

and mmy
many blood trails.
blood trzkti.

Dxbg
I)tlrmg the
the dav
da.ys of sr-.:: 16 May, 3/l
of 15 a5t 3/1 ARVN
!RVN BattaUm
BattaJj.cn continued
continued

to exploit
to exploit the
the cache
ca.che area
area discovered
discovered on the l2th w& or"
the 12thwesti of tiz Out.
Ia Dut.
Added to
to the
the already
already imaressive
imPressive list ot captured
list of captured item6 were ten
items w8re ten

individual weapons,
individual weapom, one 82mm
82am mortar
mortar tube,
tube, in
in addition
addition TV
to Large
large

quantities of
quantities of an:mun1tion
ammanittin and the
the graves
graves of
of forty NVAsoldiers
forty Hi! soILdims recently
recerrtly
killed air strikes.
killed by air strikes,
16 May
Throu~hout
Throughout the Dl)rning
the mwning ofof 16 .May,
May, l-506th
l+%th mrth to
maneuvered mrth
maneuvered to effect
effect
Ux3'link
its with the
link up 'With the 3-l87th
3-187th leading
lead3ng with
with the
the reconnaissance
reconnaissance platoon
platoon
and followed
and followed by
lqy A and
and C Companies.
Compmies. 083OHA Co~anv
At 0830H Cozqmm received.
received RPG,
RPG,
automatic weapons
automatic weapons and
and machi..."1egun
mach.i.mgun fire
f%re from
f'rom hea~
heavily fortified
fortified bunkers

in the
in the vicinity
vicinity of Hill 916
of Hill. (YC 3196).
9.l6 (YC 3196), Artillery,
Artillery, gumhips, air
gunsh11's, air
strikes and the
S~I%C~S and the battalion8
battalions‘ f organic
orgadC weapons were employed
weapons t31@0yed to suppress
to supprees
ene@s tire,
the enemy's fire, but
but as
as soon
soon as
a.13the friendly
friendly fires
fires let
let up
up the enelItY
energy

13
13
 would re-engage the
woul.d re-engage the advancing
advancing troope.
troops. Contact
Contact was
vas broken
broken at
at lk35H
1435H
resulting in
resulting in one U!3
US k-d
k:Uled and 88-n
seven woumied. Bn~ lo8888
losses mre
woun:led. 3Blnaapr were

one Mlled
one AK-47 catiwBd.
killed and one AK47 captured. B C~any later in the morning
BCamp8nylaturinthum~
--
enga~ed one trafl
engamd trail watcher
watcher with
with small
small ama
arms fire
£ire which
which broughod
broughout
..- 8lleJDT fire.
additional enezqy tire. Artillery am air
Artille17 and air strikeswure
strikes were empl0p4
employed
additional.
contact wae
and contact
kd broken at
was broken 1335H resultinn
at l335H resultin~ in US kLLl.ed
in one IS killed and

se-yen wunded
seven wounded with
1dth unknown
unlmown ensmy
enemy restilt8.
results.

Because of
Because of the
the heavy era- tire A,
enemy fire A, B,
B, l-506th
1-506th were haofng
having
difficulty getting
difficulty getting into position for
into position tor the
the attack Dong AP
attack on DOW! Aop ?!%
Bia
reported that
and reported they would probably
that they probably not
not be in position before
in positiolr beiore

the morning
the uorning of
of the 17th. Thr
the 17th. Th, CS
c;~ a,rtXLLer~
artUlery preparattin ot the
preparation of the
hill was
h3ll. was then
then delayed tmtil the
delayed tmtil the 17th
17th in anticipation of
in anticipation of the
the link
link

up of
of the
the two b&AxUons
battalions and
and the
the coordinated attack on Hill
coordinated attack Icibl 1fJ7.
9%
Protective ~ke and !.Lak
Protective masks jackets were drop&
*fl& jackets dropped to
to both
both battalions
battalions
(1-506th aid 3-187th).
(1406th al1d 3-237th). flak jackets
The flak were requested
jackets were reque8ted as aa
preventative measure
preventative mmmre against
agaimt the
the increas1r;g
increasing 8lIDunt
amunt of
of shra.pnel
shrapnel
wounds of
'WOunds of the
the chest,
chest, abdomen,
abdomen, and back regions
regfom of
of the
the body.
body.
of the
Three companies of the 2-50lst
2-50lst continued
continued on 16 May
May to
to conduct
conduct
reconnaissance irk force
reconnaissance in force operations
operations and
and saturation
saturation patrols in the
patrols in the
vicinity
vicinit~ofF2of FB Airborne.
Airborne. The day's
The day’8 contacts
contacts resulted in
resulted in one
one NVA
WA
killed.
killed*
‘Ihe l-506th
'Ihe l-506th began
began closing HU.l 937
closing on Hill 937 to the
the southwest
southwest of
of the
the
3-18'7th and
3-1S7th and began
began DDVi..1').g
roving up up the hill.
hill in
An the early
early mrning.
morning. while
While

roving up
lOOving up they
they rec
received
eived twenty 82mnmrtar
twenty 82JmJ. rumtar rounds all
all of
of which
which impacted
*acted
 out
out of
of the
the line of the advancing
line of advancin$t troops.
troops. To
To counter
counter the
the engry'a
en4lllT's

heavy fire
he& fire three
three air
air atrikes were placed
strikes wwe placed on
OD the
the high
high ground to the
ground to the

1+06th% front. Throughout

1-506th's front. Througoout the
the morning
mrning they
they aqmiencEbd
experienced W&t
IIp:ht

and
and sporadic
sporadic contact
contact which smp>eded
iq)eded their
their movsrpent
moVeEnt considerabu.
cons1der·abl;y.

. At 0945H
0945H the .3-l87th qrienced
the 3487th experienced radio
radio interfereme
interterea:e on the
the comannd
cowand

net when
net when a
a Vietnamese voice
voice repeated “BlackJack,
"Blackjack, BlackJack”
Blackjack" for
for

siwertrl minutes vem

several minutes very rapidly.
rapidl3. U!C
UC Honeycutt,
Honeycutt, whose
whose call
call. sip
sign ia
is

IIBlackjack, n answeredwithartilleryffreand
W.ackjack,n answered with artillery fire ar.d the
the resulting
resulting qbsionrr
explosions

were heard over the net.

net.

