20 JUL--This Day in US Military History

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 09:15:47 -0400

1969 – Members of Rhode Island’s 107th Signal Company continue to perform ‘routine’ but necessary upgrades on equipment to assure a smooth flow of communications in support of Headquarters, II Field Force.

The unit, in country since October 1968, actually had elements serving in three serving different locations in Vietnam. The main body was stationed at Long Binh while a platoon was based at Can Tho, 80 miles southwest of Saigon to support the IV Corps (Mekong Delta) area and a second platoon was situated at Tay Ninh (50 miles northwest of Saigon) to support the 199th Infantry Brigade.
Among their tasks was the maintenance of teletype relays between different headquarters in country and the operation of a 200-line dial central office on wheels to provide commercial-quality phone service. This latter equipment allowed the unit to deploy with a mobile force and within an hour have its commo links up on line.
While the unit had no men killed in action, Sergeant Ernest Perry of Warwick, RI, died of malaria. The 107th returned home in October 1969 and was reorganized in the Rhode Island Guard. However, it was disbanded in the 1990s and its lineage is now lost. It is the only National Guard unit (Army or Air) carrying Vietnam campaign credit not still in the force today.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/07/20/july-20/

July 20

20 July 1824 - Alexander Schimmelfennig, Brig. General Union volunteers, was born in Prussia. 1846 - First visit of U.S. warships (USS Columbus and USS Vincennes) to Japan is unsuccessful in negoti...

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jul 20 at 2015 12:56 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 12:56:37 -0400

107th Signal Company organized & federally recognized March 21, 1923 as 43rd Signal Co., 43rd Division RI National Guard. Inducted into federal service Feb. 23, 1941 & inactivated at Camp Stoneman, CA, Oct. 26, 1945. Campaign participation credits during World War II, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Northern Solomon Islands & Luzon. Reorganized and federally recognized Oct. 15, 1946. Ordered into active federal service Sept. 5, 1950 (43rd Signal Co. [NGUS] organized and federally recognized Oct. 14, 1952). Released from active federal service June 15, 1954 and reverted to State control; concurrently, withdrawn from 43rd Signal Company (NGUS). Reorganized as 107th Signal Electric Co. (Army Area); concurrently, relieved April 1, 1959 from assignment to the 43rd Infantry Division. June 10, 1959, reorganized as the 107th Signal Co. Ordered into active federal service during the Berlin Crisis Oct. 15, 1961. Released from federal service Aug. 6, 1962 & reverted to state control. Nov. 1, 1965, unit location changed to East Greenwich. Ordered into active federal service during Vietnam, May 13, 1968 to Oct. 18, 1969. Nov. 1, 1969 unit reassigned to Providence - US Army Lineage & Honors Author: Kenneth S. Carlson

D Company, 280th Signal Battalion, traces its history back to the 43d Signal Company (an element of the 43d Division), which was organized in 1923. In 1959, under the pentomic division realignment of the National Guard, the 43d Signal Company was reconstituted as the 107th Signal Electric Company. Shortly thereafter, the units name was shortened to the 107th Signal Company. In October, 1961, the unit was activated and sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for support during the Berlin Crisis, being returned to state control in 1963. In October, 1968, the unit was again called, this time for Vietnam, and holds the distinction of being the only Rhode Island unit serving overseas for the Vietnam War at Long Binh. On 1 June 1979, the unit officially changed it's designation to Company D, 280th Signal Battalion (Headquartered in the Delaware National Guard). In July of 1990, the unit's location was changed to the Middletown Armory. The unit was officially disbanded on 1 September 1993. The unit was not reorganized and has no further history.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/280sig.htm

280th Signal Battalion

The 280th Signal Battalion is a dual state (Delaware and Connecticut) National Guard, DGM/TRI-TAC area Signal Battalion.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Jul 20 at 2015 6:13 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 18:13:13 -0400

Sweet