NOTE: Excerpted from Chapter
6 of the official history of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, Tuy Hoa AB, Vietnam, July-September 1968. Written by SSgt Orval R. (Dick)
Larsen, 31 TFW Historian. Originally Classified As Secret, Now Unclassified.
CHAPTER VI
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Introduction:
Normally the special activities chapter
is reserved for items which do not logically fit into any of the
preceding five. This quarter the special activities chapter is a
unique record of events at th. For the first time in the history
of the base, the enemy brought the war to Tuy Hoa as the base was
attacked by a Viet Cong sapper squad in the early hours of' July
29.
Tuy Hoa personnel awoke at 1:37 a.m. on the 29th
of July to the sound of explosions from the flight line area. Rushing
out of their living quarters they could see huge tongues of flame
shooting skyward accompanied by billowing clouds of black smoke
The war had come to th.
The enemy sapper units were divided into two teams.
It appeared that they penetrated the perimeter before Tiger
Flight came on duty and lay between the two runways from
two to four hours. The first knowledge of their presence was when
an aircraft exploded on the flight line at 1:37 a.m.
Personnel in the mobile tower observed a force
of 15 to 20 men moving near their area. The immediate explosions
were thought at first to be mortars but were later determined to
be satchel charges. The first explosions set aflame two HC-130P
Hercules aircraft belonging to the 39th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
Squadron.
A fire department staff of about 16 men immediately
went to the scene, and was augmented by the rest of the staff (40
total) shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, other enemy charges were going
off.
While fire fighting teams quelled the two major
fires there was a continuing threat that aircraft in adjoining revetments
might begin burning. Personnel from 834th Air Division's Detachment
3 were on the flight line and under the direction of the wing commander
started engines, moving adjoining C-130 aircraft out of danger.
As the firemen fought to control the raging blazes,
the Viet Cong sappers were moving into a defensive position heading
for the perimeter. The [31st] Security Police responding to the attack began a four hour battle with the invaders.
The scene throughout the battle was eerie with
AC-47 Dragon ships providing flare illumination for the defenders
and invaders alike. Helicopter gunships from the Army's Phu Hiep
base, south of the Air Base, were on the scene in minutes providing
rocket and minigun covering fire. In addition, many fire teams were
organized to move onto the perimeter but none were needed. As the
battle subsided, personnel waited for sunrise to evaluate the damage.
A summary of the damage showed that: two HC-130P
aircraft were completely destroyed, valued by their commander
at four million dollars each. Six C-130 aircraft were damaged in
degrees varying from major to minor. The base C-47 had received
damage requiring six to eight weeks of repair. One F-100 belonging to the 136th TFS had been seriously damaged.
The effect of the combined firepower unleashed
against the enemy had taken its toll. A total of nine enemy were
killed: four in a sandy area a fraction mile west of the maintenance
area; another five were killed together seeking an exit through
the perimeter fence adjoining a village of natives that work the
area rice paddies. All of the nine members were dressed in similar
fashion, that is wearing shorts, sandals (or barefoot) and a cloth
over their head which could be pulled down to cover their eyes.
The members carried a bag on their left side containing satchel
charges, grenades or B-40 rocket parts. Some of the men carried
B-40 rocket launchers while two of them were armed with AK-47 automatic
weapons.
One or the enemy killed, possibly their leader,
carried a Chinese automatic pistol in his right hand and of the
nine, he was the only person carrying a piece of paper with instructions.
Concurrent with the attack, the ARVN soldiers
killed two enemy in the area and the Republic of Korea troops killed
four enemy. The conclusion was that those six men and the nine killed
on the base were a part of the same unit.
Explosive ordnance disposal personnel were busy
the next day as they searched the nine bodies and destroyed or safed
the following enemy ordnance:
- 11 satchel charges totaling 18 pounds of high explosives
- 19 stick grenades of both offensive and defensive nature
- one type 50 chicom rocket launcher and rocket (B-40)
- one type 50 chicom rocket launcher
- Bangalore torpedoes totaling 10 pounds of high explosive
- five clips or AK-47 ammunition
- two clips of 7.62 chicom automatic pistol ammunition
- two AK-47 assault rifles
- one Chicom 7.62 automatic pistol, type 51
The remarkable part of' the whole attack was that
only three military personnel were wounded. A crew chief from the
136th TFW was seriously wounded by shrapnel from a B-40 rocket which
hit his aircraft and was evacuated to the 91st Medical Evacuation
Hospital at Phu Hiep. Two other personnel received minor injuries.
The attack was the first trial under fire of the
base disaster control program. While the majority of the facets
of the plan operated as programmed, several portions were found
to be lacking precise instructions as to the defense warning signal
activation and response to this signal. Other problem areas included
lack of communication with base personnel or announcement of security
posture and all clear condition.
Several recommendations were made to correct these
problem areas including the immediate installation of a case public
system and the installation of telephones in all bunkers. It was
also recommended that the local Armed Forces Vietnam Network representative
be added to the Disaster Control Center team to provide base personnel
with a running account of the situation over the AM radio. In addition,
changes were made to the operations plan clarifying responsibilities
and responses.
The communications problems identified during
the attack on the base were in the process of correction at the
end of the quarter. A base-wide public address system dubbed "Project
Giant Voice" was rapidly taking shape. The project consisted of
a series of large speakers mounted on 50 foot poles situated in
seven strategic areas.