At 0955H
0955H IX Honeycutt wall
LTC Honeycutt was evacuated by the
the Assistarat
Assist811t Division
Division

ConmlAnder,
CODlDaXlder, Colonel Smith, to
Colo~el Smith, to ':ave
'.a.ve the shrapnel removed
the shraIllel re1lr>ved f+om
from his
his back.
back.

Major Collier
CoUier amsum3
assumed comand ot tk,s
coDllWld of tha 3-187th as they
3-L87th as they moved
JlX)wd into
into the
the

blocking positions
blocking positions they
they would
tJbUld occupy
occupy the
the bext
hext JD:)rning
morning inin supPOrt ot
support of
the main attack
the main attack by the
the 1-506th.
l-50&h. Atl&&H~Corps
At Ccmmnder,
l.4l.5H XXIV Corps Commander,

Ueutenant General Stilwell

Lieutenant StilweU arrived
arrived at
at the .3-l87th'
3-18'7th'ss location
location to
to
receive aa first
receive hand briefinp:
first hand situation on Dong
briefInE on the situation Dong Ap Bia.
Ap Bia.
17 Ka,y

The plan
The plan of
of attack
attack on Hill
Mll '137
B7 was
was formulated 17 May.
formulated on l7 May. El.eJll8tlts
lQ.ements
of the
of the 3-187th
3-W&h 'Were
-were mved
roved to
to the
the west up to
to the
the high
high grolmd and would
ground and wmld
support the
support the attack
attack from vicinity
vicinity ye
YC 323983 with 9Om.,
323983 with 90x1, machinegun
machinegun and
and
small arms
small arms fire.
fire, In ~dition
In addition there
there was to be aa one
was to minute artillery
one minute art=-

preparation utilizing
preparation utilizing the l05mm
the 1051~~CS howitzer round (approx1mate~
CS howitzer (approximPtelg 200
ZOO
roumis).
rounds). The w4..nd
The wind onon the morning of
the JDlrnin.R: of the attack was
the attack was ideal
ideal with
with the
the
flow to
now 4x3the east.
east, The CS
The CS preparation
preparation would be followed
followed by fifteen
fifteen

15
minutes of
of VT
VT and
and HIE
HE artillmy
art:1.llery fire. At UOOH
tire. At the attack
lOOOH the a.ttack umild
would

comence
coumence with A, B,
with A, S, C/l+06
C/1-506 on line.
line. At
At that
that time
time the art1lJ.err
tile artillerg

fire
fire vmld
would be shifted
shifted to
to the
the east Pink Teams,
east and Pink Air Cavalry
Teams, Air Cavalr7

Reconnaissanc~ forces
iieconnaissance forces consisting
consisting of
of one Huey a.~d one U&t
Hu8,Y gunship and Light

Observation the area

area and &
air strikes would
.Observaticn Helicopter,
.
Helicopter, would screen
screen the strikes w&id

beoncall.
be on call. The attack was de&eyed
attack was delqed u&U
until WH
ll30H when
when itit was
was learned
learned

that
that SL
all elements
elements were not
not in
in position.
position.

As the elments
As the elements began
began their attack the
their attack they faced was
fkra they
the fire was intm8e.
intense.

Additional CS
Additional CS drops were
were &quested at 13.308
requested at WOH by the
the 1406th
l-506th and
and placed
placed

to the
to front of
the front Company' 8 position
of A cOmpanyqs position to
to get
get the
the company across the
cOq)any across the line
llne

of departure; the drops were ..:ompleted

of departure; :ompleted atat l405H. At 1450H
USOH an add.itiond
additional

drop missed the target am

the target and as aa result
result A Coup any was
Company was stUl
still pinned down
pinned down

andunable
a.nd to lJDve.
unable to mvee B and
and C Companies
Companies were
were mneuveril'.g
nraneuver~~ to
to assist A
a883.h A

Company, but
Company, but due ,to the intense
to the intense fire
fire the
the three
three companies were unable
unable

get to
to get
to to their
their objective.
objective,
Although the enenu
Although the enemypossessed gas
gas masks,
asks, the
the OS
(23 attacks
attacks were
effective and caused
effective caused them to
to leave their
their bunkers
bunkers and
and were
wer5 thus
thus exposed
targets
targets t.o the attacking
to the attacking forces,
forces. At 155OHA
At l550H Company, 1-506th
A Company, l-506th and
an&
gunships caught eight
gunships eight NVA co-g
WA coming out of
out of their
their bunkers
bunkers and
and killed
killed all.
a13,
eight,
eight.

Throughout the
Throughout the 17th
17th thtt
ths 3-187th
3487th remained in
remained in blocking
bbckfng positions
positions on
on

the northeast
the northeast of
of Dong
Dong Ap
Ap B1&
Bia supporting
support- the 1-506th
the l-506th with
tith organic
organic fires
fires
snd in
.9.nd in conjunction
conjunction with
with the
th3 3d Brigade's
Drigade'a forward
forward air
ati controller,
controller, directed
directed

16
 FIGtnrI S

if-wMa1y
18 Joined by
Joined by the l-fK% Int.,
the 1-506 Inf., ~187
3-18'7 continues
continues to
to t!"y
t-7 and
and dis-
dis-
lodge
lodge the
the enemy.
eneary.

16&
 air the bunker
strikes on the
air strikes bunker co~lsxes
cOJll)laxes to their
their front.
front. The cont1nv.1 '7
NY! contin#d4
The N’VA

pop*dviolet
popped violet smoke
smoke genadesto
grenades to confuse
confuse the
the forward air
air control
C01.ttrol.ler d
and

pilots
pilots as
.. thm
thq cam
CaDI in
in for
for their
their runs.
runs.
--
The
The 2-~l&,continued theti eearch
2-.501et, cont11'Dled ,their ae.-rch and
and destroy
defltl'O'f mlssions
missions to
to the

.-- north, west, ot P'B

north, and west,of Airbo,r~ mvuntering
Fa Mrbqraa encountering bunkers and
and eque
equipment
.
caches. LU&le
Little contact lQ.8, e«perieneed during$he
contact wase#perienced l?th.
duriDg:the 17th.

