Moments later, the trapped VC emerged from the culvert on the west side of the road and sprinted for a vine-covered embankment, firing his machine pistol as he ran. Two men from 3rd Platoon blasted the VC’s hiding place with their M16s and followed up with hand grenades. The first grenade detonated and blew the upper half of the man’s torso out of the brush. Then a second grenade exploded and the remainder of the body was blown out of the brush.
The close combat continued as the Charlie Company grunts tried to cross the streambed. Their advance was stalled by the heavy fire coming from the high ground to their north. As his gunship support departed to rearm and refuel, Captain Tonsetic realized that his outnumbered and outgunned platoons could not seize the high ground by themselves. He decided to pull back toward the village and await the arrival of reinforcements.
POW Compound—0600–0730 Hours
PFC Gary Coufal, an M79 gunner from Syracuse, New York, and another grunt from 1st Platoon were in the observation tower scanning the area across the highway from the main gate of the compound. It was just after dawn, and the morning mists still hugged the ground. The compound had received about twenty minutes of small-arms fire shortly after 0400 hours, but the VC were silenced by helicopter gunship strikes. Lt. Tuber had kept his men on 100 percent alert. It had been a long night, and the men welcomed the first light of dawn.
PFC Coufal thought he spotted movement in the rubber trees across the road, but he didn’t have time to process what he saw. Coufal later wrote, “As I looked in that direction rounds struck the sandbags in front of me. The type of fire we had coming in was small arms fire. But I was worried that we were going to be RPG’d. I told my buddy to get out fast, which he did, and I was getting all the equipment together as fast as I could.”
After tossing their rucksacks to the ground below, the two men climbed down the ladder in a hail of VC gunfire, and ran for cover in one of the ground bunkers. Then, according to Coufal, “All Hell broke loose…. We were being hit by automatic weapons and small arms fire and I don’t recall any RPG fire, but the fighting was very intense. D Troop and our unit were putting out a lot of rounds. I was an M79 gunner and ran out of ammo and had to get to one of the tracks for more.” A company from the 275th VC Regiment began to assault the compound, bent on freeing the 2,000 POWs held there.
Twenty-two-year-old Lieutenant Howard Tuber and his RTOs were in a ground bunker directing the defense of the compound. As soon as the fighting started, Tuber radioed his CO, Captain Tonsetic, requesting gunships and reinforcements. Tonsetic, who had his own fight going on north of Ho Nai village, told Tuber to switch radio frequencies and pass his request directly to the battalion TOC at FSB Concord. When the lieutenant radioed the TOC, LTC Mastoris told him that a relief force from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment was on the way. The 11th ACR’s 2d Squadron was given the mission of reinforcing the POW Compound, but the unit was north of the Michelin Rubber Plantation in War Zone C when they received the order. It would take a nine-hour road march through hostile territory for the troopers of the “Black Horse” regiment to reach the beleaguered compound. Tuber and his platoon were on their own.
At 0635 hours, Tuber’s men spotted an enemy assault force, including six enemy soldiers armed with rocket launchers, moving to firing positions across the road from the main gate. A gunship team, that had so far held the VC company at bay, had expended all its ordnance and departed the area ten minutes earlier. The enemy intended to breach the gate of the compound before the gunships returned.
When Tuber’s men spotted the enemy assault force, they opened up with everything they had, hoping to break up the attack before it got started. ACAV gunners manning their .50 caliber and M60 machine guns fired burst after burst at the enemy assault force, while Tuber’s infantrymen zeroed in on the enemy with their M16s and M79s. The M79 grenadiers concentrated their fires on the enemy RPG teams, setting off two secondary explosions. The massed US firepower halted the enemy before they could cross the highway and rush the main gate. Lieutenant Tuber then sent two ACAVs and a reinforced rifle squad across the road to sweep the area north of the compound. The patrol killed 12 VC, and found several more enemy bodies. They also recovered a number of B-40 rocket launchers, 12 rockets, a number of AK-47 rifles, and 300 blocks of TNT. The VC had planned to blow up the compound once they liberated their comrades. Most of the survivors from the VC company withdrew, although the POW compound continued to receive sporadic sniper fire throughout the morning, resulting in a number of US wounded.
