Photos US Forces

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Lance Corporal Russell Kefauver, of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 362 [HMM-362], examines a 12.7mm projectile which missed his foot by just two inches. Kefauver was flying as crew chief on a medevac mission when his UH-34D came under fire. This round ripped through the floor of the chopper, then fell near his side. He plans to keep the bullet as a souvenir

Original description and photo sourced by : official USMC photo by Staff Sergeant W. F. Schrider USMC Archive

 

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Juan Fordona of Puerto Rico, a First Cavalry Division Trooper, shakes hands with U.S. Marine Cpl. James Hellebuick over barbed wire at the perimeter of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, early April 1968. The meeting marked the first overland link-up between troops of the 1st Cavalry and the encircled Marine garrison at Khe Sanh.

Source:AP Photo/Holloway

 

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327th Infantry soldiers waiting for helicopter extraction from FSB Veghel, date unknown.
Source: 327infantry.org

 

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USS FORRESTAL, CVA-59 .. "TONKIN GULF YACHT CLUB" .. VIETNAM WAR .. 1967 .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Forrestal_(CV-59) .. http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/59.htm .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire .. http://www.uss-forrestal.com/

53 YEARS AGO! USS Forrestal, CVA-59 Deck Fire that killed 134 officers and enlisted men and injured 161 others .. REST-IN-PEACE SHIPMATES

 

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Don’t Go To Bed Drunk

A new officer had just arrived at Cua Viet as Communications Officer on the staff and was not yet accustomed to the extreme warm weather of Vietnam. He began drinking beer one hot afternoon just a day or two after he arrived and consumed a six-pack before retiring for the night. That night I was awakened by the roar and explosions of incoming arty. I jumped out of bed, yelled INCOMING!, scampered out the door and dived into my little bunker located just at the end of our hooch, the name we called our little cabin.

Part of my job as intelligence officer for Task Force Clearwater required that, at the first opportunity, I had to send a message to Saigon reporting that we were under attack. At the first lull in the bombardment, I left my little sand-bagged hole in the sand and headed toward the communications bunker to send out my message.
My route took me back into the hooch and out the other end. I noticed that not all the bunks were empty. The new guy was sound asleep in his bunk. I tried in vain to wake him up. I yelled, “Lyle, get up! We’re under attack!” I even rapped him smartly on the bottom of his feet and on his toes with my flashlight. Failing to rouse him, I gave up and went on do my job. I spent the rest of the night at my station in the communications bunker.
Next morning when I went back into our hooch, I saw Lyle still lying in his bunk snoring away. I shouted at him to wake up. He sat up and looked at me groggily. I told him in no uncertain terms what a foolish thing it had been for him to sleep through an arty attack. I said, “Man, you could have been killed.”
He didn’t believe what I was saying so I told him to get up and take a look outside. The hooch next door had sustained a direct hit. He just stood there and stared wide-eyed at the damage. Slowly the realization dawned on him that an artillery shell had exploded just a few yards from his sleeping head. Fortunately, it was a smaller one and caused only light damage. If it had been one of the large 152mm shells, it would have had a very different outcome. Needless to say, Lyle never went to bed drunk again. You never knew when you would be invited to an ARTY party.
CAPTAIN Herman W. Hughes, USNR, retired

 

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SEAL Team 1 member Electrician's Mate 3rd Class William Langley applies camouflage stick as he prepares to go on a mission in November 1967. He's on a SEAL "mike boat" on the Bassac River.

Source: US Navy Archive

 

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10/17/1969-Saigon, Vietnam- Members of the 11th Armored Cavalry in rubber plantation area at Loc Ninh and Quan Loi October 17 are shown doing various tasks, including checking their weaponry, after their arrival.

Source: Bettmann/CORBIS

 

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The Marines rest at An Hoa Church. Vietnam. May 1967 Vietnam War.

 

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Sp4 Richard C. Vaughan, Hawk Plt, 2d Bn, 327th Inf, 101st Abn Div, uses an XM-21 sniper rifle at Chu Lai, 1967. Photo by SSG Mike Mangiameli.

Source: US National Archives

 

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HAL-3 crewmember reloads one of the flex mounted M60 machine guns on a Huey while on the deck of USS Harnett County (LST 821) on September 10, 1969. Firing 7.62mm rounds at over 2,800 feet per second from four flex mounted M60s, HAL-3 pilots were well equipped for strafing as part of their rapid response fire support mission (in addition to their rockets). Later in the war, HAL-3 gunships used miniguns instead of the M-60s. Door gunners also used a variety of machine guns to lend more firepower and protection to the Navy gunships.

