Operation Macarthur

[39mto39g]

By late October intelligence sources began detecting unusual and large movements in the tri-border area-the junction of LAOTIAN-CAMBODIAN-SOUTH VIETNAMESE borders-west of the DAK TO Special Forces Camp in KONTUM Province. As the area was watched by the various means of aerial and ground intelligence gathering agencies it became apparent that the NVA was moving large forces into southwest KONTUM Province.
Take a wild guess were I was in late Oct 67?

The 'battle for DAK TO' was not a designated operation in itself, but occurred within the boundaries of the 4th Infantry Division's Operation MACARTHUR . Nevertheless, the size of the two opposing forces, the length and violence of the engagement and the overall significance of the battle have made the events that occurred in the vicinity of DAK TO from 2 October to 1 December the most important that have occurred in the Central Highlands.
I guess that last statement is Just My opinion, but I think it's true.

The command and control and communications effort at Dak To was enormous. The 4th Infantry Division headquarters controlled its 1st ,2d and 3rd Brigades, division artillery, division troops, division support command, the 173d Airborne Brigade, the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), and other units. The statistics in the three-week battle were impressive: Army aviation flew more than 13,000 hours; eighteen U.S. and Vietnamese artillery batteries fired more than 170,000 rounds; and the Air Force executed 2,100 tactical air and 300 B-52 sorties. Four enemy regiments lost 1,644 known dead.

When people think of Dak To they think 173rd and hill 875, Not to take anything away from that fight, but it was just a part of Macarthur and the area around 875 was filled with hills not to mention 1330, were if not the steepness of that hill the NVA would have taken it.

October and November 1967 a good time to be on the beach in Hawaii.

Ron

[39mto39g]

Oct - Nov 1967 was way more interesting than Payday. But people want to talk about something else. Ok. Donut dollies in Cam Rahn.
I believe that a couple guys got hang nails from that encounter.
Just being cynical.

Ron

[Packo]

I was playing baseball at the time.....of which I'm happy about. I did keep up with a lot of news from Vietnam because I knew I'd end up there soon not being in college. Never heard of Macarther but did read and hear a bunch about the 173rd and the losses they incurred there. I'm sure it was a rough time for you and all the other guys of the many units that fought at that time. At my MOPH meeting, a retired General, 1 star, was talking and mention operation Montana Raider. He was commanding the 11th Armoured Cav at the time. I said, Hey, I was involved with that and Montana Raider Scout, with the 1st Cav. It was an interesting moment. 11th ARC guys are authorized to join the 1st Cav Div. Assoc.

Pack

[39mto39g]

Pack
I met a guy in Houston a couple years ago that said he was with something called Pink team, he said he was part of a hunter killer group. I never heard of either one. Was he full of it?

Ron

[covan]

39,

Not meaning to answer for Packo as he can add his own comments, but in my AO Pink Teams were helicopter recon teams. The teams were made up of a Loach and a Cobra. The Loach would fly low and slow looking for enemy trying to draw fire with the Cobra lurking in the shadows.

Once the Loach drew fire the Cobra would swoop in for the kill. Some units called them hunter/killer teams.

We once found leaflets that the VC were distributing to their troops showing a picture of a Loach on one side and a photo of a Cobra on the other. The warning was: if they shot at the Loach the Cobra would visit.

[Packo]

Developed those Hunter Killer Choppers. Loach pilots had balls. Covan, Ron, I never heard of ours called Pink Teams. They were from 1st of the 9th, 1/9...but never heard them called Pink. That obviously doesn't mean they were'nt, Covan is proof of that with his unit. If you run into the guy again, ask him if he was a grunt. I never heard of "Pink" grunt H/K groups....but then again, I was in the Cav then to MACV....can't speak for other units, but never heard that term used with any of the thousand or so combat vets I worked with for years, and none of the Psyco Vets I know.

Doesn't really answer your question...but is the best I've got.

Pack

[39mto39g]

James
I wrote most but not all. We were headed to the Ban Me Thuot area and got diverted to Kontum, Some Special Forces unit was having some kind of operation, Omega something. I guess the reason we didn't go is cause you did, Thanks, I think.
The 4th did it's share that’s for sure, But I wouldn't say we did any more than any other unit in Vietnam. Hill 875 wasn't the only thing the 173rd did, Just like Hamburger hill wasn't the only thing the 101st did. The 173rd had it's headquarters in AnKhe, The Cav was in some operation around Bong Song called Pershing at the same time that we were in Macarthur.

"The 4th, and two worthless SVN divisions, had responsibility for the area between Pleiku and BMT"
I'm guessing the unit you were referring to was the Golden Dragons.

Covan
So the guy was not full of ----. The names he said ,"pink team and hunter killers" just sounded Rambo.


Pac
I'm going to go Google it.

Ron

[exlrrp]

In Oct 67 I was in recondo school in Nha Trang. after that we went on OJT with the 1st Cav lrrps in Bong Son
but after that, by the end of November we were just South of where youre talking about, in Pleiku, and south to Ban Me Thuot.

"...As the area was watched by the various means of aerial and ground intelligence gathering agencies it became apparent that the NVA was moving large forces into southwest KONTUM Province*...."
I was part of that ground game mentioned above, except in the next two provinces south of KonTum: Pleiku and Dar Lac.
That "moving large forces" you mention was happening all over the country---it was the buildup to the Tet offensive. We know that now but all we knew then was there was a whole lot of NVA all over.
In the 101st, we had mainly just chased VC local boys over the countryside but along the Cambodian Border as a lrrp we were watching huge amounts of material and manpower---it was scary to be outnumbered all the time---DAM scary!
The Tet Offensive came as a large surprise to our side but it sure didn't need to be---al the signs were there and the warnings were being passed up the chain of command. And our command did nothing about it or seemed to do nothing about it. Westy made that famous "Light At the End of the Tunnel" speech where he claimed to have completely knocked out the enemy's capability to launch attacks. Yeah---And that light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be the onrushing freight train that derailed him, his career and ultimatelly the whole war.
that was when I really understood the difference between what was being said and the actual facts on the ground.
The 4th, and two worthless SVN divisions, had responsibility for the area between Pleiku and BMT.--this is about 100 miles. And us lrrps, of course: "Only Law West of the Drang" as we liked to put it, tho in truth the Drang runs east-west.

that was one helluva big open hole, with dam few people defending it and even fewer watching it. they never did plug that hole during the whole war, and sure enough, in 1975, that was where the main attack came from that ultimately rolled into Saigon.

One of the main goals of the NVA was to keep Westmoreland's eye on Khe San while they prepared for the Tet in other placers of the country. This was one of the biggest fakeouts they did and it worked like a charm: Westy bought right into it. I think that what youre talking about was part of that.

I spent almost 6 months as a grunt with the 101st along the coast but they didn't do any where near as hard fighting at that time than the 4th did ALL the time. During my time there, they were the ones up against the worst, the biggest NVA units of the war.
the 4th did more fighting, in more of the worst places, than any Army division I ever saw. A salute to them over the decades

stay good
James

(* Ron did you write this yourself?? youre writing has really improved over the years! Stay good J)