FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION IN VIETNAM THE BIG PICTURE TV SHOW 56814
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- čas přidán 17. 11. 2017
- Produced by the Army Pictorial Center as part of The Big Picture TV show, this 1969 episode “The First Cavalry Division (Airmobile)” is “the story of how air mobility is helping the First Air Cavalry, the ‘First Team,’ win the battle for freedom in Southeast Asia.” By 1965, helicopters are used for more than just transport; they are a crucial element of combat (01:01). Helicopters allow for fast and powerful mobilization, so it is only natural that the First Cavalry Division, renamed the First Cavalry Division Airmobile, is the is the first to use them in combat. Airmobile combat was developed and tested in Fort Benning Georgia and tried out by the experimental organization 11th Air Assault Division, prior to activation of First Cavalry 1 July 1965. The First Cavalry is deployed to Vietnam and sets up base set up at An Khe (03:07), also known as Camp Radcliff. The base is built around helipads (03:15), encircled by a clear-cut section, and reinforced with howitzer batteries (03:27) and machine gunners (03:37). For additional security, another force is posted on top of a mountain (03:59) overlooking the base. Other fixed-wing craft operate out of An Khe (04:09). The First Cavalry patrol a large range of territory in South Vietnam (04:53) featuring highlands and mountains. The first air assaults are launched in September and October of 1965, proving the usefulness of helicopters in combat. A CH-47 Chinook (05:36) transports men and equipment. Quick-firing howitzers (05:37) and aerial rocket artillery (05:44) give the Division a significant advantage in firepower over the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Air superiority allows U.S. forces to retrieve damaged equipment-a CH-54 Tarhe hauls a cargo plane (06:23) off for repairs. Logistics are much more efficient with airmobile operations: troops are supplied in the field and wounded are evacuated (06:49) in minimal time. The first major engagement is the Pleiku campaign in Pleiku province (07:19). The NVA prepares for a major offensive with a diversionary attack at Plei Me, leading to an ambush of South Vietnamese soldiers (08:14). The South Vietnamese fight back and are assisted by the First Cavalry at LZ Field Goal with gun batteries brought in by helicopters (09:14). General William C. Westmoreland (09:32) changes the First Cavalry’s limited role, sending the division out to find and attack NVA forces (10:05). Infantry are airdropped into a number of landing zones to search for the enemy, and on 1 November 1965, they attack an NVA outpost on Ia Tae river (10:45). Helicopter troop carriers bring in fresh troops as artillery and air force tactical strikes punish the NVA 33rd Regiment. A First Cavalry battalion flies into LZ X-Ray in Ia Drang (12:00) to engage NVA troops reinforced by NVA 66th regiment. Sky troopers continue fighting (12:43). Artillery is flown in and helicopters fire aerial rockets while the wounded and killed are evacuated (13:38). NVA troops are hit by B-52 raids (13:53) as they withdraw. X-Ray troops marched out to LZ Columbus and LZ Albany. The Albany-bound troops run into an NVA column, but the First Cavalry is victorious: NVA leaves behind almost 2,000 dead and enemy prisoners and stores of ammo and weapons (15:19). The Pleiku Campaign, also called the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, is over. Helicopters return from the Pleiku Campaign (15:57), and the Division and supporting units receive the Presidential Unit Citation (16:08). In 1966, the First Cavalry turns north to Bong Son. Air Force bombers, artillery, and gunships prep the area for infantry assault (17:19). Troops hike through difficult terrain looking for Vietcong (17:36). The First enters a cleared village (18:08) to question suspects. The First continues to clear NVA-held territory while also feeding (18:41) and providing medical attention to South Vietnamese, and accepting the surrender of NVA soldiers (19:01). Each operation has lessons: the M102 105mm howitzer (19:40) is built much lighter for more efficient transport; collapsible fuel containers replace metal containers to help with weight capacities (20:01). Fresh troops arrive (20:34) and operations. 8-inch howitzers reinforce air assaults (21:38). Armored forces join when the terrain allows (22:43). The First helps relieve besieged Marines in Khe Sanh (24:22). NVA moves troops and supplies into Laos via the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but the First Cavalry, in coordination with Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division, attack and force the NVA to abandon the valley, leading to the capture of a storehouse of weaponry (26:51). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
I love these Big Picture films: thank you!
