Battle of An Ninh

Battle of An Ninh
Part of Vietnam War

Sergeant of 502nd Infantry firing an M60 machine gun
Date18-19 September 1965
LocationAn Ninh, An Khê District
Result U.S. declares tactical victory
Disputed Results
Belligerents
 United States
 South Vietnam		  Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Lt Col W.K.G. Smith
Strength
United States 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment
South Vietnam Rangers		 2nd Regiment, 3rd Division
Casualties and losses
United States 13 killed US body count: 226 killed

The Battle of An Ninh took place from 18–19 September 1965 between elements of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 94th and 95th Battalions, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Division and the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Rangers.[1] It occurred during an operation codenamed Operation Gibraltar, developed by MACV to clear the area around the 1st Cavalry Division's base at An Khe, South Vietnam.

Battle

Around 07:00, after preliminary airstrikes, the first wave of helicopters dropped 224 men of the 2/502nd Infantryand a company of ARVN Rangers in a landing zone near the village of An Ninh, 30 km east of An Khê.[2]

Unknown to the U.S./ARVN forces they had landed in the middle of a PAVN training base. When the second wave of helicopters arrived at the landing zone, the PAVN started an intense fire forcing the commander, Lt. Col. W.K.G. Smith to call back the second wave without dropping the soldiers.[2]

The lack of artillery support posed dire difficulties for the American defence perimeter. Air support was initially unavailable due to contaminated fuel supply at Bien Hoa Air Base and it was only shortly after 09:00 that requests for air support were answered with the first mission flown by F-100 fighter-bombers.[2] Air support was the only help available on the first day of combat, with 50 close air support missions flown by dusk, hitting targets as close as 100 m from the defence perimeter, causing two casualties from friendly fire.[2] The continuous effort to reinforce the besieged troops and evacuate the wounded, under enemy fire, involved 26 helicopters.[2]

In the afternoon a U.S./ARVN relief force was transported to a landing zone, not far from the area of the battle, but before they could regroup and start to advance, night fell, and they had to stop.[2]

It was the first serious firefight between regular forces of the U.S. Army and the PAVN. The battle was covered by CBS News reporter John Laurence who interviewed the brigade commander, Colonel James Timothy, and paratroopers who had been in the fight. One said their boots were falling apart in the tropical climate and they had eaten corn from the fields because they were out of food. "I was like a proud papa out there," an older sergeant said. "The privates led the charge. The privates went first." "It was a nightmare," a private said. "Nobody slept all night." A sergeant said, "I spent three years in Korea and never saw nothing like this." Laurence witnessed the violent interrogation of an enemy prisoner who had been captured during the battle.[3]

The PAVN retreated overnight and by the time the relief force arrived the battle was over.[4]

Aftermath

U.S. casualties were 13 dead and 44 wounded, for the PAVN, a body count conducted after the battle by U.S. troops claimed that 226 dead, most of them killed by air bombardment.[2] A total of 11,000 artillery rounds and 100 tactical air-strikes were conducted to avert the potential disaster that awaited US forces[5]

The outcome of the battle was interpreted in different ways; General Westmoreland greeted it as a great victory for the U.S. Army.[2] Others, such as David Hackworth[1] and Maj. J.C.W. Dyke of the 101st Airborne Division considered the battle a tactical and strategic disaster.[2] Dyke regarded the operation as a failure after the landing zone was in the middle of a training camp of a Vietnamese infantry battalion,[2] with Hackworth commenting that "the VC saved the day by walking away".[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hackworth, David H.; Sherman, Julie. About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior. Simon and Schuster. p. 468. ISBN 9780671695347. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Carland, John M. Combat Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966. Government Printing Office. pp. 41–43. ISBN 9780160501975. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  3. ↑ Laurence, John (2002). The Cat from Hue: a Vietnam War Story. PublicAffairs Press. pp. 126–132. ISBN 1586481606.
  4. ↑ Stanton, Shelby (1995). The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973.
  5. ↑ Clodfelter, Micheal (2016-05-13). Mad Minutes and Vietnam Months: A Soldier's Memoir. McFarland. ISBN 9780786487561.

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