| On many
occasions, U.S. Army field artillery units supported A-502 operations.
And, on at least one occasion, there is no doubt that they saved the lives
of A-502 team members. On a very hot Vietnamese mid summer night, a platoon size unit (25 - 35 men) from A-502 with two American advisors was set up on ambush around a small village near the northern base of the Dong Bo Mountains. At approximately 1:30 in the morning, the unit opened fire on what they thought was a small enemy patrol (6 - 10 men). In reality, they had ambushed the point element of a company size unit (75 - 90 men). When the enemy unit began to surround the A-502 ambush team, the senior American advisor placed an urgent call to the Camp Trung Dung radioroom. Simultaneously, his Vietnamese counterpart was requesting reinforcements through the Vietnamese radioroom at Trung Dung. However, after hearing that the enemy unit was about to overrun the A-502 team, the officer in the radioroom at Trung Dung realized reinforcements would never arrive in time. Since the camp mortar tubes could not reach the contact site, the only alternative for immediate support was artillery. A-502 requested immediate assistance from three different artillery batteries, the 155s in Nha Trang, the Korean's 105s, and the 175s in Ninh Hoa. Normally, smoke rounds are fired and checked to ensure that friendly units are not hit by mistake. However, on this night, there was no time for smoke. Coordinates were passed to the guns and the order to fire was given. When the rounds began impacting, the distant rumble could be felt at Trung Dung. An incredible amount of ordinance was poured into the area around the ambush site and shifted as the A-502 unit withdrew to the north. Minutes seemed like hours as team members back at Trung Dung waited to hear from their unit in the field. Finally, word came that the unit had reached a small village where they were setting up defensive positions. The unit also reported that reinforcements were arriving . . . A-502's team was safe. Almost miraculously, the unit had only sustained minor injuries and all had survived their encounter. Credit for this amazing outcome can only be given to the field artillery units who fired so quickly and so accurately that night. This is only one story of the value of artillery support to A-502 . . . there are others. We offer our thanks to the men of the artillery units whose faces were rarely seen. To hear the battery firing sequence again, center the top picture in your screen, increase the volume, then click the "Refresh" button. |
| The artillery
unit in the picture at the top of the page was supporting a pending
A-502 operation into the Dong Bo Mountains. In this picture, the white smoke
from impacting artillery rounds is clearly visible near center screen and half way
up the mountain. |
|
Special Forces - The Silent Professionals |
|
United States Army Special Forces
Detachment A-502.