Long Binh Ammo Dump—0630–0800 Hours
Bravo Company, 2/47th Mechanized Infantry, minus one platoon, arrived at the ammunition dump at 0630, and after coordinating with the MPs, began to clear the dump. The company took fire immediately and several infantrymen were wounded. After an hour of tough fighting, Bravo Company succeeded in driving the remaining enemy from the ammo dump. Then they began to help the EOD teams locate, remove, and disarm timed explosive devices left behind by the enemy sappers on eighteen separate ammo pads. By 0730 hours, the EOD teams had disarmed enemy satchel charges left on seven of the eighteen pads. It was a race against time, and the clock was ticking.
At 0739 hours, timed explosive devices began to explode on the uncleared ammo pads. One of the first explosive charges detonated on a pad of 175mm artillery shell charges, followed in rapid succession by three more pads of various types of ammunition. A huge fireball erupted over the pads, followed by a blast that sent shockwaves, shrapnel, and debris in all directions. The ground shook like an 8.0 earthquake, and a huge mushroom cloud rose above the ammo dump. Sandbagged bunkers along the facility’s perimeter were blown apart from the blasts. Four US soldiers were killed and 24 others were wounded. The mech infantrymen from Bravo Company, 2/47th, who were better protected in their APCs, had four men wounded. Enemy explosive devices detonated on eight more pads, but the ammo stored on the pads did not explode.
Shock waves from the ammo dump explosions shook the Quonset huts and wooden buildings throughout the Plantation area. The blast was seen and felt by troops fighting for their lives miles away from the ammo dump, and it remains indelibly etched in their memories. Despite the fact that the VC managed to destroy several ammo pads, the attack on the ammo dump did not significantly reduce the stocks of ammunition on hand, or alter the final outcome of the enemy offensive in the III Corps area.
Fire Base Zinderneuf, 3/7th Infantry CP, Binh Chanh—0800 Hours
Lieutenant Colonel John Gibler, commander of the 3/7th Infantry, the “Cottonbalers,” spent a restless night at his CP. Gibler’s battalion had moved south to the Binh Chanh area three weeks earlier. It was familiar territory to Gibler and his men. The Cottonbalers had conducted operations in the same locale for several months, prior to moving north to the Bien Hoa area in December. Since mid-January, the 3/7th had made several contacts with local force VC units, but the enemy seemed intent on avoiding decisive engagements. On 30 January, LTC Gibler called his company commanders in for a conference and told them that he intended to pull all companies back to the vicinity of FSB Zinderneuf, where the Cottonbaler CP was set up. Days earlier, Gibler had advised his commanders to start thinking about urban warfare tactics. The Cottonbaler commander’s sixth sense was right on target.
FSB Zinderneuf was located about one kilometer west of the Binh Chanh District Headquarters, and about fifteen kilometers from the center of Saigon. On the morning of 31 January, Gibler’s Cottonbalers saw columns of thick black smoke rising over the city. The 3/7th commander was informed by radio that six major targets—the Presidential Palace, the US Embassy, the Vietnamese Joint General Staff Headquarters, Tan Son Nhut Airport, the Vietnamese Navy Headquarters, and the National Broadcasting Station—were all under attack. He was also informed that the Phu Tho Racetrack, located in the Cholon section of the city, had been seized by Communist forces. The battle for Saigon was underway.
Built during Vietnam’s colonial period, the Phu Tho Racetrack was situated in the heart of C
holon about six kilometers south of Tan Son Nhut airbase. Located at the hub of several city avenues, it was a well known landmark. Highway 4, the main highway connecting Saigon to the Mekong Delta, was just four blocks south, and Highway 1 was two kilometers to the north. Because of its location, the racetrack was a convenient rally point and assembly area for VC and NVA troops entering the city. The 3,000 seat bleachers towered above the surrounding buildings and provided excellent observation of most of Cholon. Mortars firing from the infield could reach targets located throughout the city including, Tan Son Nhut. The racetrack’s infield was also the only area in Cholon that could be used as a helicopter landing zone. To insert U.S. troops into the city by air, the racetrack would first have to be retaken.
