Hell in An Loc
Page 29
7. Letter from Lt. Col. Nguyen Phu Chinh, former 237th Squadron commander, dated October 17, 2006; copy in author’s possession.
8. Willbanks, 116.
9. Ulmer later retired as a lieutenant-general.
10. Andradé, 472.
11. Ibid., 477.
12. 81st Airborne Commando Magazine, July 1998, p. 93.
13. Nguyen Quoc Khue, 115.
14. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 172, 173.
15. Willbanks, 116.
16. KBC Army Magazine 12 (Nov. 1994): 27.
17. Willbanks, 155.
18. Ibid., 121.
19. Tran Van Nhut, 188.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid., 189.
22. Willbanks, 123.
23. Tran Van Nhut, 189.
24. Mach Van Truong, 20.
25. Andradé, 477.
26. 81st Airborne Commando Magazine, July 1998, p. 93.
27. Truong Duong, Mot Canh Hoa Du (One Parachute Flower) (Np: Tu Huynh Publishing, 1999), 236.
28. ARVN, The Battle of Binh Long, 156.
29. Mach Van Truong, 21.
30. Ibid.
31. Tran Van Nhut, 191.
32. Ly Tong Ba, 25 Years of War (Np: Self-published), 179
33. Le Khac Anh Dao, Nhung Tran Danh Khong Ten (The Nameless Battles), (Vancouver: Nguyet San Viet Nam, 2003), 201.
34. Ly Tong Ba, 183.
35. Tieu Lun Online Library (Website: tieulun.hopto.org), p. 12.
36. Vu Van Hoi, 6.
Chapter 9
1. Willbanks, 129.
2. Nguyen Dinh Sach, Binh Long Anh Dung (Heroic Binh Long), unpublished account of 21st Division in Binh Long in 1972; copy in author’s possession.
3. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 8, 9.
4. Tran Van Nhut, 175.
5. Ibid., 176.
6. Ibid., 177.
7. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 128.
8. Willbanks, 132.
9. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 10.
10. Tran Van Nhut, 192.
11. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 158.
12. Andradé, 485.
13. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 11.
14. Willbanks, 130.
15. Nguyen Van Quy, 431.
16. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 14.
17. Long Phi (or Flying Dragon) was a name given to all 9th Division operations.
18. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 14.
19. Tran Van Nhut, 194.
20. Ibid., 195.
21. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 163.
22. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 166.
23. Ibid., 171.
24. Ibid., 172.
25. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 163.
26. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 173.
27. Ibid.
28. Phan Nhat Nam, Mua He Do Lua (Red Burning Summer), 4.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid., 5.
31. Ibid., 6.
32. Ibid.
33. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 164.
34. Tran Van Nhut, 196.
35. Ibid., 198.
Chapter 10
1. 81st Airborne Commando Magazine, May 1998, p. 78.
2. Ibid., 79.
3. Nguyen Duc Phuong, 574.
4. 81st Airborne Commando Magazine, May 1998, p. 79.
5. When he came to the United States after the war, Nguyen Cau tried in vain to get in touch with the two girls.
6. Mach Van Truong, 22.
7. Willbanks, 142.
8. Ibid., 141.
9. Ibid., 135.
10. Ibid., 136.
11. Lt. Col. Nguyen Viet Can was the younger brother of Maj. Gen. Nguyen Viet Thanh, former IV Corps commander; General Thanh was killed in 1972 while directing his troops during an incursion into Cambodia.
12. Andradé, 485.
13. Ngo Quang Truong, 163.
14. Willbanks, 142.
15. Vu Van Hoi, 7.
16. 81st Airborne Commando Group Magazine, May 1998, p. 96.
17. Ibid., 22.
18. Mach Van Truong, 23.
19. General Vanuxem died shortly after the Viet Nam War; his daughter returned the An Loc flag to the Vietnamese veterans in France.
20. Ngo Quang Truong, 164.
21. Mach Van Truong, 24.
22. Ibid., 25.
23. Ibid.
24. Nguyen Van Quy, 397.
25. Ibid., 386.
26. Nguyen Dinh Sach, 13.
27. ARVN, Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 202–4.
Chapter 11
1. Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 46.
2. Ibid., 199
3. Conversation with Gen. Le Minh Dao.
4. Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 202.
5. Le Khac Anh Dao, 45.
6. Ibid., 46.
7. Ibid., 48.
8. Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 201.
9. Ibid.
10. Nguyen Duc Phuong, 577.
11. Ibid., 203.
12. Conversation with Colonel Hua Yen Len, former Assistant for Operations, 18th Division.
13. Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 203.
