With the sun not penetrating the treetops, the jungle floor was generally clear. The search-and-rescue operation at the scene of a Russian missile strike in the city of Dnipro has been completed. Trying to determine the situation, the best I could get from them was that they had approximately twenty-one effective soldiers left on the hill. This time I had a change of heart. From the air our cutout in the jungle must have looked like a pin hole. Second, we had to find the missing soldiers from c Company. The visit of General Westmoreland was great. Upon my return I found more chaos in my orderly room than I experienced during the fight. It was time to say enough even to one tough paratrooper. We agreed that they only needed to halt the fires on the east side of hill 65 as we would be attacking from the east side of the creek to get to them. They made it about halfway up the hill when we finally broke them and they backed down off the hill slowly. 48 American soldiers fighting with Harris lost their lives that day. Thankfully it didnt last long. One of the guys in front of me being killed and the sound of the bugles and whistles from the Viet Cong, Bartow said. I believe both platoons had in fact monitored my conversations with Colonel Tyler, anticipated the order to move and actually began to execute their movements prior to my call. Less than one hundred feet in front of them was a M60 machine gun being dragged backwards. They initially placed their fires well forward of the north and northeast base of the hill and began to walk them in. Subsequently we learned that C Company had deployed its second platoon, led by First Lieutenant Ben Waller, north of the battalion base in direction of hill 65 and was in contact with an enemy force of about platoon size. Date 5-8 November 1965; Location: South Vietnam, Bien Hoa: Result: United States/Australian victory, Viet Cong retreats. I put my unit on the perimeter and stood on that perimeter until the last paratrooper of C Company closed the position. In a January 18 meeting with World War II veterans and Leningrad siege survivors, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine to stop the war that went on there since 2014. About five minutes later C Company deployed a second platoon and shortly thereafter reported it was in contact with an enemy force considerably larger than a platoon. He published a second article covering PFC Terry Hinson, his role in the fight, and the fact that he was seventeen years old. Photographer Mick Rock uses a point and shoot camera to photographer the photographers at the Uncut Ray-Ban . 173rd Airborne on Nov 5 sent into war zone D to flush out VC. The second platoon, led by First Lieutenant Robert A. Frakes, would extend to the right of the first platoon further winding around the hill. Use the 'Report' link on It was a painful decision but I called them off. Today, were talking to friends.. Some of those wounded he had dragged out of the firing. Moments later the report was updated with information that contact was lost with their lead platoon. operation hump survivors. Fighting continued throughout the day with some indications that the enemy was trying to disengage. Some of us knew his pilot, WO Charles Smith, and believed if there ever was someone to take on this task he was the guy. Operation HIGHJUMP commenced 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Within an hour we closed on the battalion base. Gunships were returning fire as we extracted. Feb 5, 2014 - Korean troops encounter terrified villagers sheltering from their helicopter assault in Bong Son, Vietnam, in June of 1966. He was in pain but he smiled. We got a lot of questions on being ambushed and fallen into a Viet Cong trap. General Williamson took those head-on as nonsense. Vote for the area High School Athlete of the Week, Selena Gomez 'is dating Chainsmokers star Drew Taggart', Jacobs purchases former Caboose property in Whitewood, Britney Spears had meltdown at restaurant that saw her husband Sam Asghari storm off, Hilary Swank 'loves' being pregnant aged 48, Fall Out Boy's new album is 'made with love', Deadwood moves forward with new trail construction project, Supermodel Tatjana Patitz's cause of death revealed. While not probably the wisest decision on my part, I felt compelled to follow the squad in this recovery and I understood the unusual composition of that squad. I moved away. I held fast. 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. As light broke through the jungle on Tuesday, November 9, 1965 all our leaders knew what to do and were moving. 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. Clair further reported that he believed the enemy was not aware of his presence; however, he suspected he was beginning to take fire from C Company. I got the message. The enemy had fled leaving many of their dead (some reportedly stripped of their uniforms). Through five decades they have remained close friends and even inspired the Big & Rich smash hit 8th of November, an ode to their struggles. There were well traveled trails leading off the north and south sides of the hill. The second platoon quickly closed-up on us and secured the company rear. And they know that. We had yet to find seventeen missing from C Company. While their-were more, three stuck in my mind and two of those were dead. Generally I would lift out with my headquarters following my company. General Williamson 3umped out of the aircraft and told me to load it up. