The base was subsequently hit by a mortar barrage on January 30, then on February 18 Hmong militia ambushed and killed a team of NVA artillery observers near the mountain and recovered plans for a coordinated bombardment of the facility. If this objective proved unattainable, then their secondary goal was chillingly simple: obliterate the fire base entirely, along with all American troops there. In 1968 he was thirty-nine years old, and while he had served in the army for some years, front line combat was not something he had seen very much of, at least not up until the fateful evening of October 31. It was with this purpose in mind that CIA personnel first established a base atop the steep cliff of Phou Pha Thi mountain, a sacred place in the Hmong’s animist faith which happened to be strategically located near the border with North Vietnam. Firing back with their assault rifles, they attempted to call down an airstrike nearly on top of their position. 65. IM not using the wrong term. Despite initially facing discrimination, which Rogers described as “overt,” from both his fellow soldiers and commanding officers, he kept his chin up and served with pride, retaining his unflagging determination to be the best he could be. The outpost was under a major Vietcong attack and was in danger of being overrun. Before the battle was over, Private First Class Newlin would save his battalion from being overrun and earn the Medal of Honor. It was more common than not for a recon team to be extracted under fire and with their perimeter minutes, if not seconds, away from being overrun. Upon retirement, he was finally able to fulfill an entirely different but nonetheless long-standing dream: he was ordained as a Baptist minister, and ministered to American troops stationed in Germany until his death in 1990. Echo Relief Force Wiped Out - In February 1968, a Marine outpost near Da Nang was in danger of being overrun. Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday, was greeted by a coordinated revolutionary offensive that struck simultaneously at more than 100 cities and towns, including 41 out of 50 of the largest cities and province capitals. The math major and aspiring priest in question was Major General (then Lieutenant Colonel) Charles Calvin Rogers, and the battle in which he earned a Medal of Honor for his tremendous valor, fortitude, and courage occurred in the Vietnam War, on November 1, 1968. Yet in the heat of a close quarters battle, in the thick of a furious firefight in which life and death hang by the most fragile and tenuous of threads, stereotypes often fall to pieces, and indeed can be blown completely apart. Fifty years ago on March 12, 1968, a top-secret U.S. base on a mountain top in Laos was overrun by an elite force of Vietnamese commandos. However, in 1962 Washington, Hanoi and Laotian factions all signed a peace treaty in which the foreign powers agreed to withdraw their forces from the country. A company of Marines was in danger of being overrun by NVA troops near the Rockpile, a small observation post south of the DMZ that kept track of enemy truck traffic head into South Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Surviving U.S. personnel had fled to a ledge on the side of the cliff, where they were trapped as grenades and small arms fire rained down upon them. Unable to deploy significant defenses, the base’s technicians instead began dispatching hundreds of airstrikes against nearby communist forces to secure their position. Well-placed and timely American artillery and air support also help prevent X-Ray from being overrun. When I first arrived in Vietnam, the orientation instructor asked if anyone was from Texas. Tet, the Lunar New Year holiday, was greeted by a coordinated revolutionary offensive that struck simultaneously at more than 100 cities and towns, including 41 out of 50 of the largest cities and province capitals. Melvin Earl Newlin was born in September 1948 in Wellsville, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River near the … It's a tactic that was used during the Vietnam War. By 4 AM, the first three cells had captured all of their objectives. During his career he was decorated with the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star (with three oak leaf clusters), the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, and the Medal of Honor, among other medals. Ginny Dornheggen, U.S. Army Nurses Corps, 1970-1971 remembers, “I was so scared – I hid under the metal desk in the recovery room, thinking, oh my God, we are being overrun. Muoc’s assault on Lima 85 had significantly weakened the U.S. air campaign over North Vietnam and Laos. Preserving the memory of shadowy episodes like the battle of Lima 85 may not heal the wounds of the past, but it can help bring about an honest reckoning of the mistakes that were made and inspire reflection as to how to avoid repeating them in the future. Not only did Rogers lead by proud example, but as his career advanced and he gained more clout in the Armed Forces, he also made it a personal priority to ensure there were equal opportunities in career development and promotions for both minorities and women in the US Army. Picking up his helmet and his M-16, he charged straight across to the front line position, rallying the troops who had been dazed by the force of the explosions and personally redirecting howitzer fire to the appropriate positions. American military leaders knew the isolated base was surrounded by stronger enemy forces and likely to come under attack, but the base’s TACAN support was considered so valuable that Amb. They launched a third assault at dawn. Echo Relief Force Wiped Out - In February 1968, a Marine outpost near Da Nang was in danger of being overrun. Twelve Marines were killed, three escaped, while two were taken prisoner and died in captivity. I raised my hand proudly along with other proud Texans. As if the mortar and rocket assault wasn’t terrifying enough, the surreal red glow of hundreds of flares revealed an even more horrifying spectacle: a full frontal infantry assault was being launched. He looked at me and said "You haven’t seen anything yet." Because Laotian Prince Souvanna refused to accept U.S. military personnel in Laos, U.S. Air Force personnel deployed to Lima 85 had to sign papers temporarily discharging them from the U.S. military before deploying to Lima, a farcical process known as ‘sheep dipping.’ These technicians were supposed to go unarmed, though they did eventually end up acquiring a handful of small arms. In just six months, Lima 85 directed between 25 and 55 percent of the air strikes pounding North Vietnamese and Laotian targets. The commandos were equipped with AK-47s, SKS carbines, explosives, hand grenades and three rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Camp Rainier regularly came under NLF attacks launched from the adjacent Michelin Rubber Plantation, notably during the Tet Offensive and later in February 1969, when the base was in danger of being overrun.

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