14. Ibid., 204.
15. Hoang Minh Thao was the VC general in charge of B3 Front in the Central Highlands.
16. Le Khac Anh Dao, 163.
17. Ibid., 165.
18. Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 205.
19. Ibid.
Chapter 12
1. Gen. Hoang Xuan Lam, former I Corps Commander, once told the author that the evacuation of Khe Sanh made it very difficult, if not impossible, to defend Quang Tri and Thua Thien provinces.
2. Lewis Sorley, “Reassessing Viet Nam,” 26.
3. Willbanks, 192 n7.
4. Andradé, 474.
5. Willbanks, 79.
6. Hammond, 249.
7. Tran Van Nhut, 127.
8. Mach Van Truong, 12.
9. Ly Tong Ba, 164.
10. Andradé, 501.
11. Sorley, “Reassessing Viet Nam,” 26, 27.
12. Andradé, 489.
13. Ibid., 502.
Chapter 13
1. Arnold Isaacs, Without Honor (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1983), 64.
2. Lewis Sorley, “Remembering Viet Nam,” 16, 17 .
3. Henry Kissinger, Years of Upheaval (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1982), 32, 33.
4. Tran Do Cam, Special Forces Airborne Commando Magazine (Orange County, California, July 2004), p. 161.
5. Ibid., 162.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.,164.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., 167.
10. Ibid., 169.
11. Ibid.
12. Bui Tin defected to the West after 1975 and now lives in Paris.
13. Bui Tin, cont., 68.
14. Dac San Su Doan 18 Bo Binh (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005, p. 26.
15. Ibid., 72.
16. Ibid., 31.
17. Ibid., 37.
18. George Veith and Merle Pribbenow, “Fighting Is an Art,” The Journal of Military History, January 2004.
19. Orange County Register (website: http://www.darcenter.org)
20. Arnold Issaacs, cont., Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land, ed. Andrew Wiest, 308.
21. Nguoi An Loc, 81st Airborne Commando Group Magazine, p. 62.
Epilogue
1. Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land, 73.
2. Andradé, 502
Glossary
AAR After-Action Report
APC Armored Personnel Carrier
ARVN Army of the Republic of Viet Nam
CBU Cluster Bomb Unit
C&C Command & Control
CIDG Civil Defense Group
COSVN Central Office for South Viet Nam
CP Command Post
FLSVN Front for the Liberation of South Viet Nam
FSB Fire Support Base
GVN Government of Viet Nam
HALO High Altitude, Low Opening
IPR Inter-Provincial Road.
JGS Joint General Staff
KIA Killed in Action
LCDB Lao Cong Dao Binh or Convicted deserters
LZ Landing Zone
MAF Marine Amphibious Forces
Medevac Medical evacuation
MIA Missing in Action
MR Military Region
NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
NLA National Liberation Army
NLF National Liberation Front
NVA North Vietnamese Army
NVN North Viet Nam
PAVN People’s Army of Viet Nam
PF Popular Forces
PRG Provisional Revolutionary Government
PSDF People’s Self-Defense Forces
RC Route Coloniale
RF Regional Forces
RN Route Nationale
RVN Republic of Viet Nam
TOC Tactical Operation Center
TRAC Third Regional Assistance Command
VC Viet Cong
VM Viet Minh (Viet Nam Dong Minh Hoi or League of Vietnamese Alliance)
VNAF Vietnamese Air Force
WIA Wounded in Action
Bibliography
INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE
(Ranks as of April 1972)
Bui Duc Diem, Colonel, Assistant for Operations, 5th ARVN Division
Hua Yen Len, Colonel, Assistant for Operations, 18th ARVN Division
Huynh Thao Luoc, Colonel, Chief of Staff, 18th ARVN Division
Le Minh Dao, Colonel (later major general), division commander, 18th ARVN Division
Le Quang Luong, Colonel (later brigadier general), airborne brigade commander, 1st Airborne Brigade
Ly Tong Ba, Colonel (later brigadier general), division commander, 23rd ARVN Division
Mach Van Truong, Colonel (later brigadier general), regiment commander, 8th Regiment/5th Division
Nguyen Cau, TV reporter at An Loc
Nguyen Cong Vinh, Colonel, regiment commander, 9th Regiment/5th Division
Nguyen Dinh Sach, Colonel, former Chief of Staff, 21st ARVN Division
Nguyen Phu Chinh, Lieutenant Colonel, VNAF, squadron commander, 237th Helicopter Squadron
Pham Van Huan, Colonel, commando group commander, 81st Airborne Commando Group
Pham X. Quang, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marines and author of A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey, whose father, the late VNAF Lt. Col. Pham V. Hoa, had participated in the air resupply missions in An Loc
Tran Van Nhut, Colonel (later brigadier general), province chief, Binh Long province
Vu Van Hoi, Second Lieutenant, platoon leader, 5th Airborne Battalion
PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS
Andradé, Dale. America’s Last Vietnam Battle. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001.