Excerpts from “The Australian Army and the Vietnam War.”
When the 1st and 2nd Platoons entered the village, the enemy had already fled and only the women, children, and elderly, about 70-80 in number, remained. They were ordered to leave the village and walk toward the rear, in the direction of Highway 1 where the 3rd Platoon was moving up toward the village. Soon after the 1st and 2nd Platoons left the village, rounds of gunfire were heard in the rear. The following day, the leader of the 2nd Platoon, Lieutenant Lee Sang Woo, found 40-50 dead bodies covered with straw mats by their family members near Highway 1, the area to which the villagers were order to evacuate the day before. Lee testified, after more than 30 years, that he heard from others that his comrades in the rear had massacred the evacuating civilians.
Again, according to Kim Ki Tae, a marine captain, his company took part in a 'cut and destroy' operation named YONG AN in Quang Ngai province in November 1966. During the early phase of the operation, Kim testified after nearly 35 years, his soldiers entered a hamlet, rounded up between 40-50 villagers, and collected their names while giving out candies and cigarettes to children. Kim, feeling that the entire operation had already caused an alarming number of civilian casualties, ordered his men to 'let them go'. However, soon after giving that order and moving away from the group, he heard rifle shots and exploding hand grenades. He turned around and found the situation to be as irretrievable as 'water spilled on the ground'. Under the circumstance the best he could do was to order his men to make sure that there would not be any survivors to tell the story. Kim also related that sometimes children, after being given candies and cigarettes, were killed by the more experienced soldiers in order for them to demonstrate to the fresh recruits the coldheartedness required of a soldier in Vietnam. Such killings of children were rationalised as eliminating the next generation of VC who would seek revenge for what was done to their villages and families.
14:30 The Birth of the cover-up at LZ Albany.
Military Assistant Command, Vietnam (MACV) (Declassified)
On 16 April 1968 the III MAF reported on the incident to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). On 29 April, MACV sent the report to the ROK Vietnam Expeditionary Forces Commanding Officer Lieutenant general Chae Myung-shin. On 4 June 1968, General Chae advised MACV that he had investigated the incident and concluded that the massacre had been perpetrated by Viet Cong forces disguised in Korean-style camouflage uniforms in order to discredit the Korean forces. Chae testified that there were numerous cases in which the Viet Cong utilized the duckhunter pattern used by the ROK Marines to commit misdeeds in order to incite unpopular opinion on ROK troops in the area and supported his claim with the testimonies of the District Chief of Dien Han District and an ARVN Sergeant.
Excerpts from declassified “The US Army IG ROK-Marines Report 1969
Subject: Alleged atrocities committed by ROK Marines on 12 February 1968
In Phong Nhi, the villagers had apparently been rounded up into three groups and shot. A member of victims had been stabbed, and one young woman had her breast cut off. Sixty-nine civilians were killed in Phon Nhi and Phong Hnut Hamlets, and Phong Nhi was destroyed by burning. The executive officer of the 2nd ROK Marin Brigade visited the District Chief after the incident, told him he was sorry for what happened, and left 30 bags of rice for the villagers.” The victims of this incident were defenseless civilians, the great majority of which were women and children, who were murdered as they plead for their lives.
Statement of 1st Lt. J. R. Sylvia.
…called artillery fire on Phong Nhi hamlet and then launched a ground attack on the same area. Shortly thereafter, a PF brought in 2 wounded little boys who had been shot, and an older woman who had a severe bayonet wound in her arm. They requested medical help because the Koreans had tried to kill them.
Two women and a small boy were the only survivors located, and they were Medevaced. The patrol found two old people buried under the debris of burned house, a large number of bodies were found in a nearby ditch all covered over with grass, several other corpses were recovered from the debris - all too badly burned to identify or determine their sex. Further down the trail another large group of bodies were found along with two wounded women - one woman held out her I.D. card the entire time for fear that the patrol would kill her.
Photographs were taken by Corporal Vaughn who was a member of the patrol.
Statement of Corporal J. Vaughn, USMC.
We took wide around the hamlet of Phone Hni and entered from the west to avoid any possible ambush for an easterly approach. What we found is recorded in the photos that I took.
Photo:
B and C - more burned homes
D - a dead villager buried under debris
E - two villagers were found burned in this home, one visible in foreground.
