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21 Articles

Hero or Serial Killer?

VISIT HISTORYNET.COM www.historynet.com/hiroo-onoda-serial-killer-documentary PLUS! Today in History What happened today, yesterday—or any day you care to search. Daily Quiz Test your historical acumen—every day! What If? Consider the fallout of historical events had they gone the ‘other’ way. Weapons & Gear The gadgetry of war—new and old—effective, and not-so effective. HISTORYNET Now! Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter, delivered twice weekly, at historynet.com/newsletters…

Hero or Serial Killer?

Anti-Armor System

The Summer 2023 issue of Vietnam shows and describes the M50 Ontos with six forward-facing 106mm recoilless rifles. I was an Army 11H10 (direct fire crewman) trained on the 106 and the 90mm recoilless rifles. In Vietnam, with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 2/1, I carried the 90 in combat situations. We had a 106 and its jeep at the firebase. The 106’s and even the 90’s primary purpose was anti-tank. I never encountered enemy tanks and we carried the 90, mostly because it was more effective against bunkers than the LAW. What we did have were flechette rounds: about 1,000 tiny arrows about the thickness of a pencil lead. I suppose you could compare it to the equivalent of grapeshot or shotgun, with a widening and devastating spread. I…

Anti-Armor System

VIETNAM VETS HONORED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

For three days in May, Vietnam veterans and their families were the guests of honor on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall during a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last combat troops from Vietnam. It marked another effort in the long-overdue attempt to reconcile the selfless service of so many Vietnam veterans with the politically charged homecoming experienced by many. Hundreds of veterans and their families attended the event, which began May 11 with a ribbon-cutting to open “Camp Legacy,” the epicenter of activities, and a flyover by four vintage UH-1 Huey helicopters. Speakers included U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro who, on behalf of all the service branches, said it is “absolutely essential that we, as a nation, take time to focus on this…

VIETNAM VETS HONORED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Enemy Soldier’s Diary Returned

The Battle of Dak To was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Vietnam War. For three weeks in November 1967, American and South Vietnamese forces fought communist troops in the Central Highlands. Casualties on both sides numbered in the thousands. During the battle, Sgt. Peter Mathews of the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division was ordered to Hill 724 to count enemy dead and search for documents and military intelligence. Abandoned backpacks were scattered at the bottom of the hill near some enemy bodies. Mathews found a diary written in Vietnamese. The journal’s 93 pages contained poems, colorful drawing, and prose written in ornate handwriting. Mathews, with no idea if the diary’s owner was alive or dead, decided to keep it. He later said, “I recognized the beauty of it.……

In his final appearance as James Bond, Sean Connery stars with Jill St. John in Diamonds Are Forever. The film features two memorable car chase scenes–a rather campy one where Bond avoids villains in a Moon buggy, and another where he drives a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 on two wheels through the streets of Las Vegas. Viewers will note an editing snafu where the Mustang enters a narrow alley on its right-side wheels, and exits on its left-side wheels. Introduced by host Don Cornelius as “four beautiful people who represent a mighty mountain of soul,” Gladys Knight & the Pips perform live on the first syndicated episode of Soul Train. So begins a 35-year syndication run for the show that refers to itself as the “Hippest trip in America.” Through…

RELIC SPOTLIGHT

The 1954 Geneva Convention partitioned Vietnam into a communist north and a theoretically democratic south led by Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. As part of his efforts to woo American support, Diem presented this carved ivory table lamp to U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Donald R. Heath on Nov. 14, 1954, as a present for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The carving on the electrically wired lamp depicts a Vietnamese army on the move—on the front, four men ride elephants while other soldiers follow on foot past onlooking peasants. The carving is attached to a wooden base containing a silver plaque engraved in French that reads, “Le President Ngo-dinh Diem a L. E. Dwight D. Eisenhower, President des Etats-Unis d’Amerique.” On Jan. 11, 1955, Eisenhower sent a note back to Diem, thanking him…

RELIC SPOTLIGHT

Daniel Ellsberg, whose leaked “Pentagon Papers” revealed the U.S. government’s guarded views of the Vietnam War, died on June 16 at age 92. Ellsberg, a Harvard-educated former Marine, was a RAND Corporation analyst who became an adviser to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1964. He spent two years in Vietnam for the DoD assessing the war and accompanied troops in the field. Initially pro-war, his views changed over time. In 1967, he joined three dozen others in compiling the Pentagon Papers—a 7,000-page study commissioned by McNamara—detailing the conflict’s history and revealing that four successive presidents from Eisenhower to Johnson had expanded the war illegally, misleading Congress and the public. In 1971, Ellsberg leaked the papers to the New York Times and the Washington Post, who published them after court…