The
The 2/l
2/1 ARVN
ARVN Battalion
Batta110n SaarchSng
searching an area
area southwest ot FB
southwest of PB Br&w
Bradlq

discovered four
tour Rus+m
Rus81an trucks,
I ,,,,,, ~., five bulldozem, and 3,000 potis
trucks, tive bulldozers, ard POuMs
, .. .. ,

. of TNT, ,ill
ot TNT, ot which .'Wfr.re." &m5yed.
6ti Of,whiCh~m/Fe cieetrO,-ed.
18J1&y
By
B;y l&Y717# May the'tm
l80717H Ma;r the two bo"U.ions
bpJ t: . lions were in position
were in position aromd Dong
around Dong
ap Bi.a zmd
ApBi.a stsrted up the
and started the h5l.l..
h:lll.. (Sm
(See Sketch 5) Two
Two air strikes
air strikes
..
..,.re
mre put in u
put in ~fomsa began
as the attacJdngtorce.,
attacking .I, began their mve and
their JII)'Ve and six
six

add%tionaJ.8tr~s
additional wm bc+p~sd.bgb.r 0S30H
stx%.ky werec6,..,leted O@OHto art@preasthe eDeav
to supprerss ena~qytire.
fire.
- ,.
1+0&h made
1-506th madeinitial &&act ear~
initial cOl'ltact early in
ti the mrn1ng
mtm%g with
with &''1
m unknown
unknown
. .' .

enen&'force
size enem;y southaide ot
force on the southside of the r:ldge
ridge and contact
and contact continued
cmtinued
periodically
perlodical~ throughout the day. Theeneraprdelivereda
day. The heavyvolw
eneJl\V' delivered a heavy vcll.Ulle
,,..,1 ,.
of I@Gand
of RPG arms tire
snd small arms as the
fire as ths attacking
attackIng forCes
forces empl.o7ed
tmplopd air
air
strikes, artillery,
strikes, artillsry,~~~ CS gas drops and smallsmm
md small fire.
arms tire.

._ 0800Hartille~was
At OSOOH registaredon~get;nith~5~honitzers
artiller;ywas registered on target with lD5mm. howitzers
in position
in position at Fa
F%Currahee,.
Currahee. At 0820H
O@OHaa fifteen
fifteen minute
ndnute art1ller,r
artil&y
preparatiun cOlllDenceci.
preparation comuencsd. When
Whenthe
the artillery
artillery preparation was
preparation was completed
three companies ot
three companies of the 10506th attacked
the l-506th attacked trom
from the
the south aM
and thrge
three
. ..
companies of
companies of the
the 3-187th
348'7th attacked
attacked :.rom
&vxn the
the north.
north.

17
 At llOOH 0 COIIP~I 3-187t.h, ulth
AtllOOH~Co~any,3-U??th, with AComMgron
A ColIIPaIV' on its
it. rl@tw,
right tlaDk,

made
made initial
1n1t1al. contactbpkiJ.Uagtwo
contact b;y kU11DI t;., IWL
IVA. AtlI32H
At 1132H D&qmnyww
D CoIIp8D7 WU

slowed aM heaV'J.l3 engaged by _trenohed ....., tore.. 3JO . . . .

directly to
d;irecQ tront ftiing
their f'wnt
to their tiring RFG'a am wto~Micweapns,
lPG's ux! auto_tic weapons. Atl2OOH
At l200H
DCompanyComuunderwas
D Cnmpany Commander was sewwelynowxMandbp1225HDCo~
seftrel1'1«»UD1ed and b,y 1225H D ColllpAll7

had over 50% casualties with o~ one w.unded lieutenant and ODe .:0

lett in ~oDlllarld. Weather cloeed800nafter .. both 1) .aod A CoIlp8Diee

. .
had
had depleted
depleted their ~ both, 1IeI'1 ti
r&ourcss=&both~man
the:irresourees and amanitlinn.
.,,'nit1on.D.D Coqrtljr
CowpaD7

ai
at this time hsd
this tim total ot tUty.;.8even Jlenwho us~?ecrbbto
had. a totAloff~t+sevol~'who were able to fight.
tight.

In order
In to evacuate
order to evacuate the
the wwxied
'WOunded and dead
dead the
the 3487th
3-187th had
had to
to withdrm
withdraw

from the crest

trom the ot tL
crest of the hill
hill tc
tiC 5Le zone. The
landing 55on0.
tilfJ I- The • •e drry
4bne dq tlm
the

2+06th alerted and ,dq&&$to

2-506th was alerted'and depkl7ed'to FB Blue for
VB Bliim tor a possible
possible combat
combat
,,.
assault inttothe
assault ix&o $he area
8~8~ tore1ntorce.the
ta'&einior+ths .j-ltih.
,3-187th. At 1645H A
At A CoDpa1l7,
h-any,

2+0&h was
2-506th was combat
co&at assaulted
assaulted into
Into the
tha area to
to reintorce
rsinforco the
the belaagpmed
beleaguered

187th.
lS7th. remainder ot
The remainder of the
the 2-506th was to
2-506th was to stq
stay at
at FB
FB Blaze
Blaze and
and on
the 21st
the wuld assume
Zest would assumeresponsibilitY'
responsibU.%ty tor
for Airborne.
Airborne.
17OOHthe
At 1700H the l-506t.'l was still
I-506ti was still in
in contact
contact and still
still advancirq,
advancing,
fighting from
fighting frombunker to bunker.
bunker to bwker. POOHthesgwithdrewand
At 2000H wtablished
they wittnrew and established

t~.ir
tbir night
night defens$,~ position
defensive pocrition just b&w the
jwt belDw the cmiet ot
crest the hill.
of the hill.
In the
In the evening
evening of
of181S Mtq
Mayagresroent between Id.eutenant
agreeMnt between fiieutenant General.
General
Stilwell,&jorGeneral.
Stilwell, ZaiaandGeneral
Major General Zais Troungthelst
and Genera1 Troung ARVNDivision
the lat ARVN Division
Comder was
Comnander was made
madeto employ
e@q the 2/3 ARVNBat
2/3 ARVN Battalion to assist
tsllon to assist 3d
the 3d
Brigade.
Brigade. battalion was
The battalion was to
to be picked
picked up
up tha
the tollorl!lg
folloti,ag day at
at l\te
&e
and hel
am i J j fiEld to
heXLifted to FB
FB Currahee (See
(Ssp,,M~p).
I!"
Map).
••
wu~3.dthen
They w",ld then combat
 assault into
aaa&,t into aa landing
landing Bone east ofot ting
zone east Dong Ap Ba tiand attack
Ap Bit attack we&
west tzp
up

the" Dong Ap
the'%mg Ap BLa
B'la rid@~
ridge.

