2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment 1967-68

The enemy force was one of our well-known opponents, the 22^nd NVA Regiment, which was in the process of preparing to conduct a major attack on ARVN installations at Tam Quan. This was one of those rare occasions where we discovered and surprised a large enemy force, and where we initiated and controlled the battle. The heaviest fighting took place south of Tam Quan, sometimes involving hand-to-hand battles in enemy trenches, and the battle was characterized by the massive use of artillery, tactical air support, and numerous air assaults by 1^st Brigade units, while the mechanized companies were used to fix the enemy and attack fortified positions.

Thanks to Sven Gerlith.                                                                                                                   
 

At 1645 hours, Charlie Company was halfway across the rice paddy when the enemy opened fire from the treeline, killing and wounding many members of the company including Captain Flatley and several other members of his command group. According to the 1^st Brigade Combat Operations After Action Report, Charlie Company “was pinned down by intensive automatic weapons fire while crossing a rice paddy vicinity BS 922072”. Meanwhile, Bravo Company maneuvered over to the southern flank of this woodline and then proceeded north to attack the enemy force that had Charlie Company pinned down in the rice paddy. As Charlie Company was leaderless during this period, there was a major problem in establishing control of their small arms fire while we moved north in front of their positions. Eventually, the Battalion Commander, LTC John Stannard, took command of Charlie Company and they were finally extracted from the rice paddy at 1900 hours. Later that evening, Captain Michael Berdy assumed command of Charlie Company. However, two weeks later in yet another tragic event, Captain Berdy and several members of his Charlie Company command group were killed when their helicopter crashed on 26 December 1967. And yet another tragedy occurred two weeks later when Captain Charles Wilcox, who assumed command of Charlie Company on 26 December 1967, was Killed In Action by an enemy grenade on January 9, 1968. (NOTE: The Vietnam War Memorial states that Captain Flately was killed in action on 8 December, whereas the Combat After Action Report states 7 December).    

According to the 1st Brigade Combat After Action Report, the activities of Bravo and Charlie companies for 8 December are as follows; “the two companies of the 2-8 Cav had only light resistance from snipers throughout the day and at 1520 hours, were air assaulted to vicinity BS 876114 in response to an intelligence report indicating the 9^th Bn, 22 NVA Regiment was located in that area. The companies established numerous ambushes and sent out Miller Teams but had no contact”. For 9 December: “The 2-8 Cav continued to search for the 9^th Bn, 22^nd NVA Regiment in the Bong Son Plains west of Highway 1 but failed to make contact”.

The other two companies of our battalion, Alpha and Delta, make their appearance in the Combat After Action Report on 10 December. This indicates that they replaced Bravo and Charlie companies in the Tam Quan battle on this date and we were probably assigned the mission of securing firebases. Since Bravo Company had been conducting combat operations continuously since early November, we deserved a break. However, as the following events show, we were back in the battle sometime prior to 19 December. On 19 December, Bravo Company was located several kilometers north of the Bong Son River and close to the South China Sea, and conducting a broad sweep in a southerly direction towards the river. Around noon, one of our platoons discovered an extensive series of trenches that had been occupied within the last twelve hours by a large enemy unit, which we estimated to be at least a battalion-sized unit. We reported this to Battalion Headquarters and requested a helicopter scout team to search the area to the south of our position. On the other side of the Bong Son River, in a village called An Nghiep, the scout team located an enemy antenna attached to the top of a tree and what appeared to be a bunker complex underneath. This was the start of the final firefight in the Battle of Tam Quan and this combat operation was controlled by our battalion.

Delta Company combat assaulted to the east of An Nghiep, but received heavy fire as they approached the village and they were ordered to withdraw. The next action was to deploy a Psychological Warfare Team. The team orbited the village in a helicopter, urging civilians to leave the area and encouraging the NVA forces to surrender. A few civilians departed the area, but the NVA refused to surrender. Thereafter, artillery fires were directed on known enemy positions and enemy bunkers were bombed with a total of six air strikes. Prior to the commencement of these air strikes, Bravo Company was air assaulted to a LZ south of An Nghiep. During the commencement of the airstrikes, both Bravo Company and Delta Company started moving towards the hamlet, and Charlie Company 1/50 Mech started moving into position on the north bank of the Bong Son River. During our advance towards An Nghiep, jet fighter bombers flew directly overhead firing 20mm cannons (the hot brass bounced off our helmets) and then dropped 1000 lb bombs on the enemy bunkers in An Nghiep. By nightfall, the village area was surrounded by three companies under the command of LTC Stannard, who had deployed a small battalion command group that was collocated with Bravo Company. These three units were Bravo Company, Delta Company, and Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 50th Mechanized Infantry. We had illumination during most of the night and NVA soldiers attempted to entice us to leave our positions by crying out for help. One NVA soldier attempting to break out of the encirclement was so surprised when he stumbled into one of our positions (Cheyenne?) that he dropped his weapon and fled. A known weak point of our encirclement was the Bong Son River which was covered from the north bank by Charlie Company 1/50, who had been assigned a screening mission covering a very large sector. During the night, many of the enemy escaped by crawling unhindered from the village of An Nghiep to the river and swimming down the Bong Son River, while others were killed or wounded as they attempted to escape through our lines.

The following is a photograph of the hamlet of An Nghiep, scene of the 19 December operation during the Battle of Tam Quan.

AIRSTRIKES ON ENEMY BUNKERS 19 DEC 67

US casualties during the Battle of Tam Quan were 58 killed in action and 250 wounded in action. In the 1^st Brigade After Action Report, estimated casualty figures for the 22^nd NVA Regiment casualties are listed as 650 killed in action. According to the Commanding General of the 1^st Cavalry Division, General Tolson, “the Battle of Tam Quan had a much greater significance than we realized at the time. In that area, it pre-empted the enemy's Tet offensive even though the full impact wasn't then realized. As a result, that part of Binh Dinh Was the least effected of any part of South Vietnam during Tet.”

We were extracted from An Nghiep on 24 December and spent the night on LZ English. We had BBQ chicken that evening and we were served Christmas dinner with all the trimmings shortly before noon on 25 December. At 1330 hours on 25 December, we were back in the field conducting combat operations (it is possible that we relieved Charlie Company who went to the Bob Hope Show).

1ST CAV DIV CHRISTMAS CARD 1967

Thanks to Bill Sherwood