Tet Offensive History Coin Yours FREE

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RIVERINE OPERATIONS

Riverine warfare was a central element of combat in Vietnam. The French and Viet Minh struggled for control of the Red and Black Rivers. Later, the South Vietnamese and Americans contested with the Viet Cong for the lower Mekong and its tributaries. With 15,600 square miles of land and more than 15,000 miles of waterways, the Mekong Delta was of vital strategic importance. Producing some 16 million tons of rice per year, the Delta was the foundation of the Republic of Vietnam’s economy. For the communists, the Mekong River running south from Cambodia was the southernmost branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, bringing vital support to 28 VC battalions and 69 separate companies in the Delta, totaling some 82,500 troops. By 1966 the communists controlled almost 25 percent of…

RIVERINE OPERATIONS

On May 24, 1969, a B-40 rocket hit Monitor M-92-1 of River Squadron (RIVRON 9) as it was supporting a reconnaissance mission on the My Tho River, wounding three crewmen with fragments. The monitor turned and returned fire with its 40mm and 20mm cannon while the embarked Army liaison directed artillery fire and a helicopter strike on the enemy position. Nine Viet Cong reportedly were killed during the 30-minute engagement. The monitor itself suffered no significant damage. Introduced into service in September 1967, the monitors constituted the battleships of the Mobile Riverine Force. Heavily armed and armored, they suppressed enemy fire during ambushes and river assaults. Like the force’s armored transport carriers (ATCs), they were modified Landing Craft Mechanized 6 (LCM-6) boats from World War II. They differed from the…

CHOW LINE INVASION

In October 1967, as the North Vietnamese Army made final preparations for what would become known in early 1968 as the Tet Offensive, the 5th Marine Regiment was redeployed northward to reinforce the demilitarized zone. Replacing the leathernecks on Hill 63—which dominated the southern portion of the Que Son Valley 22 miles south of Da Nang—was our Army contingent, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). The 1st Cav—famed for our yellow shoulder patch with a horse’s head—was the Army’s first and only airmobile division, with a huge inventory of helicopters capable of shifting men and materiel around the battlefield at a moment’s notice. This “materiel” included food—GI rations. Seasonal monsoon rains gripped much of South Vietnam when our unit, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Airmobile)—wiped out at…

CHOW LINE INVASION

The Water Buffalo

During Vietnam’s dry season there is not a lot of water. It is rationed. As the dry season progressed our water turned yellow. In the communications center we had a five-gallon plastic jug. We used to fill it for our drinking water. We would take a pillowcase and fold it in quarters and put it under the opening of the five-gallon jug. We used it to filter out sand. One of the things that was down on the list when it came to rationing was showers. It might have been at least a week since I had taken a shower. You can imagine the odor of the average guy when we did not shower for a week and the temperature was over 100 degrees. One day someone came to the…

The Water Buffalo

UNCOMMON VALOR AT AN LOC

Easter came early in 1972 and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) came with it. On March 30, “Holy Thursday,” three NVA divisions stormed out of Laos and across the DMZ. It was the first of multiple assaults that struck not only the northern provinces of South Vietnam but also Kontum in the Central Highlands and An Loc, only 60 miles north of Saigon. North Vietnam was “going for broke,” committing its entire combat capability—14 divisions and 26 separate regiments, all with attached armor and heavy artillery units. Enemy forces numbered 130,000 troops and 1,200 tracked vehicles, primarily tanks. Aging Communist revolutionaries controlling Hanoi’s Politburo believed the time was right to achieve a decisive military victory, topple South Vietnam’s government, and embarrass the United States. As U.S. military personnel continued to…

UNCOMMON VALOR AT AN LOC

DARING TO SAVE A LIFE

John Haseman was a captain assigned as a Deputy District Senior Adviser (DDSA) in Mo Cay District, Kien Hoa Province, in the Mekong Delta. He had arrived at Advisory Team 88 in July 1971 and was DDSA in Ham Long District for 10 months before being reassigned to Mo Cay in May 1972. Nov. 20, 1972, began as an ordinary day, at least at the start. My boss, the Mo Cay District Senior Adviser (DSA), had departed about a week earlier for much-deserved home leave that included several days of hospital care. He was seriously wounded during a major battle in July 1972 with an NVA regiment in which the Mo Cay District Chief had been killed in action. I was introduced to the new District Chief, Maj. Manh, before…