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. My immediate concern was for what I saw just forward of their position. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Mike was the lead guy Mike drug a lot of guys down that hill, Harris told the crowd of around 250 gathered for the event, with tears in his eyes and much emotion in his voice. We exchanged salutes and I left him with General Williamson and Colonel Tyler. On New Years Day 1966, during Operation Marauder on the Plain of Reeds west of the Oriental River near Kien Tuong, B Company again had to go to the aid of C Company. When we thought we had finally got the job done we called for a medical evacuation helicopter (Dust Off). Soft-close at 4 a.m. and hard-close at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, November 20 and Sunday . OPERATION HUMP 08 November 1965 On 05 Nov 1965 the 173rd Airborne Brigade initiated "Operation Hump", a reconnaissance in force in an area about 15 miles north of Bien Hoa. Which is, Everybody has their own 8th of November. Not only you. accounts, the history behind an article. My final instructions were to move to the sound of the firing in the general direction of hill 65 . one of my soldiers with a speech defect felt pushed to the point that after several questions, the last of which was: How do you know you killed the enemy? responded without a stutter, Because I got his blood all over me. While they talked I would look at their weapons and equipment. However, the position was cut off from the rest of the company and they were fighting hand-to-hand. Having been the battalion S2 prior to taking command of B Company, I had studied the area and was well aware of reports of an enemy build-up in the area. While I attempted to get further information as to their situation they were having great difficulty even talking to me. 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. When we thought we had finally got the job done we called for a medical evacuation helicopter (Dust Off). "In . The General stood firm. Colonel Tyler kindly intervened in the heated discussion and brought it to a halt. The enemy had fled leaving many of their dead (some reportedly stripped of their uniforms). The US-Australian objective was to drive out Viet Cong (VC) unit who had taken up positions on several key hills in War Zone D in an area about 17.5 miles (28.2 km) north of Bien Hoa. Black Hills Pioneer. John Rich followed up, And every single night, Niles, we sing the 8th of November in every single town we go to and we always bring up veterans on the stage and we always tell your story and we always tell them what you told us to tell them. Our plan was to move approximately two kilometers north northeast, establish a company base, and to fan-out the three rifle platoons an additional kilometer with the intent to look at hill 78 in the vicinity of -122323 and the road/trail in the vicinity of -115329 and -110328. They were pounding from three very different directions. Operation Highjump: The diary of a young sailor. As we began to move we opened up, firing everything we had in our third and first platoons. The Air Force had done a great job penetrating the jungle with their basket but we had too many wounded to count on that again. They killed the guy in front of me and hit my ammo pouch and knocked me down. He reported that he had spotted an enemy machine gun and was going to take it. So Niles, heres to a true American hero. Early on Friday, November 5, 1965 the 173D Airborne Brigade (Separate) entered War Zone D in the Republic of Vietnam to conduct Operation HUMP (OPORD 28-65). The remainder of the second platoon attempted to come to their rescue. I called my leaders together, informed them as to the Generals comments, thanked them and announced a winner (that I cant recall) of the six-hour drill. our medics were pushed to their limits but accomplished the seemingly impossible. "On November 8th, 1965, the 173rd Airborne Brigade on Operation Hump, War Zone D in Vietnam, were ambushed by over 1200 V.C. We needed him, but others need him more. The company closed on the new company base at approximately 0715 hours. Survivor's memoir of the battle, the war's basis,. 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. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. High around 35F. He had spent a day on the battlefield playing dead surrounded by the enemy. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- First things first: Chip Ganassi . Colonel Tyler ordered me to move and assist C Company at approximately 0845 hours. While there were signs of activity in and around the LZ on which we landed, the first three days of the operation turned out to be relatively uneventful with the exception of an enemy contact in the Australian sector. Been sent to the discussion by the enemy had fled leaving many of uniforms. 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