19HH
iL5Laz
The 2J3
me ARVN Battalion JD:)ved bJ CH-47 atlW@OHProm~e~
2/3 m43Battallonm~edbyCW7 at 190830H from Hue to rz/pz
IZ/PZ
."
a.t FB
at FB c+lrrahee. From Currahee the '.iRVN battalion was air
Currahee. Fmdu,mih~the~battaltanwa~ air a-d-at
&8eaulted at

,1305H t., ship

into a two
1305H into ship landing zone vicinity
landing cone vicinit7 XC
Ie 3a97p am begain
341cno arid began

advancing up theridgeto
adva&ngup an attack position approx:1mate~ %)&es
the ridge to anattackpos%tionap~tefy 500 meteriS

from
,
the crestc
the crest.
Following
Following the
the IX$?~
mOve of
or the 2/3 ARVM
the Z/3 BatMUon three
ARVNBattal,lon troa
companies hwec
three &ompdeS

the 2dBatt&Liun,
2d Battalion, SOlst Infantry were extracted
501st &fan&rywere extracted FromaPZ
from a PZ invicinitf
in vicinit7

ot FB Airborne
ofFB and asisauZted
Airborne and ::.u.to a IandIng
assaulted Ltrr landing son8
zone vicinity
vic1n1tl' Yc :3.3.3997
YC 333997
.
tor the
for the pwpose. ot r&nfoxying
purpose. of reintorcing thethe attack Dong Ap
attack on Dong Ap Bla.
B1a. Their
Their

was deJ.ared
extraction MM
extracttin due to a downed
ddsgacll due.6 downed ship the pick
sW,p on the pick up %one
sone at
at
. 0<)30H, bat""
O$?XIH,but by 1515H air assaultwae
the air
1515H the coapl&d.
a&s&t we cOqlleted. Prom
From the
the landing
Ww
zone
zone the three
three US coqmnies were
TppcODIJanies moveto
were to mve to their
thati attacking
attarlck- position
position
vicinity PC 332992.
tidn.ity YC 3329920
l-506th
The 1-50 encountered heavy
6th ffllcountered heavy eneat'7
enemytire
I3.m during the day as the7
daring the thq
progressed up the hill
pme;restssd up hill. to
to their attack position.
their attack posittin~ Air
Air strikee
strikes were
were)
called in
called in a.gain
again and
and again
a&n onon the en81D1's IacationB in
etl[lzIp1p%
location, in addition
addition to
4x1
a.rtUerg barrages.
artillery barngem. The 3-187
'lbe 3-187 roving trom
mv1.np: timthethe north
north encountered
encou&~~ed no
no
en-
enemy resist&nce.
reaist&nce. Q late
By late afternoon
af'termon the three
three forces
forces had
had discovered
discovered
numerousenemy
numerous en- bodies in
in bunkers
bunkers that
that had
had been
been collapsed
coU.apaed by air
air strikes.
strikea.
The 1-506th
The l+Obth mving
moving north
north encountered
emcounteredbunker
bunker eompl.exes
complexes as
as they
they

continued up
continued the hill
up the hiU fighting
i'ighting from bunker to
f'rom bunker to btmker.
bunkur. C Conp8l1Y'
C Camp-

19
19
 FIGURI ,

99
~~----~------~----~----~~--~~------~~
1 A
1

.
l* \\

I 1 \{ 98
/ I I

32

al
ZQMay
WY Four
Four battalions
battalions attack Hill 937.
attack Hill 93'7. 3-187
3-187 reaches
reaches top of hill.
top of hi.33
at
at 1145
lU5 Ho
Ho

19&
work&??
workiJ'l.g In
in conjunction ~"ith A
conjunction Keith CoJlp~ uure
A Collqporr;g taced with
wre faced with the
the pmblm
probl_

ot- clearing out a complex ot twent7 blUlk... to their front. B.r

1500H contact became mre intense and C Colllp&n7 was in the lead.

aM became Vf/fr7f hea~ engaged ani took ••v ..al casualties and

C Compan;y was abl.. to DOve. This leap frog lIDvea.nt contiDued untU

dark
dark when
when the
the contact
contact tapered ott. At the
tapered off. the t+m&ation ot the
t.rJd..nation of the contao%
contact

A
A. and
and C Conqmnies
Companies were
were o~
only 2OO'mstars troll the
200 meter-a fkom the crest ot the
crest of the hill
hill

tithBCompanysUghtly
with B Coq:>any sl1ght~ belowthem.
below them.

The
The ARIRJBattalions - 4/land
ARVN Battalions- 4/1 and 2/l-maneuvering
2/1- lIaJleuYel'ing in
in zone
zone encourxterad
encountered

mderate
noderate enemy
enemy contact
contact tith u&mwn size
with u.nknown size 0neq
enem;y forcea.
torces. Contact
Contact lasted
lasted

for
for a short
short period
period of
of time
time th 'n terminated.
th .n ter.m1nated.
2OKa.v

bite in
late in the DOming (UXXIH) ot
111y)rning
(lOOOH) of 20 Mq,
May, tollow1ng an art~]l817
following an artlf
preparation, .the
preparation, the four
four battalions
battalions executed aa coordinated
coordinated assault
ass&.t on
I-&L!. 937 (See
Hill (See Sketch 6).
6).
3-l§7
3r167
At XLOOH3-l87th
At llOOH 343'7th with
with A Company
Coq~anyon the
the right,
right, C eoq>any
&-any inin the
the
center and
center and attached
attached A CoDpany,
Company, ?-506th
Z+506th on
on the
the lett,
left, moved
namedsoutheast
southeast
for aa coordinated
for coordinated attack on
attack on the
the Hill
HZU when
when they
they received
received concentrated
concentrated
RPGand
RPG smallamm
and small fire.
arms tire. The attacldng
The attacking e1eJD8Jlts
elemmts returned
returned the tire
fire
with organic
with organic weapons
weqxms and
and continued
continued to
to t'1re
fire and
and maneuver
maneuver up
up the
the h1ll.
h3.l.l.
As the
As elements approached
the elements approached the crest
crest they
they again
aLgaincame
cam umer
under heav.r
heav
mallarnm
small fire trom
arms fire fiomthe west and
the west andRPGand mall arms
RPG and small arms tire fmnthe
fire from the
inadditionto
south, in CS gas
addition to CS gas (it
(it was
was later
laterdetemrdnedthatthe gas
determined that the gas
was errant
was erra& friendly
friendly 4.Omngas
4Om. gas gren8.ctes).
gm~&es). The The attacking elements 0:
attacking ale.ants al" the