DARING TO SAVE A LIFE

EYEWITNESS TO WITHDRAWAL

On June 8, 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Republic of Vietnam (RVN) President Nguyen Van Thieu stood side-by-side at Midway Island and formally launched Vietnamization. The goal was to allow U.S. operational combat forces to depart South Vietnam as quickly as possible before the next U.S. presidential election, leaving South Vietnam able to defend itself. Seven months after this announcement, I arrived in Cam Ranh Bay as a replacement headed for the U.S. Army’s 1st Signal Brigade. I was about to have a front row seat on Vietnamization in practice as a quality assurance NCO. Communication technology is an essential combat support function, which Gen. Creighton Abrams, U.S. commander in South Vietnam, had identified from the beginning as critical if South Vietnam’s Armed Forces were to defend their country…

EYEWITNESS TO WITHDRAWAL

THE LIMITS OF FIREPOWER

One of the nation’s foremost authorities on firepower and land warfare, Robert H. Scales retired from the Army in 2001 after more than three decades in uniform, much of it influenced by his service in Vietnam. A 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy, Scales initially served in Germany before joining the 2nd Battalion, 319th Artillery in Vietnam. Scales commanded a howitzer battery in the battalion and earned a Silver Star in 1969. He would later lead artillery units in Korea, command the Field Artillery Center at Fort Sill, and serve as the Commandant of the U.S. Army War College. Scales holds a doctorate in history from Duke University and has written a number of critically acclaimed books, including Firepower in Limited War, Certain Victory, and Yellow Smoke: The…

THE LIMITS OF FIREPOWER

WILDLIFE OF VIETNAM

When we think about war, it is tempting to focus only on its human participants. Sometimes it is all too easy to forget that the natural world around us is, in fact, alive and dynamic, and filled with creatures that can have unpredictable and dangerous interactions with humans. Soldiers often run across these creatures when fighting in harsh or remote environments—indeed these creatures often literally run, or crawl, across them. Wildlife in war zones can be fascinating, annoying, or even fatal. Animals and insects remind us that, despite incredible advances in technology and weaponry, there are still some things that humans cannot fully control. The Vietnam War is a particularly good example of this—a war in which a “Spooky” gunship could wipe out enemy troops in wreaths of fiery destruction,…

WILDLIFE OF VIETNAM

LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM A WOLFHOUND

Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier By Lt. Gen. Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army Ret., Casemate Publishers, 2022, $34.95 Lt. Gen. Robert F. Foley has led a distinguished career in the U.S. Army. Graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served as a company commander in Vietnam with the 27th Infantry Regiment, famed as the “Wolfhounds,” and received the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Attleboro in November 1966. Foley subsequently rose to become a battalion and brigade commander with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, served as West Point commandant of cadets, and was commanding general of the Fifth U.S. Army. In his autobiographical book Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier, Foley offers us an in-depth…

LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM A WOLFHOUND

Ferocious Tank Battles

Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972 By William E. Hiestand, Osprey Publishing, 2022, $19 After years of wearing down its South Vietnamese and American opponents with a mixture of guerrilla and light infantry tactics, North Vietnam cast them aside for a thoroughly conventional invasion in 1972, with both sides putting an unprecedented emphasis on armored warfare. William E. Hiestand does a comprehensive survey of the equipment, organization, doctrine, and combat practices of the North Vietnamese Army and the South’s Army of the Republic of Vietnam in No. 303 of Osprey’s “New Vanguard” weaponry monographs, Tanks in the Easter Offensive 1972. Ironically, by 1972 the ARVN armored element had evolved markedly since the early 1960s, when it inherited its armor from the departing French, only to be used more for instruments…

Ferocious Tank Battles

Bombing North Vietnam

Going Downtown: The U.S. Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961-75 By Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, Osprey Publishing, 2022, $30 In recent years, more and more information has come to light on North Vietnam’s air defenses during its war with the United States. On a tactical level, this has helped the U.S. Air Force and Navy to check their air-to-air victories against the enemy’s…and vice versa. On a strategic level, it has added insights as to how the original establishment and subsequent changes in doctrine on both sides affected the course of the air war. The latest result of this ongoing compilation, Going Downtown: The U.S. Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961-75, has a somewhat puzzling title, since a firsthand account by that name has been written by…

Bombing North Vietnam

HIGHEST-SCORING SNIPER

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Adelbert F. Waldron III was the highest-scoring American sniper of the Vietnam War, with 109 confirmed kills. He was also the most highly decorated, earning the Distinguished Service Cross twice, the Silver Star, and three Bronze Star Medals. Born in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1933, Waldron served in the U.S. Navy from 1953 to 1965, leaving the service as a petty officer 2nd class. In 1968 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and at age 35 completed airborne school to earn his jump wings. In late 1968 he was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta. Upon arriving in-country, Waldron attended the 9th Infantry Division’s sniper school, established by the division’s legendary commander, Maj. Gen. Julian J. Ewell. Waldron was assigned to the 3rd…

HIGHEST-SCORING SNIPER

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