Ketwig, John, "...and a hard rain fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam". After a series of sharp engagements, contact with PAVN forces diminished in August, leading the Americans to believe that they had withdrawn back across the border into Cambodia and Laos. Unknown to the Americans, they had walked into a carefully prepared ambush by the 2nd Battalion of the 174th PAVN Regiment. At 14:30 PAVN troops hidden at the bottom of the hill launched a massed assault on Alpha Company. In response to the destruction of Alpha Company, MACV ordered additional forces into the area. Both men told me that they had never seen the report before. [7], U.S. headquarters press releases, made four days after the conclusion of what came to be called "The Battle of the Slopes", claimed that 475 North Vietnamese had been killed while the 173rd's combat after action report claimed 513 enemy dead. Three of the four North Vietnamese regiments that participated in the fighting had been so battered that they played no part in the next phase of their winter-spring offensive. During fierce, close-quarters fighting, some of the paratroopers made it into the PAVN trenchline but were ordered to pull back as darkness fell. Please post it in the Radio … This was designed to sweep PAVN forces from the jungle-covered mountains of the region. The paratroopers attempted to continue the advance, but the North Vietnamese, well concealed in interconnected bunkers and trenches, opened fire with small arms and grenades. At the Battle of Dak To, the sky was crowded overhead. I was assigned to the 4th Inf Div in late 1967 and arrived in The Central Highlands just as the Dak To Battle was winding down. They combed the hills on foot, ran into fixed PAVN hill-top defensive positions, applied massive firepower, and then launched ground attacks to force the North Vietnamese off. Intrusion of U.S. forces south of Dak To took the North Vietnamese by… [16] He then reported back that 175 PAVN soldiers had been killed. bomb on our men. By early October, U.S. intelligence reported that the North Vietnamese were withdrawing regiments from the Pleiku area to join those in Kontum Province, thereby dramatically increasing the strength of local forces to that of a full division. Six Americans and three CIDG were killed outright and 15 paratroopers and 13 CIDG troops were wounded in the friendly fire incident. In the course of the fighting, Allied forces fired 151,000 artillery rounds, flew 2,096 tactical air sorties, and conducted 257 B-52 Stratofortress strikes. On 23 August, General Deane turned over command of the 173rd to Brigadier General Leo H. Schweiter. He later stated that "If you lost so many people killed and wounded, you had to have something to show for it. 1Lt. Previous actions had battered the 66th and 33rd PAVN Regiments, and they began a southwesterly retreat, covered by the 174th Regiment. Over the ensuing three weeks, American forces developed a methodical approach to reducing PAVN positions. By January 1968, half of all US combat units were operating away from these key areas. At 08:28 on 11 November, after leaving their overnight laager and following a PAVN communications wire, the force was ambushed by the 8th and 9th Battalions of the 66th PAVN Regiment and had to fight for its life. Lozada's unit was heavily engaged during the Battle of Dak To. U.S. paratroopers of the 173rd Abn. I missed this battle cause I was back at the 4th I.D. The following day, the elite ARVN 1st Airborne Task Force (the 5th and 8th Battalions) and the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Air Cavalry Division arrived to conduct search and destroy operations north and northeast of Kontum. Hill 724- Battle of Dak… In addition to the American forces, Army of Vietnam (ARVN) units also took part in the battle, seeing action around Hill 1416. "Vietnam War and the Battle of Dak To." The operations officer of the 4th Infantry went so far as to recommend that General Deane be relieved of command. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. During the three-day battle, the 8th Airborne Battalion alone withstood six separate ground attacks and casualties among all the South Vietnamese units were heavy. This shift increased PAVN strength in the area to around division level. This Battle spanned for a total of 18 days, Nov. 3-21, 1967. By mid-August, contact with communist forces decreased, leading the Americans to conclude that the North Vietnamese had withdrawn across the border. The next day the same thing occurred to elements of the 173rd. From the opening shots fired from a bamboo thicket at U.S. infantrymen Nov. 3, to the pain...battle of Dak To. Alerted to each PAVN unit's location and objective, Peers' men began engaging the enemy the same day, disrupting the North Vietnamese plans for attacking Dak To. Hickman, Kennedy. A search of the battlefield revealed only 15 dead North Vietnamese. Temperatures in the highlands could reach 95° Fahrenheit (35° Celsius) during the day and could drop to as low as 55° Fahrenheit (12.78° Celsius) in the evenings. During that battle an American jet accidentally dropped a 500 lb. Artillery support was rendered ineffective by the limited range of visibility and the "belt-grabbing" - or "hugging" - tactics of the North Vietnamese. After contact with the PAVN forces on the 4th and 5th of the month, General Schweiter received orders to move the rest of his brigade back to Đắk Tô. Exhausted soldiers of the 173rd Airborne after campaigning in the Central Highlands. The Americans and the ARVN then began to run into tenacious rearguard actions. Throughout the middle of 1967, however, western