20
 %l@?th
.3-187th mturned
returned the fire with
the fire organic weapons
with organic weapons and emplo~ed art-#
and srqibyad art1. 1J «r7,

AHA, and
ARA, and gunships on the
the suspected
!Suspected enemy
enem;y location (YO 324997) and
location (XC

continued
continued with
with AA Cbqmny, 3-187 rsaching
Conpany, 3-lIyI reachil'lg ths
the top ot Hill
top of CfJ7 fh&t
Hill 97 !1rI.t

at ll45H. The
at U5H. The attacw
attacld.np: fon=e received addItional.
tONe received additiDnal Fire
fire as the
the mw eM..,.
attenpted tst-o cover its
attqted its withdrawal
withdrawal to the tiouthuest
to the southwest Into
into the 1-506th
the 1406th
.
locations. The dlmnts
locations. Th8 elements continued
continued to
to return
return. smdl
small arms
arms fire
fire and
and
.
8q)loyed AHA, arti1l817'f and gu&Wpsonthe
anrpl~yedARA,artfusacg~ gubships on the retreatingmemqgt
retreating enellO", The
contact terminated at
contact terminated l600H and a·
at 16WH sweep of
a'aweep the area revealed
of the seTent~-
revealed seventy-

eight WA
eight killed and
NVA ki3bd prisoner ot
and one prisoner war.
of wzar*
Throughout the day- 3-3.mth eoq>any
day- 3-187th company conmu&rs
eOlllDaDiers noted-the
noted - the noise
noise

level was
level so great
was so great that they (p ,r:d
that they xZd not ascertain trien~ artill-
ascertain ifif friendly artillery
was
was be- em&&,
being employed, the of sma"
the crack of small. arm
arms fire
f1:re dmwned
drowned out
out w
8.D:7

other sounds.
other tibility
sounds~ The inability to use
to use radios
radios due
due to
to the
the noise
noise level
level

madeit
made it imp6rati
imperative that mbessangers
ve that b8 used to
messangers be relay mgsaages
tS relay md
messages and

directims
directions to the
to the forward efements,
forward elements. In addition
In addition varfous colored
various colored

sake grenades
smke grenadesugredatonatedbytheNVAmaking it extremeq
were detonated. by the NYA making it estbreme~
difficult
difficult to
to place
place effective air strikes
effective air strikes on the
the desired
desired targets, and
targets, and
control. friendly
to control friendly fires.
fires.
l-506
1-5,96

1055H A
At 1055H l-506 Wlved
cbmpanies, 1-506
A and C Companies, roved north
north to
to assault
assault the
the hill
h5.U
and encountered
and encountered heavy enemy
eneqy resistance.
resistance. F;lameats continued
Elements continued to receive
receive
small arms,
small arms, RPG,
FPG, and
and mrtar
xmrtaz fire from the same
fire from samelocation
location throughout
throughout
day.
the day. The cotq>anies
The coqmniss involved ret-urned small
invalved returned sma.liarms iire and
arms tire and eq,loyed
employed
ARA, artillery
ARA, artiUary gunships for
and gunships for support
support on
on suspected
suspected enf!nJy
enemy locations.
locations.
-
9..

21
Contact terminated
Contact ~t approldmately
terminated at approximately l&OH,
l6OoH, but
but the attacking elmmts
the attacklng element.

continued to receive
continued to receive sporadic
sporadic fire througmut. the
tire throughaut the night.
night. A ~wddp
A 01'
sweep of

area revealed
the ar8a
the revealed eight NVA MXbd.
eight NVA ldlled.
BCompany,
B 1-506 continued
Company, i-506 to attack
continued to attack the
the hill
hill from
trom its
its position
position
on the
the left ot A and C,
left of encountered heavy
CI and encountered resistance while
heavy resietame while mom
mvjng

north
north toward
toward the hill. TO
the hill. To counter
counter the
the eneqyymallarm~~
eneD\Y. small arms, m,
RPG, and
::rortar ffre
mrtar fire they
they employed
employed air support on the
a:lr s‘upport the suspected
suspected eneq
eneD\Y locaU.ons
locations

with B company
with Company lxing the enemy
being between the eneDW' and the
the titian
laotian Border.
Border.

2-501
2-501
Companies of
A, B, and C Companies of the
the 2-501st
2-50lst while
while moving
roving southwest
southwest up

Hill 9.37
Hill 937 encountered
encOlmtered no ene--,
ener:, ~~r3sistance.
resistance. As the alaments
As the elenents Contimred
continued t0
to

move they
mve they discovered
discovered meroue
numerous huts bunker complexes
huts and bunker com~1exes vacated qy the
vacated by
enemy.
retreating enemy,
retreatina
213 ARVN
At 0715H the 2/3
0'715H the 2/3 ARVN
ARFNBattalion
BattBUOn while roving northeast
WfiiIe roving northeast for
for the
the
coordinated attack
coordinated Full 937
attack on Hill encountered light
4r37 encountered ught eneJ.Dy
enmqv resistance
resistance and
discovered roderate
discovered moderate sized
sized caches of
of assorted
assorted 8mnt
amunitiOn, in addition
1nition, in addition
to aa six
to six foot
foot wide
dd8 road with
with aa polrler
power cable
cable which
which they followed to
they followed to
their objective.
their objective. Continti
Cont1n~ to advance
to advance toward
toward the top ot
the top of the hUl
the hill
th8y received
they received concentrated
concentrated small
sti arms .fire
arms fire and employed air am
etaployed air amk,~
artillery
artillery support to
support to destroy
destroy the
the enem.v
enem Icc
location.
ation. Contact terminated
Contact terminated
at a.pproximately
at approXimat8~ 1600H
16OOHand
and aa sweep
sweep of
of the
the area was
was made
made revealing
revem
six NV
six N'VA lxxiies and thr6~
A bodies W-66 AK-47'
AIt-47'~.s.
Rudina
Durin~ the PSYOPmissions
the day PSYOP missions were conducted
conducted in
in the
the vicinity
vicinity of
of

