50 years ago today, July 12, in sunny Vietnam-land - Where were you?

2015-07-12T09:22:15-04:00

The 2nd Brigade of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division began to arrive in South Vietnam.
The brigade was initially responsible for providing security for Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon.

The troops embarked on the Navy transport General W.H. Gordon, with three other ships moving the brigade's equipment.
The Gordon departed on 25 June.
Once under way the men were officially informed of what they had long suspected: They were en route to Vietnam.

The brigade's destination and mission in Vietnam changed a week before its arrival.
Instead of establishing and maintaining defenses for port and supply facilities under construction at Qui Nhon in northern II Corps two of the unit's infantry battalions, the 2d of the 16th and the 2d of the 18th, were to go to Bien Hoa to assist in securing the air base, while the third battalion, the 1st of the 18th, and an artillery battery proceeded to Cam Ranh Bay, about two hundred kilometers south of Qui Nhon, to provide security for the new port being built there.
The Gordon reached Cam Ranh on 12 July, stopping just long enough for the infantry and artillery to disembark.
Continuing south, the ship arrived at Vung Tau on the fourteenth.
Over the next two days the troops made their way to the Vung Tau airfield, where they enplaned for Bien Hoa Air Base.
Upon arrival, they moved by truck to their prospective base camp, about three kilometers southeast of the airfield, a site chosen because it lay astride a line of approach into the air base. There, for the first few days in Vietnam, Colonel Simmons' force came under the command of MACV [U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam], but on the nineteenth the 173d Airborne Brigade assumed operational control.
The arrangement lasted until the 1st Division headquarters reached Vietnam in October.

The change of station from Qui Nhon to Bien Hoa created supply problems.
Food stores and ammunition earmarked for the brigade and prepositioned at Qui Nhon were now unavailable, and could not be easily replaced out of the Army warehouses scattered about Saigon, which were having trouble supporting the American buildup. For the rest of the summer Simmons' brigade lived hand to mouth, and only the presence of a Navy commissary not far from downtown Saigon kept the men from subsisting on field rations for weeks at a time.
Even then, ammunition became so scarce at one point during the summer's operations that the brigade had to borrow artillery rounds from the South Vietnamese

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Jul 12 at 2015 9:26 AM

2015-07-12T09:26:14-04:00

Thanks for sharing, I truly value your threads!

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 12 at 2015 9:46 AM

2015-07-12T09:46:40-04:00

I am proud to be a Big Red One Soldier and represent our storied past.

Response by Sgt Ken Prescott made Jul 12 at 2015 10:26 AM

2015-07-12T10:26:02-04:00

I was eight days away from being born...

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Jul 12 at 2015 11:44 AM

2015-07-12T11:44:59-04:00

I am 31 years old, so I wasn't anywhere at all 50 years ago! :)

Response by LTC George Lang made Jul 15 at 2015 4:59 PM

2015-07-15T16:59:16-04:00

I was on the Gordon and disembarked with the majority of the 2nd Brigade at Vung Tau.

Response by CW4 John Karl T. made Jul 15 at 2015 7:25 PM

2015-07-15T19:25:29-04:00

I was at Ft Riley, Kansas after being compelled to leave Germany to join the 1st Infantry Division in preparation for deployment to Viet Nam. I was assigned to B Company, 1st Avn Bn getting current in the UH-1B & D and getting qualified in the OH-13S including gunnery training in both. We would deploy in September. Some were not happy to be going by ship until they found out that the tour of duty started when the ship cast off from Oakland, California. 28 days on the water with good food, good movie and no hostiles in sight! But have no fear. the following three months would be filled with GP Medium tents with mud floors, showers under a 55 gallon drum and all the B and C rations you could ever wish for. Just proof that for every perk there is a payback. But we were proud to be part of "Der Grosse Rot Eins".

Response by SGT Graham "Tom" Town made Jul 15 at 2015 11:44 PM

2015-07-15T23:44:12-04:00

Just Graduated High School and was working on a Ranch for the Summer. It would be three years (June 1968) before I found myself in RVN as a shiny new Infantry Buck Sergeant (Shake-n-Bake) in the 173d Airborne Brigade (Sep).

Response by SGM Gregory Hoppe made Jul 17 at 2015 11:11 PM

2015-07-17T23:11:05-04:00

Nha Be, on a brown river.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Jan 4 at 2016 9:56 PM

2016-01-04T21:56:46-05:00

I took a similar boat ride from fort lewis Washington on the Gordon with the 4 th inf div.we left on September 15 th 1966 and did not get there until oct 4 ,due to break downs and a stop somewhere this 70 year old mind cannot recall.we were met at the beach with trucks and buses on to TUY HOA for a few months to meet Mr. Charles then to Plieku Kotum prov.and the NVA , boy did I miss that old tub.luckily I got to fly home

Response by LTC John Griscom made Dec 22 at 2017 12:27 PM

2017-12-22T12:27:21-05:00

Fort McPherson, GA.

Response by LCpl Clarence Baggett made Oct 18 at 2018 4:07 PM

2018-10-18T16:07:56-04:00

Only 17 then