operation hump survivors

But about an hour and a half before the show started, as everyone stood up in anticipation of the performance . It was slow, we could feel the helicopter vibrate, we watched WO Smith thread the needle, descending some 200 to 250 feet with little room to clear the blades, he put the helicopter on the ground. Another memorable thing about that was I played dead. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. Colonel Tyler acknowledged my response and ordered me to wait out. Low 24F. I was wrong and would learn it shortly. The dead were Lt. Thurston and Specialist 4th Class Wayne W. Humphries. The VC are estimated to have sustained 1200+ casualties in this battle, including over 400, dead. My mind just didnt want to accept it. On Friday, November 12, 1965 Brig. The scene of the battle for hill 65 is best captured by SP4 Joseph M. Kenny, the B Company, lst Battalion 503D Infantry artillery team radio operator (RTO) from Battery C, 3D Battalion, 319th Artillery, 173D Airborne Brigade in his poem D Zone: D ZONEBeneath the canopy of green,Flitting shadows make their way,In silent files they furtively steal,Looking, searching for their prey,Muffled footfalls barely heard aboveother muted sounds,Of an armed band moving, through theheart of Congs home grounds.Back again in the D Zone and its beensaid and heard,Charlie shares exclusive rights withthe One-Seventy-Third.Of course its hotly contested,And real estates on a rising cost,With payment made on either side,In blood and sweat long lost.But now its push on and on,Through swamp and tough terrain,With salty sweat searing your eyes,And a roaring in your brain,A burning feeling in your chest,And each breath a gasp of air.But its move and push and drive,Until youve found Charlies lair.Maybe soon theyll call a halt,,And youll slip to the mucky ground,Grateful to pick the leeches off,And pass the smokes around.But now its bamboo thicket,And lurking, snagging vine,While up ahead the point man,Searching for some signOf elusive, wily Charlie,The guy were looking for.And back in line some joker quips,Hell of a way to fight a war.A rifle shot cracks out.Like the rap of a conductors batonThat starts an overture,And willing or not its on.Fire is answered with fire,A crescendo quickly reached,And Charlie breaks and runs,As his line of defense is breached.The ensuing silence is unearthly,Still theres ringing in your ears,And guys are tending the wounded,Soothing their unspoken fears.Here and theres a still, still shape,Wholl never walk D Zone again.Their names to be struck from the rolls,With one stroke of a shaking pen.The call comes down to saddle up,Well soon be on our way,For weve a goodly stretch to cover,Before the end of day.The guys no longer look tired,Theyve a determined look of eyeAs they scan the shrouded flanksAnd treetops that hide the sky.Now as I write I feel pride,Proud that I have servedWith the Sky Soldiers of Company B,First of the Five-0-Third. How in the hell were we going to protect him, why take the chance? Earlier I became aware that A Company was tasked to attempt to get to us. I informed Colonel Tyler that we were up to it, we had a plan and we were ready to execute. Fifty-two years ago today, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was halfway through its year of service in Vietnam. Proceeds from a silent auction held at the event will go to benefit the Black Hills Avenue of Flags, as well as to help fund a new project at the South Dakota Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Be Nice. Several of their reports carried the line that the battle for hill 65 had been the biggest battle of the war up to that time. The Medal of Honor. A daily e-mail to let you know when the new e-edition has been posted. At approximately 0750 hours, alerted by sporadic small arms and automatic weapons fire coming from the southwest of our position, we listened intently to the battalion command net. 11 Having learned that Captain Tucker had joined and committed his remaining platoon to the fight, I told my platoon leaders we would most likely be going directly to the assistance of C Company and if that were the case we must be prepared to move on a moments notice. After what seemed a lifetime, I realized we had to move fast to overcome a major assault. The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest award for military valor in action. Unless we made enemy contact earlier, the third platoon was to hold up just short of the creek at approximately grid coordinate- 108309, a creek bed just east of hill 65, at which time I intended for both the third and first platoons to go on line with the first platoon moving to the left of the third platoon and the second platoon following the third platoon onto hill 65. I then estimated that we could be up against as many as three Viet Cong battalions. My mind now centered on how we were going to get our remaining wounded and dead out of this place. Colonel Tyler kindly intervened in the heated discussion and brought it to a halt. On November 8th 1965, the 173rd Airborne Brigade on "Operation Hump", war zone "D" in Vietnam, were ambushed by