Kontum Province became a magnet for several PAVN spoiling attacks and it appeared that the North Vietnamese were paying an increasing amount of attention to the area. He realized that if he abandoned his position there would be nothing to hold back the … Coordinates: 14°39′4″N 107°47′55″E / 14.65111°N 107.79861°E / 14.65111; 107.79861 (Dak To), For more details on U.S. covert operations in Laos, see, For more details on the PAVN logistical network, see, Communist troops were instructed to open their actions or move as close to American forces as possible, thereby negating U.S. artillery, aerial, and helicopter gunship strikes, which demanded a safety margin for utilization – hence, "grabbing the enemy by the belt.". The importance of the Dak Seang camp was that it lay astride the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main infiltration route of the PAVN into the South. PAVN troops poured small arms, machine gun, and mortar fire on the Americans and launched several ground attacks. Aerial photo of Đắk Tô looking toward Laos. In the end, the commander and junior officers of Charlie Company (whose only crime was that of caution) were transferred to other units.[9]. They encountered fire from all sides during the relief attempt, but they made it, reaching the trapped men at 15:37. The 4th Infantry claimed that 92 North Vietnamese had died in the clash.[19]. The next morning, the three companies of 4/503 were chosen to set out and relieve the men on Hill 875. To deal with this build up of PAVN forces, Peers directed the 3rd Battalion of the 12th Infantry and the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Infantry to launch Operation MacArthur on November 3. The Battle of Dak To saw US forces drive the North Vietnamese from the Kontum Province and decimated the regiments of the 1st PAVN Division. They were then attacked, and the rest of the Americans rushed to the hilltop to take defensive positions. The North Vietnamese 1st Division attacks allied outposts around Dak To in the Central Highlands, an area that has been the scene of heavy fighting since the summer. near Dak To on November 11, 1967. (See the sidebar on page 36 for the 4th ID’s role.) Dak To Firebase and Airstrip,Winter /Spring 1969- History Dak To - Those veterans who served in the area invariably remember the name with sadness since so many lost friends there. When the unit finally overwhelmed the PAVN forces because of superior firepower in air and artillery, it reached the top of the mountain and found a fully operational PAVN Headquarters, complete with hospital facilities and anti-aircraft emplacements. The Battle of Dak To The Battle of Dak To took place between 3 and 22 November, and was one of the major battles of the Vietnam War and one of the bloodiest. Vietnam War and the Battle of Dak To. [26], At 18:58 one of the worst friendly fire incidents of the Vietnam War occurred when a Marine Corps fighter-bomber dropped two 500-pound bombs into 2/503's perimeter. The communist actions around Đắk Tô were part of an overall strategy devised by the Hanoi leadership, primarily that of General Nguyen Chi Thanh. The men of Alpha Company retreated up the slope, lest they be cut off from their comrades and annihilated. The American and ARVN troops soon applied a methodical approach to combat in the highlands. General Deane sent his forces 20 kilometers west and southwest of Dak To in search of the 24th PAVN Regiment. The action at Đắk Tô was one of a series of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) offensive initiatives that began during the second half of the year. During the summer of 1967, heavy contact with PAVN forces in the area prompted the launching of Operation Greeley, a combined search and destroy effort by elements of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division and 173rd Airborne Brigade, along with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam's 42nd Infantry Regiment and Airborne units. Immediately after taking command, Peers instituted guidelines for his units in order to prevent them from being isolated and overrun in the rugged terrain, which also did much to negate the U.S. superiority in firepower. The following day was spent in launching airstrikes and a heavy artillery bombardment against the hilltop, totally denuding it of cover. [28] This time the Americans gained the crest, but the North Vietnamese had already abandoned their positions, leaving only a few dozen charred bodies and weapons.[29]. As these fights were taking place around Dak To, the airstrip became a target for PAVN artillery and rocket attacks. In most instances, PAVN forces fought tenaciously, bloodying the Americans, before vanishing into the jungle. ThoughtCo. After savage, close-quarters fighting, the airborne troopers neared the top of the hill, but were forced to halt due to darkness. During the early stages of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, several U.S. Special Forces Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) camps were established along the borders of South Vietnam in order to both maintain surveillance of PAVN and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF or Viet … The action at Đắk Tô was one of a series of People's Army of Vietnam offensive initiatives that began during the second half of the year. By late October, however, U.S. intelligence indicated that local communist units had been reinforced and combined into the 1st PAVN Division, which was tasked with the capture of Đắk Tô and the destruction of a brigade-size U.S. unit. 4/503 suffered 28 killed 123 wounded, and four missing. 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