Braestrup, Peter. Big Story. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1977.
FitzGerald, Frances. Fire in the Lake. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1972.
Hammond, William M. Reporting Viet Nam: Media and Military at War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Isaacs, Arnold. Without Honor. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1983.
Kissinger, Henry. The White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1979.
———. Years of Upheaval. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1982.
Le Khac Anh Dao, Nhung Tran Danh Khong Ten (Nameless Battles). Vancouver: Nguyet San Viet Nam, 2003.
Ly Tong Ba, 25 Nam Khoi Lua (25 Years of War). Np: Self-published, 1995.
Metzner, Edward. More Than a Soldier’s War. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995.
Nguyen Cong Vinh. Cau Chuyen Suy Tu Cua Mot Cuu Tu Nhan Chinh Tri (Reflections of a Former Political Prisoner). San Jose, CA: Mekong Ty Nan Publishing, 1996.
Nguyen Duc Phuong. Chien Tranh Viet Nam Toan Tap (Comprehensive Narrative of the Viet Nam War). Toronto, Canada: Lang Van, 2001.
Nguyen Ngoc Anh. Chien Thang An Loc (The Victory of An Loc). Austin, TX: Self-published, 2007.
Nguyen Quoc Khue. 3rd Ranger Group and the Battle of An Loc. Reprinted in Ranger Magazine 7, 2003.
Nguyen Van Quy. Hoi Ky An Loc: 86 Ngay cua mot Bac Si Giai Phau tai Mat Tran (Memoir of An Loc: 86 Days of a Surgeon in Battle). Westminster, CA: Van Nghe Publishing, 2002.
Phan Nhat Nam. Mua He Do Lua (Red Burning Summer), June 1972. Reprinted in Tieu Lun online Library (Website: tieulun.tohop.org).
Prados, John, and Ray W. Stubbe. Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Tran Van Nhut. Cuoc Chien Dang Do (Unfinished War). Santa Ana, CA: An Loc Publishing, 2003. This book was translated into English and the edited version was published by Texas Tech University Press in May 2009 under the title An Loc: The Unfinished War.
Truong Duong, Mot Canh Hoa Du (One Parachute Flower). Tu Huynh Publishing, 1999.
Wiest, Andrew, ed. Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2006.
Willbanks, James H. The Battle of An Loc. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Studies, Reports, Periodicals
Su doan 18 Bo Binh Dac San (18th Infantry Division Magazine), July 2005.
81st Airborne Commando Group Magazine, Issues 1998, 2001, and 2006.
ARVN. Tran Binh Long (The Battle of Binh Long), 1973.
ARVN. Quan Su 4 (Military History 4), June 1972.
Dac San Hoa Du (Airborne Magazine), Special Issue, 2003.
Battle of Khe Sanh, Wikipedia. Accessed October 21, 2007.
Clarke, Philip C. “The Battle That Saved Saigon.” Reader’s Digest, March 1973.
Gary’s U.S. Infantry Weapons Reference Guide (Website: inetres. com).
Harmer, Jerry. “Endangered Species Thrive along Ho Chi Minh Trail.” San Jose Mercury News, March 4, 2007.
Kaiser, Robert G. “The Arrogance of Power Revisited.” San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 1, 2007.
KBC Army Magazine 12, Nov. 1994.
Ngo Quang Truong. The 1972 Easter Offensive (Reprinted in Vietnamese in Ranger Magazine 21, May 2007).
Orange County Register (Website: www.darcenter.org).
Sorley, Lewis. “Remembering Viet Nam.” A Lecture delivered at the National Archives, Washington D.C, April 30, 2002; and “Reassessing Viet Nam.” A Lecture delivered at the Viet Nam Center, Texas Tech University, March 17, 2006.
Veith, George, and Merle Pribbenow. “Fighting Is an Art.” The Journal of Military History, January 2004.
Unpublished Source Material
Bui Duc Diem, Colonel, Assistant for Operations, 5th ARVN Division. Unpublished manuscript on An Loc; copy in author’s possession.