over 1200 VC. Again we found nothing. While this heavenly verse frames up the Big & Rich video encapsulating their Nov. 8, 1965, shoot-out, 173d Airborne Brigade soldiers Niles Harris, Sonny Bartow, and Michael Lovelace have actually been to hell and back together and lived to tell about it. Soft-close at 4 a.m. and hard-close at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, November 20 and Sunday . Now this wasnt just a fight to help C Company, we lost one of our best and they were going to pay. Tucker, Sgt. Keep it Clean. Our contact appeared to have closed on the enemies left flank and with the element of surprise we were virtually unopposed in getting on the hill. That is what Lovelace remembers most vividly from the day of the battle. Today, for Harris, the other impactful impression from that day are the service pictures of the fallen that flash in a certain segment of the Big & Rich 8th of November video. 5 min read. While on the chopper returning to Bien Hoa I recalled the number of my soldiers wounded and killed on this operation that had been wounded on prior operations. Later the troops would tell me how much they appreciated getting the opportunity to stand toe-to-toe with the General. Add to basket. Don't Threaten. When that soldier was asked why he didnt fire his weapon, he responded, Sir, Im a Grenadier, I was so damn busy firing a M60 Machine Gun, a M16 Rifle and my 45, I never got to my Grenade Launcher. Then it would get more personnel with questions on where they came from, how long they has been in the Army, their assignments and the like. I had to chase away some medical personnel that wanted to restrain him. I spoke briefly with Chaplain Hutchens, he still had that rare smile, looked good and was collecting visitors to the point that some wanted us out of there. By their look. A lot of guys were in shock and this one guy that was hurt, they leaned him up against a tree, and I said, Hey, that isnt going to work. I was just screaming, Get down! That was too high I was making myself real skinny. I reported to Colonel Tyler that I believed we were surrounded and, while we would hold the position, we were going to need help. Leaving my rear detachment under the control of my Executive Officer, First Lieutenant Charles E. Johnson, Jr., B Company deployed with five officers, 195 enlisted men and one ARVN interpreter. With the action just completed my new estimate was twice that previously reported. Throughout the night I paced the area, tried several times to rest on an enemy crafted log table, and listened, and listened. . The combined American/Australian troops seriously underestimated the number of enemy fighters and the desire to which they would fight to hold their ground. The fighting lasted for over 48 hours. I cautioned them to keep the helicopters clear of us so we could hear . Bartow said that Hill 65 sticks in his mind all the time. That came as a surprise as we had not experienced any mortar fire on the hill. A UPI headline article appeared in the Saigon Daily News on November 9th and other headline articles appeared in the Pacific Stars and Stripes and The Saigon Post on Wednesday, November 10th. My stomach hurt, there had to be more. We exchanged salutes and I left him with General Williamson and Colonel Tyler. It also caused me to wonder as to their situation. As I approached them they all yelled for me to get down. We got a lot of questions on being ambushed and fallen into a Viet Cong trap. General Williamson took those head-on as nonsense. Colonel Tyler provided encouragement and said he was working on it. He was still recovering in a ward with one of our great leaders, Platoon Sergeant Adam A. Bernosky of the first platoon. From the creek to the crest of the hill is about 300 meters. When you see all these guys who are dead, Harris said. our paratroopers were the best our government has ever put on any battlefield. Date 5-8 November 1965; Location: South Vietnam, Bien Hoa: Result: United States/Australian victory, Viet Cong retreats. Resulting in 48 Airborne KIAs and 408 VC dead. The General spotted our dead, all covered in ponchos, stopped, looked at them, and seemingly paused to say a prayer. However, I had three serious reservations in providing it to anyone: First, at several points I am critical of someone or some unit. B Company was to move approximately two kilometers north northeast, fan-out its three platoons and search an additional one-thousand meters in a northerly direction. I said I didnt, but I had. Byron Tyler 1.97K subscribers Hill 65 was one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. Forty-eight American soldiers lost their lives that day. Especially with the kids. General William C. Westmoreland visited our wounded the following morning, November 10th. I realized we werent going to get any outside help, no one was coming to us. Native Americans in the Military Vietnam War (1959-75) April 15, 2015. He would go on to ask if they had fired their weapon. And all the heroes around the world.. C Company was followed by the extraction of A Company, and then my company. They posed questions via chords and via their lyrics. