3rd Combat
Security Police Squadron - 1968
November 1, 1964
----- Original Message -----
From: BobGV@aol.com
To: Don Poss
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 8:55 PM
Subject: VSPA: Bien Hoa AB, Stories
To Ron Peterson:
Ron,
I was reading about the death of A2C Horace Holbrook on 12 May 1967
from a rocket attack and you commented that it was the first major attack
at Bien Hoa.
No disrespect intended to Airman Holbrook but that was not the first
major attack at Bien Hoa as you stated. I was stationed there (as a
A2C) in 1964 and we had 80 rounds or so of 81mm motars lobed in and
four Army hotches sustained direct hits and all the fatalities
that night were Army soldiers. I know of several who were wounded including
an Air Force Airman who was on the air crew of an HH-43 (firefighter/rescue)
on standby near the control tower and while running for cover away from
the tower, was a victim of friendly fire from the Army area where the
majority of the casualties had occured. We had a squadron of B-57s on
the hotpad at the time of the attack and afterwards, only (2) were flying
the next day - six were burned to puddles of melted metal and engines.
I was in the fire department and I took pics of this myself. An Airman
was awarded a Silver Star that night for pulling a burning parachute
flare off several hundred thousand gallons of aviation fuel stored in
rubber bladders.
I think you will have to agree this was probably the first major attack.
The attack began about 12:20 a.m. on Halloween of that year.
I did like your website and sure enjoyed reading about those who were
there after me. Thanks for your efforts.
Robert G. Vanzant
A2C, AF15667095
Fire Protection Specialist (AFSC 57150)
Bien Hoa AB, RVN (APO 27)
GOOGLE: "Bien Hoa " "November 1, 1964"
Two days before the U.S. presidential election, Vietcong mortars shell
Bien Hoa AB near Saigon. Four Americans are killed, 76 wounded.
Five B-57 bombers are destroyed, and 15 are damaged.
Photo: American aircraft burn on the ground at Bien Hoa
On November 1, 1964, Viet Cong squads shelled the airfield at Bien Hoa with mortars, destroying five of the B-57s parked there and damaging
15 others. On 19 Feb 1965, the B-57Bs were released for armed combat
operations with the first mission taking place the same day. The B-57Bs
hit North Vietnamese territory for the first time on March 2, some 25
miles north of the DMZ.
Source: The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Volume 3, pp. 590-591"... The Bien Hoa incident of November 1, 1964 poses an even more
pressing requirement for action under the retaliatory principle confirmed
in NSAM 314."
Air Force's Ground Support in Vietnam: "For the first three years
of U.S. involvement in South Vietnam, the Air Bases were more or less
left alone by the Viet Cong. All of that changed shortly after midnight
on November 1, 1964, when Viet Cong gunners fired between 60 and 80
rounds from six 81mm mortars on Bien Hoa, then escaped from the area
without being detected. Four Americans were killed and 72 wounded. Moreover,
five B-57 jet bombers were destroyed and 15 damaged, along with four
U.S. Air Force helicopters and three VNAF (Republic of Vietnam Air Force)
A-1H fighter-bombers. Air Force security policemen began trying to improve
base defenses as harassing attacks became more frequent... "
Timeline: "November 1, 1964
Vietcong raiders infiltrate the US Air Base at Bienhoa, 12 miles north
of Saigon, killing 5 US servicemen and two Vietnamese, wounding about
76, destroying 6 B-57s, and damaging some 20 other aircraft. Senator
Goldwater challenges President Johnson to admit to the American people
that the US is involved in an undeclared war in Vietnam."
The Vietnam War, America Commits, 1961 - 1964: November 1, 1964 - The
first attack by Viet Cong against Americans in Vietnam occurs at Bien Hoa AB, 12 miles north of Saigon. A pre-dawn mortar assault kills
five Americans, two South Vietnamese, and wounds nearly a hundred others.
President Johnson dismisses all recommendations for a retaliatory air
strike against North Vietnam.
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Bien Hoa AB...