Mach Van Truong, Brigadier General, former 8th Regiment commander, 5th Division. Tran Chien An Loc (The Battle of An Loc); unpublished memoir on An Loc; copy in author’s possession.
Nguyen Dinh Sach, Colonel, former chief of staff, 21st Division. Binh Long Anh Dung (Heroic Binh Long), July 31, 2007; unpublished manuscript in author’s possession.
Nguyen Cong Vinh, Colonel, 9th Regiment commander, 5th Division. Letter on the battle of Loc Ninh, June 16, 2006; copy in author’s possession.
Nguyen Huu Chinh, Phi Doan 237 Tham Du Mat Tran An Loc (237th Squadron in the Battle of An Loc) Unpublished report, October 2006, copy in author’s possession.
Vu Van Hoi. “Narrative on An Loc”; unpublished manuscript; copy in author’s possession.
Index
A
Abramawith, Col., 72
Abrams, Gen. Creighton, 4, 20, 43, 82, 143, 209
Acheson, Dean, 8,
Aerial resupply: 113–15
air-ground base concept, 9, 10, 11
Andradé, Dale, 3, 30, 32, 145, 153, 218
Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) evolution: 16, 33–34 l
eadership and motivation: 109
Argo, Col. Reamer, 7
B
Ban Me Thuot, 25, 216, 230
Bao Dai, emperor, 15
Be, Sgt., 196
Ben Hai River, 44, 172
Bien Hoa , 23, 33, 41, 72, 83, 122, 160, 172, 182, 192, 214, 231, 236
Binh Long, 5, 8, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 36, 39, 42, 46, 47, 53, 54, 55, 59, 74, 80, 86, 99, 100, 103, 107, 110, 111, 125, 129, 150, 160, 161, 180, 185, 186, 187, 215, 227
Brzezinski, Zbignew, 246
Bui Duc Diem, Col., as assistant for operations, 5th Division: 50, 61, 112, 113, 139, 210 after An Loc: 240
Bui Huu Tai, 51, 52
Bui Tin, Col. (NVA), 231, 244
Butler, Lt. Col. Charles, 180
B-52 bombers, 20, 134, 136, 138, 141, 143, 146, 147, 149, 150, 154, 157, 165, 166, 172, 179, 209, 212, 213, 216
C
Cambodia, 1, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 42, 52, 60, 62, 63, 91, 207, 222, 223, 243
Cam Lo River, 64, 66
Canh, Dr., 79
Can Le Bridge, 46, 51, 56, 60, 69, 75, 80, 95
Can Tho, 240
Cao Bang, 8, 9
Cao Hao Hon, Lt. Gen., 46, 47
Cao Van Vien, Gen., 35, 64, 183, 185
Carlson, Maj. Albert E., 58, 62
Central Office for South Viet Nam (COSVN), 93, 119, 133, 143, 154, 157, 192, 198, 217, 225
Chau, Dr. 126
Chon Thanh, 25, 51, 69, 70, 72, 94, 116, 117, 136, 152, 155, 160, 161, 164, 165, 166, 168, 169, 180, 214
Chot, Kieng (blocking positions), 165, 167–68
Clarke, Philip C., 1
Clausewitz, Carl, 54
Cluster Bomb Unit (CBU), 49,150,172, 173, 174
Co, Lt., 196
Colby, William, 44
colons, 23
Corley, Lt. Col. Robert E., 47, 62, 155, 183
Craig, Maj. Mandela, 175, 247
Cuong, Corporal, 166, 168
D
Danang, 17, 18, 230
Dang Van Quang, Lt. Gen., 28, 64, 65
Davidson, Maj. Thomas, 62, 75
De Castries, Brig. Gen., 11, 14, 209, 225, 228
De Lattre de Tassigny, Gen. Jean, 9, 184
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), 1, 31, 35, 206, 207, 222, 230, 231
Dien Bien Phu, 1, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 20, 99, 176, 206, 207, 208, 209, 225, 228
Dieu Huynh, Pastor, 84
Doan, Capt., 130
Do Cao Tri, Lt. Gen., 26, 28, 38, 52
Do Duc Thinh, Sgt., 128, 131
Doi Gio (Windy Hill), 70, 99, 100, 110, 118, 119, 120, 122, 126, 127, 134, 135, 136, 142, 150, 152, 173, 193, 194, 197, 225
Dong Ha, 64, 193, 231
Dong Kim Quang, Lt., 74
Dong Long Hill, 66, 69, 74, 76, 86, 89, 97, 131, 132, 177, 178, 179