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people. Each month's obituaries, delivered to your inbox. 4th Class Wallace S. Tao and Sgt. With the sun not penetrating the treetops, the jungle floor was generally clear. We only had his name when all radio contact was lost. Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon. A radio operator was holding the company radio and keying the hand mike for him. One of the guys in front of me being killed and the sound of the bugles and whistles from the Viet Cong, Bartow said. While we exacted a heavy toll on the enemy, we paid a terrible price for not adequately covering our rear. Forty-eight American soldiers lost their lives that day, many more wounded, and 403 dead PLAF troops. The sad result was troops feeling sorry for themselves, second guessing each other and even blaming each other for some of their casualties. As we were honoring our dead the ist Air Cavalry Division would lay claim to that record as they fought North Vietnam regulars from November 14 to 19 in a battle for the Ia Drang Valley. Halfway up the hill one of my radio operators appeared to fall. I ordered the first platoon leader, First Lieutenant Michael P. DeFrancisco, to move his platoon even further to the left or south of the third platoon in order to have two platoons abreast and ready to rapidly move on line once we reached the objective. Secondly, I found myself using I all too often. We needed him, but others need him more. You had to. Severely wounded and risking his own life, Lawrence Joel, a medic, was the first living black man since the Spanish-American War to receive the United States Medal of Honor for saving so many lives in the midst of battle that day. Moving rapidly, at approximately 0925 hours, Lt. Thurston reported enemy movement forward of the third platoon on the far side of the creek just short of hill 65. Late in the day on Sunday, November 7, 1965 the battalion had established a base camp. This paper was prepared in May 1966 following my turning over of command of Company B, lst Battalion 503D Infantry and preparing to return to the United States and Fort Benning, Georgia. That last man straightened up and said, All the Way, Sir. I responded proudly, Airborne. B Company had done its job, we had C Company back; we were dirty, tired and proud! I got the message. Select from premium Operation Hump of the highest quality. Pioneer photo by Jaci Conrad Pearson, DEADWOOD Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his brother.. I talked with Captain Tucker and we came up with a plan. The troops shared my concern and seemed to get a very determined look in their eyes. I saw him again in a military hospital on my way to Fort Benning. On the 8th of November 1965, a company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade took part in what is known as Operation Hump. Operation Hump, the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, took place November 5-9, 1965, in South Vietnam's War Zone D. Known as "The Hump," it would change the nature of the war, escalating it from a hit-and-run guerrilla conflict to a bloody contest between Communist main force units and American commands of battalion size or larger. Post fulfilling mission to serve Latino community. Finally I heard him yelling to let go. our medics were pushed to their limits but accomplished the seemingly impossible. Coma (No Response, Total Assistance) After a severe brain injury, your loved one may remain in a coma for some time. Operation Hump. My instructions were to the effect that the third platoon would move on the most direct route toward hill 65 or the battalion base as the lead platoon, my headquarters element would intercept the first platoon as it moved to catch the third platoon and the second platoon would follow and secure the companies rear. Winds light and variable.. Lt. Thurston reported he was taking fifty caliber fire from two directions. Anybody else did not make it through the day.. Their reaction clearly demonstrated that we were up against a highly trained and disciplined force. Nobody messes up today onstage. The fact that we were getting fire from those guns from three distinct and well dispersed directions caused me to believe we were in contact with a much larger enemy force then previously reported. Fighting continued throughout the day with some indications that the enemy was trying to disengage. The Chin Chillars then helped Dick Tracy and the police to invade Piggy's farm, and Piggy was successfully taken into custody . I learned that C Company did not have radio contact with all of its forward elements but that they would make every attempt to cease its fires. Still thinking about my soldiers in the hospital, being tired and dirty, having not slept, shaved or washed in two days, I had little patience and sent some folks packing. Which they would fight to help C Company was followed by the extraction of a Company tasked. Military hospital on my Way to Fort Benning wounded and dead out this. Half before the show started, as everyone stood up in anticipation the. 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