22
 Dong AD
Dong Ap Bia
Bla entreating
entreating the
the ensmqp
enemy tn give up
tn ,&ve up and 11ve or
and live or be destroyed.
be destrom.

bring out
To txdng out what pressure
pressure the
the defarriers ot Dong
deteDiers of Doni( Ap
Ap Bia
B1& wore
were under,
UDier I

several shirts
several shirts were
wre captured&h
captured with sign8
signs sewn
sewn on themd~ding~ .K1ll
them demanding' "u

heriama,
Americana, lKll
nll the Vietnamese,""and
the Vietnamme, and "Stayai~Fightand&t6hol."
"Stay aa-,:l Fight and Hot RIm."
As the
the attacking
attac1d.rlg elements
el_ents maneuvered
maneuvered up the
the hill the7 encountered
encountfJl"eci
. A8 hill they

well prepared pos1tioJl8. The

W~pl?~aNdpOSitionS. The nmcrl
sma) 1 bunker8 theY encountered ware
bunkers the were

4x4 foot
toot with
with 8-16 inches or over
inches of over head cover. aml
head cover, and were
wre constrtlcted ot
constructed of

rrod logs ,fum.·

sod and tige, tiing port8 to the
ports to tront and
the front and. 8upplemntary
supplementary fo%o%es to
toxholes to

athe sideS. The

. the side& The Urger
larger bunkers
bunkers were SxlOx5 foot
wre 8xlOx5 toot tithaae ot
toot of
with one foot
over head cover andwere
overheadcover and were similarly constructed ot sod
s1ndlar:q conskuctedof eod and
and tige.
loge. Them
These

larger
larger bunker8
bunkers appeared
appeared to
to hve
hI' res been
been slm!@.a&
sleepiDK area8
are.. with
with the
the fi&ting
tip;bting

poaitiontothe tront. Qneveryuniqua

position to the front. One very unique feature
feature ofthebunkera
of the bunkers

discovered Dong Ap
discovered on bpng Ap Bia was their
Bla ~88 their tent like constmtion,
tent like construction, forming
forming
extr~ sting
an tire&y fightin~ position
strong fighting position (se Sketch).
(See Sketch).

The coordinated
The coordinated four
four battalion assault on
battalion at3sault on 20
20 May
May resulted
resulted in
in the
succesaf&l seizure
sueeesstul seinrre of
of Dong Ap Ba
Dong Ap Bia and
and rendered the 29th WI. &g-at
WA .Regiment

co&at ineffective.
combat ineffective. r?ystematic search and
A ~;,stematic
A destruction ot
and destruction of the bunker

comlex was
COJaDlex wadliDitfated
Uitiated on 21 ~.
on 21 &w, while
while pur!n1it
pursuit operations
operations were
wre
Launched by the 2-17th
launched 247th Caval.ry
Cavalry Squadron
Squadron followed
followed with
tith aa ground
ground pursuit
pursuit
by the 2-501. The 2-50lst
The 2+Olst encountered
mcountared extensive
extensive bunker
bunker complexes
coxxplaxea
in the vicinity
in vicinity Ie
PC3298
32% which
which it
it metlculous~
meticulously searched
searched and
and destroyed
wfiih JlX)ving
while xwing on !sniktipfAl platoor.
on a multiple p&~toor, axes
axea west
west to the laotian
kotim Border.
&>rdero
The 1-506th
The encou~&erpockets or
l-%&h continued to encotr:ljier of resistance
resistance of
of platoon
platoon

23
23
 size
aize elenente
eldellte in h_n.q fortified
in hew!& fortified bunker
bunker positions
positions almg
along the II01ltbeI'D
the aeutb

ridgea
ridges of
of &mg
Dong Ap Bi.a which uwe
Ap Bia vere Alted
eliminated tith
nth orepnic
organic W-M*
Veap)Jl8.

air and artillerr supPOrt. Tboughout

airandartillerymrp~rt. 'nlrougbout the 2l.8t, 1-506ul
the Zlut, 1-506th accom-
acc()1llted

for forty-alx
for tort,.-eix NVA
NYA kSiied
killed in naall u&t
these small
in these actions.
unit. actimu.

2/3 ARm
2/3 ARVN Battalbn made a detaIled
Battalion made detailed march
aearch of of the
the high
high cp'o\eri aD1 th8
ground lpllf the
.
ridges to
ridges to the
the saet ot Dong
east of Dong Ap
Ap MA.
B1&. AtAt the end 'or the
the sad’of tbe7 bed
the day tm had

accounted
accounted for
tor tuenty-n.Ine
twent,.-n1ne NVA
NYA. k%lled.
]d J1 ed.

The
The 3487th was -acted
3-1S7th wae extracted From
from the
the Northern
Northern A S'~ILU
Sbau vd.w aD1
Valle7 OsLd
inserted at P8 Blaze where tbe7 bee_ OPCOBto
, inrsertedatFB3lazswheretbybscaas~ to the 2dBrlgade.
the2d Brigade.

FoUotig
Following a short
short respite
respite at
at FB
P'B Blase
Blaze the
the battalion
batt.alion urn
vas wed
placed on

stand down statur,

standdown status, and ite e1:.~s wentto
its eILlrrrPta went to &@a
Bagle Beach
Beach for
tor Rest
Recooperation.
and Recooperation.
The 20506th
2-506th deplopai troll the
deployed from the la&nds
lowlands to
to the ot the
msntains of
the .,unta1ns the

A Shau Talky
northern A&au
northern ValJ.e;y in place ot the 3-1S7th.
in placsofthe 3-16'7th. AandBCoq&s
A and B Companies

co~leted
con&bd thek air
their mve to
aba~ve to FB
p8 Airborne tiththethe rest
Abbome with mat ot
af the
the
Bdalion
Battalion to
to be
be deployed
depkmed the followi..~
foUm&?uz daY.
d8y.
The Don~
The Ap Bia
DOIIR Ap Bia operation
operation cost
cost the en8IV total ot
enemyaa total of 630
630 soldiers
8oldiars
killed.
killed. addition to
In addition
In them confirmed
to these cunfirmd casualties, priacmw ot
ca8ualtie8, a prisoner of
WJUcaptured
war captured during
duriag the
ths operation
operation indicated
Micated that E#$ ot
thaf ~ of the
the units
amkta
in
in his
hi8 unit
unit were
ware casualties.
camaltles.
,?2MaY
On 22
On 22 May
May the
tha 1-506th continued to systematical.:q
1-50&h contimled systematically search and
and dest.ro7
destroy
coml.exea ot
the bunker cOJll:)lexee of DoDJt
Dorm Ap
Ap B1.a
Bia and
and adjacent
ad,jace& areas,
(upea~~in
in addition
addition to
de8troyin~
destroyinR points of resistance
pcifnts of resMamce an1
am.iaccounting
accounting tor
Li
lI<l
for tift,..-tour
fifty-four mew
e.neJQ'