At 0808 hours on 31 January, the Cottonbalers received their first mission of the Tet Offensive. The 3/7th was ordered by the Capital Military District (CMD) to send a force into Cholon to seize the Phu Tho Racetrack. Since the VC had set up anti-aircraft weapons at the racetrack, Gibler’s men would have to move by ground convoy into Cholon. Once the enemy troops were driven from the racetrack, Gibler planned to move the remainder of the battalion in by helicopter. Gibler selected Alpha Company to lead the attack to recapture the racetrack.
Ho Nai Village—0800–1400 Hours
After fighting their way up Highway 316 past the main gate of Camp Frenzell-Jones, Major Jones’ 2/47th task force turned east on Highway 1 and rumbled through Ho Nai village. The improvised unit, dubbed Task Force (TF) Panther, included Alpha Company and elements of battalion headquarters company.
As TF Panther sped through the village, enemy snipers took aim at the M113A1s and their crews. Specialist Russ Vibberts from the 2/47th Scout Platoon was driving the lead vehicle, taking his orders from Major Jones, who rode in the commander’s cupola. Eleven M113A1s carrying Alpha Company’s infantrymen followed behind the command track in column formation. When Major Jones learned that the rear of his column was taking heavy sniper fire, he ordered Vibberts to pick up speed. As Vibberts pressed the accelerator to the floor, he saw a tall first sergeant on the road waving for him to stop. A platoon of ACAVs were parked along the road in a herringbone pattern.
Major Jones’ command track sped past First Sergeant Holmes, who had to jump out of its path to avoid being run over. The column rolled on for another kilometer before the commander realized that the First Sergeant had been trying to direct him to Charlie Company’s location.
The 2/47th column then rolled to a halt and reversed direction, speeding back to Holmes’ position at the road junction. First Sergeant Holmes told the Major that Charlie Company was in heavy contact some three hundred meters north on the engineer road. Major Jones ordered his infantrymen to dismount and follow First Sergeant Holmes up the road, followed by the M113s. The odds were now turning in the Americans’ favor.
The battalion of the VC 275th Regiment had been stopped in its tracks by Captain Tonsetic’s Charlie Company. The enemy battalion had been badly battered by almost constant gunship strikes and small-arms fire. Its lead elements that engaged Charlie Company during the night were for the most part destroyed or taken prisoner. The bodies of more than 50 VC were strewn around the gravel pit and streambed. The ridgeline to the north was also strewn with enemy dead and wounded. Some VC took advantage of the opportunity to flee into the surrounding jungle when the gunship teams departed to rearm and refuel, but the diehards remained.
A number of the fleeing enemy soldiers ran right into Specialist Vincent’s LRP team. The LRPs killed eleven, but three members of Vincent’s team were wounded in the clashes. LTC Maus decided to extract the team. He knew their situation was precarious; they were running low on ammo. In full view of the enemy, he ordered his C&C ship to land and pick up the team. Amid a hail of gunfire, the LRPs rushed toward the helicopter with their wounded. Seconds later the pilot pulled pitch and took off as the door gunners opened up on the VC below. LTC Maus was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the battle, and Specialist Vincent was awarded the Silver Star. The LRP team had provided critical early warning of the 275th Regimental attack on Long Binh, and triggered the US response.
The remainder of the enemy battalion, many of whom were wounded, still held the ridge line that ran northwest to northeast some 1,500 meters north of the village. A US rifle company from 2/3d Infantry had established a blocking position 1,200 meters to the north astride the engineer road, closing that escape route. The enemy were left with two choices: fight to the death or surrender. The majority chose the former option.
