Timeline, September 7th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
September 1951 (Year of the Hare [Tan Mao]): General De Lattre travels to Washington to seek more aid from the Pentagon.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
September 7, 1961 (Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): Three separate platoon-size VC forces attack ARVN forces in the border area west of Hue.

September 7, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Piranha begins.

September 7, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Big Red begins in the Ben Cat, Puoc Ving, Di An, Phu Loc area. Following a airmobile assault, the 1/503rd destroys two VC hospitals, a signal school, and several training camps. As a result of the combat operations, 17 village chiefs, some of whom have not been to their villages in over a year, will return.

September 7, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Highland update: Operation Bayonet is conducted.

September 7, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): General Westmoreland issues MACV Directive 525-3, prescribing guidelines designed to minimize noncombatant battle casualties.

September 7, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Prairie update: MAG-16 helicopter ferries most of a battalion into a LZ around Con Thien.

September 7, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Three Falcon gunships of the 155th AHC begin a six-day assignment of visual reconnaissance and road clearing in the Nha Trang area.

September 7, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operations begin in Nhon Trach against elements of the 54th Viet Cong rear service group. Major caches of weapons, ammo, rice and medical supplies will be captured in the two-day operations.

September 7, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): The Fourth Battle of Loc Ninh starts.

September 7, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Operation Defiant Stand, the last of 62 US Marine ARG/SLF amphibious assaults during the war is conducted. It is the first such assault conducted with the Korean Marine Corps.

September 7, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): On a road in the Phu My District, an enemy mine is detonated by the lead APC in a four-vehicle Company E, 3rd Battalion, 503 Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade column. As the vehicle swerves off the road, a concealed enemy force waiting in ambush nearby opens fire. Staff Sergeant Glenn English rallies his stunned unit and leads it in an assault which routs the enemy.

[SuperScout]

"September 7, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operations begin in Nhon Trach against elements of the 54th Viet Cong rear service group. Major caches of weapons, ammo, rice and medical supplies will be captured in the two-day operations."

This weapons, ammo, and medical supply discovery was the largest cache uncovered in the war. And the incident started when a FAC, call-sign "Tamale 15", an Australian Air Force pilot flying one of our Birddogs (0-1), spotted a couple of VC running down a trail. He directed my mech platoon into the area via Willie Pete rockets, and the fun began. The cache, surprisingly, was very lightly defended, primarily because nobody but nobody had been in the area in decades, if ever. We soon discovered that the tunnels and other infrastructure were much more than my little platoon could handle; I was even more uneasy about the possibility of a counter-attack, seeing how much the VC would lose in the way of arms and ammo. The remainder of our mech company arrived, and we started exploiting the tunnels and adjacent rooms. We discovered everything from 75mm pack howitzers, 82mm mortars, small arms by the thousands, and approximately 3-400,000 rounds of various caliber ammo. This event became such a large news story that the engineers had to bulldoze a landing zone in the area large enough to land two Chinooks at the same time. And from this event, that was the first, and probably last time my picture ever appeared in "Time" magazine!

[David]

Brice do you still have a copy of that Time article? I would love to see a reproduction of it with this thread. If you don't have a copy I can see if I can find one

[SuperScout]

While I was still in-country, my folks sent me a copy of the picture from "Time," but didn't include the article or the date of the issue. It would be quite interesting to read how this event was reported on back then.

I do have a few 35mm slides of some of the captured weapons; one of the most popular photos of the time was a picture of GEN Westmoreland sighting down the barrel of a Russian sniper rifle w/ scope, several of which we found. He was visiting the TOC of the 3/5th Cav (DMZ-LT's outfit), where much of the back-haul was positioned. That photo appeared in "The Stars and Stripes" newspaper.

[David]

I have checked their online archive but it only goes back to 1985. I have now contacted their media department to try and secure the information related to this.

[39mto39g]

Where is Nhon Trach located?
We found a bunch of weapons one time and all the Big brass took all the stuff and mailed it home, Left the SKS and AKs . One Capt. had some guys cut a RPG launcher right down the center so he could mount it flush on the wall?
I hear those 9th inf guys did some very fine work .

Ron

[DMZ-LT]

First time I sent a bunch of weapons and stuff back it never came back. Had guys die getting it. Got in my Squadron Commanders face about it . Stuff always came back after that. Kept a guys money , stamps , belt , round in his AK and Pith helmet with his name in it once. Been thinking I should give it back to his family but he didn't die easy and we left him in the grass