-- - - ~--~- -- --
 The 2-506th
killed. The
killed. 2-506th deployed .tram F’EI
deployed hrom to FB
m.aze to
P'B Blue FB AMDOXTW-B
Airborne-B ww),
(1121H),

C (ll26H), B
C (I.l26H), D (l455H)
(1455H) -and
- and contimred
continued bmrch
search md destroy Operati6n8
and daatregr operat1oDa
all d&?ectiona
in ilh
in directions aromd
around FB
FB Atrborns arge en-
encounter:l.Dg aa largs
A.1.rborne mcountrring en.,.

base cppp
base caIP area.
area.
2-501st contimed
The 2+Olat continued ground
ground pur8td.t
purlRlit operati&a
operations against
against the
the
enemy force8
retreating enemy
retreatinp tollowing the
torces,, follming 2-17t~ cavalry
the 2-l%! Squadron'.
Caval.ry Squadron’8
pursuit.
pW8l.lit. Whil.,~ on the
While the pursuit
pursuit keet to the
west to the &&Len
Laotian Border
Border the
the battalion
battalion

continued to
continued search the
to asarch the exte&ive
extensive bunker eonqprsrX
complex vfcmty
vicinity m 3298
YO 329

that was discovered

t.hat wm diecovered the
the prevzbus d~.
previous day.
The 2/3
2/3 ARVN
ARVN Battalion
Battalion ~9
was. given
given the
the task ot searching
task of searching and destr@M
dest1"O)"1Dg

ene~ in
enemy the area bounded
in the bounded by mxdinatss lC 3399, 3599,
"cvrdinates ]II: .3 599, 3595, Bled 3395.
and 339%
While patro&g
patrolling the area they
thq discovered
discovered a large
large ammanition and uW@onS
A1IMln1tion and weapons

cache
cache which they evactitsd.
which they evacUated.

23 Hay
23
&I Z3
On a Mq
&y all
6dwlUnit8 COIItjaaed missions
units continued in their
lNi88iDn8 in their respective
re8pective areas
area8
ot
of operation.
operation. 1-506th
l-%&h continued
continued its
it8 search arxi destroy
Search and destroy operations
operation8
ofths
of bunker complexes
the b\U'lker ot
COBl&BXeS
of Dong Ap Bia
bng Ap Bia and e;ijacentareas,
and adjacent silencing
areas, sUeneiDg

pocket8 ot
JX)ckets of resistance and discovering
resietance and tan additional
discovering ten WA bodies.
additional NVA bodies.
They also found
They found trees
treea with stripped ott
with the bark etripped off and
and inscriptions
inscriptions
written with
written with magic
IXU@Cmarkers telling
telling the NV! eoXdi~a to "stay
NVA soldiers "stay and
and .
figM, this
tight, this i8
is aa good fight from."
good place to fight fro110 2-506th, which was
2-506th, was
conducting reconnaissance
conducting reconnaiamnce :in
in torce
force operations
operationa and
and saturation
saturation patrols
pstroti
in the
in the vicinity
vicinity of
of Fa Airbme, ~encountered
FE!Airbome, light eneDG"
encountered light enenprresistance
resistmce
composed
composedof two to
of two to three
three NVA
NVAsoldiers in groups
sold&ers in gmups in addition to
in addition to aa bunker
bunker

25
25
 and mlscrollaneous
complex and
complex equipment.
JDi8cillaneoua equipment. 2-50lst
2-j0lst continued
continued the3.r
their ptreait
pursuit
west to the
wwst'to the LBbtlan
Laotian Bcmier
Border sti
alXl continued to search
continued to search and
and dezrtrafred
deetrayeci IUI
an

mensi'98 btmker
&ene,iw bunker complex
eOllplex discovered tw duye
discovered. two prerioual7 f-g
dqs prariou&y tinding

addi t10nal NVI

additional NVA bodies.
bodies. The
The 2/3
2/'J ARVN Batt~n continusd
.ARVN B&&i.igxz reconna1esaDce
continued raeonnais8mm

.in force
Jn operations in
torce operatiolrs their arm
in their ot operattin
area of operation concmtratw
concentrat1n& olb
on the
the

south central
central port&m ot the
portion of the AA 3v
Shau Valley.
Valley. USC, on the
.A1eo ap1 23d the
the 2% tbt

4/1 UW
4/X ARVN Battalion discovered forty
Battalion diecovered huts containing
tort,. huts 60-.
tour &ma
containing four
mrtar tubee,
mrbr tubes, one -2 launcher, one
RPG-2 lamchar, RPG-7 ~uN~?x!@,
-7 launch.-, and em’
ae\"8D,

1 MYAkilled Iqy
NVAkuied air· strike••
by' air:etri.k&.

2ltJfay
On 24 Hay
On o~atlons corL.nued
May opqratAons cot:~...nued a8
as 3n
in the
the pravloue dq wl.th
prenous dry signifi-
with si.&.fi-

cant acti vit1es being the destruction ot bunk.- compleD8 or Dong Ap

Ba
Bia and
and diecovered or fifty-ot~~~
l-506th of
discovered by 1-506th titty-one 1Mividual weapons. 2-5;om
individual ueapone. 2-.50lst
continued pursuit'
continued ot th8
PUPSuit of the ensapr
en-v west to taot1an Border tumiw
the I&Mm
to the tuming

north
north along the border
bord& and
and then back to the east.
to the east.
25 Hal
25
Operations 25 Ma,.
Operations on 25 My continued
continued with
with little
Uttle change
change froll
from the
the previoU8
pretriou8
day. B Company, 2-501st
BCompany, 2-5OlSt Infantry involved at
b"aIDC involved
Xnfantrybwame at 1245H with aD
lzG5Htith an
estimated
edmhd while on
enemy squad while
et1em.Y on reconnaissance
reconnaiesa,nce in
in torce
force operations
operatime
. the I.eotian
near ,tl"..8 ;taotian Border.
Border. The contact
The contsct contimted throughout the da7
continued throughout day
with small
with mndl arms,
ar~ps, art:111er,y,
artilbry, and gunships
and add% support,
gunsMps adding support, reaulting
re8ultkrg
in one NVA killed.
InoneN'VAkiUed.