Major Jones, the TF Panther commander, briefed Captain Tonsetic and his Alpha Company commander on a plan of attack. He instructed Captain Tonsetic to attack northward with his two platoons of light infantry on the west side of the road while Alpha Company’s mechanized infantrymen would attack on the east side. During the first phase of the attack, infantrymen from both units had to cross the streambed and seize the high ground to the north. They would then continue the attack up a gentler slope to rout the dug-in enemy from their positions. Major Jones would then lead the M113A1s across the culvert and up onto the high ground to assist in final phase of the attack.
The attack jumped off around 0830 hours. Alpha Company drew the tougher assignment. The enemy strongpoint on the ridgeline was in a small cemetery east of the road. It was not well maintained. Knee high bushes and weeds grew between the graves and positions dug by the enemy during the night. West of the road, the enemy positions were spread farther apart, and several had sustained direct hits during the gunship strikes. However, the diehard defenders were still capable of putting out a heavy volume of automatic weapons fire.
The Charlie Company grunts maintained a steady pace as they crossed the stream, climbed its bank, and began to move uphill. Enemy positions were taken out using fire and movement, usually ending with a hand grenade tossed into the enemy foxhole. Alpha Company also crossed the stream quickly and began to sweep northward into the cemetery, killing 13 VC and capturing a number of others. However, the mech infantrymen missed several well-concealed enemy positions. As the attack continued, the VC who were bypassed began to pop up from their holes and fire into Alpha Company’s ranks from the rear. Three Alpha soldiers were killed before a lone infantryman from Charlie Company saw what was happening.
Specialist Bob Archibald, still limping badly on a sprained ankle, hobbled across the road to the Alpha Company sector where he engaged the enemy positions with hand grenades and blasts from his 12-gauge shotgun. Archibald was credited with killing 12 diehard VC. It wasn’t until after the battle that Archibald realized he’d sustained a minor flesh wound to his leg. Commenting on his role in the battle, Archibald wrote, “I was really pumped then. Later, I thought I might just get a Bronze Star…then I forgot about it.” The 21-year-old Californian knew his friend Al Lewis had been killed an hour earlier, but he had no thoughts about retribution when he attacked the enemy positions. He said, “I did what I thought I was supposed to do.”
As mopping up actions continued, Major Jones led his tracked vehicles forward. After the tracks crossed the culvert they left the road and assisted the dismounted infantrymen in eliminating additional enemy positions. It was slow and dangerous work. As the light infantry and mech infantry companies swept northward for another 1,500 meters, they continued to flush the VC from their hiding places. Gunships from A Troop, 3/17th Cav cut the fleeing VC down in their tracks before they could reach the surrounding jungle. Thirteen prisoners were taken during the attack. Battlefield interrogation of these prisoners revealed that they were NVA fillers assigned to the 275th VC Regiment. North Vietnamese documents and currency found on their persons substantiated their identities. The POWs also told their interrogators that there were two additional VC battalions of the 275th Regiment in and around the Long Binh area.
As the 4/12th and 2/47th soldiers pushed closer toward the blocking position held by Bravo Company, 2/3d Infantry, the few remaining enemy soldiers were caught in a deadly cro
ssfire. As the attackers neared the blocking position, a Bravo Company soldier was shot and killed by a fleeing VC. At approximately 1400 hours, the troops from Charlie Company 4/12th and Alpha Company 2/47th Infantry reached the 2/3d Infantry blocking positions.
The enemy battalion was all but destroyed as a fighting force with its men either killed, captured or fleeing into the surrounding jungle. A captured sketch map found on a dead VC officer indicated that the main objective of their attack had been Camp Frenzell-Jones. The enemy battalion never got to launch its attack due to the early warning given by Specialist Vincent’s LRP team, and the subsequent deployment of the 199th LIB’s Ready Reaction Force.
Charlie Company had fought the VC battalion to a standstill, and the timely arrival of the 2/47th Infantry’s TF Panther insured its total defeat.
Widows Village—0600–1200 Hours
Days of Valor Page 17