Original description and photo sourced by: https://www.history.navy.mil/ and https://history.army.mil/documents/vietnam

 

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On July 26th 1968, SFC Thomas A. Lutge (A/2-506) earned the Silver Star for his actions in Vietnam. Full citation:

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Thomas Albert Lutge, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for gallantry in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 25 July 1968. Platoon Sergeant Lutge distinguished himself what serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company A, 2d Battalion (Airmobile), 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, on a combat operation in Hau Nghia Province, Republic of Vietnam. His company was transported by helicopters into a suspected enemy held area. As they moved out on the ground they made contact with an unknown size element of a North Vietnamese Battalion. Throughout the ensuing battle, Platoon Sergeant Lutge fearlessly moved among his men to direct their fire while repeatedly exposed to the intense hostile small arms and automatic weapons fire. During the fire fight he personally saw to it that his men were constantly resupplied with ammunition. Then, seeing his platoon leader wounded, Platoon Sergeant Lutge moved forward to extract the injured man. As he moved forward he was mortally wounded by the enemy fire. Platoon Sergeant Lutge's personal bravery and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

 

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On July 25th 1968, 1LT Michael J. Williams (A/2-506) earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in Vietnam. Full citation:

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Michael J. Williams, First Lieutenant (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 506th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). First Lieutenant Williams distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 25 July 1968 as a platoon leader during combat operations near Cu Chi. Lieutenant Williams' company was met by fierce small arms and machine gun fire as it was inserted by helicopter into an enemy-held area. Crossing seventy-five meters of bullet- swept rice paddy, he reached a hedgerow in which the majority of the hostile positions were concealed. He quickly silenced one machine gun with a hand grenade, and then crawled through the bushes, methodically destroying the communists' strongholds and killing the occupants. Despite receiving numerous fragmentation wounds in his legs from an enemy hand grenade, he stood up and charged a machine gun position which had his comrades pinned down. Completely exposing himself to the hostile fusillade, he tossed a grenade into the bunker's opening and used the fortification itself as a shield from the blast. After insuring that the machine gun had been rendered useless, he crawled into the open rice paddy and began moving back to his men, but was shot through both legs by the communists and again received fragmentation wounds in his legs from an enemy hand grenade. Realizing that he would be killed if he moved, Lieutenant Williams played dead for eight hours not more than twenty feet from the hostile positions. When darkness came he dragged himself more than three hundred meters back to his unit's night location. First Lieutenant Williams' extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

 

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Dong Ba Thin, Republic of South Vietnam. 1967. 117th AHC gunner Jimmy K. He was the first gunner on helicopter 66-794

Source: 117thahc.org

 

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Viet-Cong bamboo spike booby trap rebuilt for training purposes in CONUS

 

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Ronald T. Roane guides his scout dog, Hobo, as they track down the elusive enemy. The 75 pound German Shepherd and Roane have uncovered countless enemy hideaways and are credited with saving many American lives since their arrival in Vietnam in May 1968. The two are members of the Scout Dog Platoon, 3d Military Police Battalion, Force Logistic Command (official USMC photo by Corporal John S. Krill)."

Original description and photograph sourced from the Jonathan Abel Collection (COLL/3611), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections.

 

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L Company Rangers, The 101st Airborne Division LRRP/Rangers of Vietnam (1st Brigade, 3-506, F/58th, and L/75th Rangers)

Source: lcompanyrangers.com

 

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April 29, 1975, a day before the fall of Saigon, Maj. Of the South Vietnam Air Force Buang-Ly embarks on a daring flight to the sea carrying his wife and five children in a two-seater plane Cessna O-1 “Bird Dog.” With just an hour of fuel, he saw the USS Midway and dropped a note on it, asking if they could clear the deck so they could land. Knowing that there was no room for this to happen, the commanding officer of the USS Midway, Captain Lawrence Chambers ordered the overboarding of more than $ 10 million of the time in UH-1 Huey helicopters so that this small plane could be saved. Captain Larry Chambers ordered each and every ship operator to help clear the flight deck and even launch the helicopters directly into the water. Ultimately Major Buang-Ly managed to land, after bouncing off the flight deck. and stopped almost at the height of the USS Midway bridge ... The Cessna plane can still be seen today at the Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

 

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Capt. Richard Flaherty (far right) seen with members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division. Flaherty, who had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War because of his size, was a paratrooper and platoon leader with the 101st and received a Silver Star for leading his platoon on a flanking assault of an enemy bunker. Capt. Flaherty would also earn two Bronze Stars, a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and five Purple Hearts during his two tours of service.

Source: military.com