26 Mp
26

The m1~slon
The misstin ot
of the three intanFY
the three infan- battalions continued
bs.ttalions continued without
without change
change

26
26
 May with
on 26 Ma;p preparation being
with prepsration being mrde tor redirection
mad. for ot rsconnai88~
redirection of reconnais8ance
torce and eearch
in force
in search and deatroy
destro,. operationa. 1-so6th nab
operations. 1+06th was to
to be prSprr&
prepared

to conduct reconnaissance tiin force

to conductreconnaia8ance operatioruJ to
tore. oper&Aonr to the eut to
the east IDeate and
to loe8temd
a*
. destroy enemy
destroy eneJl1' forCab,
torcea, b&868 cach.. ti:1n the
basea and cazhe8 the tic%.nity
ncWt,. of ot Pa hDu (2)
(2)
_- 361973) and
(ye 361973) and Pa
Pa Du (1) (rC
Ott (1) 394966). The
(Ie 394966). 2-S01st wae
The 2-5Olat was ilso
aleo alerted
alerted
I (Yc
to redirect
to redirect their
their reconnaiseanca in force
reconnaissance in operations to
toree operationa to thanorthand
the north and
east in
esat the ticinity
in the ot Ale Ninh
vicinity of Hinh (2)
(2) (YD 323(13) and Ale II&
(10 323013) Ninb (1)
(1)

(YD 34.40(3). The

(YD 344003). The 2/3 ARVN B&ttalion
2/3 AEm Battalion w&e s:iJl:Ua.r17 alerted
was 8~~ alerted and
and w&8
was
to bepreparedto
tci be prepared to ConduCtreConnai88aIIco
conduct reconnaissance in
in forCeoperation
toree operations 8outhweat
southwest

fa
to r=&U
ffUl 996 (PC 314940) and
(YC 314948) and conduct a detailed
deta.:1led aearch ot the area0
search of &rea.
Operations continued
Opar&ione unt~': 7 JUIMD,
continued unt?Z June, but
but the
the NVA
HVA forces
torees were
vere no lomger
langer

interested in
bhreeted llaintaining contact. Sporadic
in mabtablngootiact. with &
qageamts with
wrcrdic anrgagaarsnta _]1
e
groups was the normal
~0~8Wk8t~~@8iturrtidn. On 7 June
situatiOn. On7 June the
the forceewera
torces were reoriented
reoriented
- the east and
towards the and Operation
%er&ion APACHI SNOW
APACHE SNOW ~88 terminated.
was tezarinated. The
The

combined AIlVN
combined axxi US
Allv!l and u% statistics
etatietice were 898
vere 898 en.,.
en- killed,
kIlled, tour
four prisonsa.
prisoners
of war, 560
of individualweapona
560 individual and l42
weapons and J&2 crew-served weapon.
weapon8captured.
captured.
Operation APACHE
Operat.ion SNOW
APACHESNOW use directed
was directed toward defeating
defeating the
the North
Vietnamese Attttt.11n
Vietnamese w in the Northern
Northern A shsu VaJ.l.q.
A Shau Valley. Through intense
Through intenee
close-in fighting
close-in fighting the lOlst
103.8t Airborne troopere contributed
Airborne troopere contributed another
gallant vietor.y
gallant v%ztory to the Vietnamese effort b.Y
Vietnamsae War effort & almost comp1et~
coqAetely
eUminatingoneNorth
e1indnating Vietname8e Regiment
one North Vietnamese RegAmntanci puttingtheVsllay
and putting the ValllSY'
.
~der
under Free World
Free World control
control for
for the first
firat time
tinm since 1965. Though APACHE
Toough APACHE
SNOW
SNOW is over the lOlst
is lolat Airbome
Airborne Division
Division continues
continues their
their aggressiY.
aggreaaivu
.
-hitting
hardhitting attack to return
attack contrcaJ or
return contr<ll of Thua
Thus Thien Province to the

27
 hpulilAc V1etnaa •
of Vietamm~
Republic of

..-
.

.
, .

..
.*
.

28
.
-

. ;?
.’ i

.;.
/’
,, .’
: ?
,.+

-. ,’

,,'. ,.
-'":,. ,'.'
I. ; ,

.''';'
I,
 ..
.~~

.
.~l
i-
~,
t
.>
 c-
-'I:.

.-

~.~ ," :' f' ;:~!""A _~,_

'\"~i"r:Jj,;'-"'"
+-.;,;(' . .....Y.~~
- ...
",.
.'"

:;': ~~~1' ~~
~~;~ ~',
j
I
.
.~. ,
J
!.
"

I
•
()
-'
I
' i .'
','t ;....... .~
..~ .. .,(.,ti:-...,
.................. ...a..J...,t.,
 .'.
, ..' ..
.....

g
..j-

,
~'7
1
0
'J ,f
'-.;.

0
I
f
n
v
,
\
\
\
(

1.. r
,~"""t~ i.:.~.'
\.
\
\ --..“.- -.I _... .-.:,
\ - ‘.- ‘I- -‘ ”

\
\

\ '.-~.,
'--'
..
--.
--,:.::"-~ ...
\
\I
i =
"." , ....."' ~:-4------.-":'~ ,. . . ..._----
10 i 0
34
~ "-'.-. -.
 -.--~

1Ft _ ,.oLOl.•- - - - -

f)I
j.. ,-. •

\."

00
-- _-
--
...
.-
--. _

--.- - L___.w -_
.

P
.,,. \

.~: '':'' .....

............,. - ~
',.-
.....
.
",.,'

33 .......
. . . <> ? " \Y.'
.......:'l ' '
 ."-----.~

- ~-
--- - d 0

C' 0

~
'
, .. t,,' ... _--........,.

.--....,.. '-------
.,

..
- . -‘.
-
--.- __. _

r’-
,I
_A--

..----.
c- - 1

-
-
,
_-- y

- _... __ .
32 •