F and G - a young woman who was still alive and had her breast cut off.
H - one of the large groups of women and children, we found most of them dead. The woman and child in upper right were still alive. The woman in F and G was also found in this group.
I and J - a woman and her child, both shot at close range - evident by gaping wound in child’s head.
3-4 Massacres committed by the Republic of Korea or ROK forces in S. Vietnam:
J1 and J2 - photos of the group in which woman and child in I and J were found.
K and L - bodies of more women and children found in a ditch covered over with uprooted rice shoots.
M - This child did not have a mark on his entire body - he apparently was drowned in the nearby pond.
N - Both women found by pond shot. Pregnant woman in center was shot in head at close range (front of head blown out). Child in upper left is same child in M.
O and P - Young woman in early 20’s - with fingers on both hands torn away and wound in left arm -being treated by CAP D-2 corpsman.
One strange thing that I noticed while we proceeded through the hamlet was that there were no shell craters around the group of bodies that we found, indicating that those villagers were all shot at close range or stabbed with bayonets.
Statement of Mr. Nguyin Chua, Vietnamese citizen, Chief of Phong Nhi.
We did not know that the Koreans were going to attack the villagers because when they passed through Phong Nhi the people thought it was all right. But later we heard shooting in Phong Nut hamlet, and then the Koreans came back through Phong Nhi. They ordered all the people to get out of their homes, and then gathered them up at one place then moved them out. The Koreans without warning began shooting the villagers and stabbing the children with their knives.
Thirty-three people in Phong Nhi hamlet were killed and four persons were wounded.
Statement of Mr. Nguyen Xa, Vietnamese civilian.
The Koreans proceeded to kill the villagers group by group, and we observed them at 3 different places. At one place they shot 17 people at one time, another place 14 people, then another place 6 people and 3 people. … later, I found ten of my relatives killed and two were wounded. (14 and 9 years old).
Statement of Miss Tran Thi Duoc (16 years old), Vietnamese citizen.
The Korean troops, wearing camouflaged uniforms came to my hamlet on the 12th of February. They ordered the people to get out of their homes and to move to another place. At this certain place they shot at people in their homes without warning. I was among the group of villagers which the Koreans moved and then they began shooting at us.
I was too scared at the shooting sits and tried to stay still like I was dead. But one Korean soldier saw me, and I joined my two hands in front of my breast, knelt before him and begged for my life, but he shot at me. The shot caused my fingers to be broken and both of my arms took wounds, and then I was unconscious. When I got back to myself, I found out that both of my parents were killed, my 2 brothers were killed, and my young sister (3 months old) was wounded by a knife.
I recognize myself in the pictures (photos O and P) being treated by a corpsman.
Statement of Nguen Thi Nu (45 years old) Vietnamese citizen.
I was struck on the head by a bullet and fell to the ground and became unconscious. My two daughters (10 and 13 years old) were also killed at the same time as the others.
Statement of Lance Corporal Stephen D. Harding. USMC
…The 25 or 30 were comprised of old men, mostly old women and children - no young males. The civilians were given C-rations and cigarettes. …Upon entering the village we saw about 15 dead bodies. There were about 5 bodies in a pond to our left. One of the bodies was a baby with blood on its feet which could have come from its mother who was next to him. Its face was in the water and air bubbles were coming out of its mouth. Another group of bodies were to my front covered with rice shoots.
The Joneses’ Interviews
Diane and Michael Jones, who conducted extensive interviews with Vietnamese villagers in 1972. Testimonies from Captain Kim and the villagers are identical in terms of the location-Quang Ngai province, Son Tinh District, date-between 9-14 November 1966, and actions taken by the Korean soldiers although they are separated by nearly three decades. The following is what one villager related to the Jones.
That afternoon [of 9 November 1966] I and most of the people in Dien Nien [Son Tinh District, Quang Ngai Province] went to stay near the Nui Tron outpost [under the control of South Vietnamese forces] until the Koreans were finished with their operation. But more than 50, perhaps up to 100, women and children stayed in their homes. At evening the Korean soldiers came back from An Tho and again gathered these people into a group. They passed out cakes and candies to the children. Then with machine guns and grenade launchers they killed them all. They left the bodies in a large pile. There were no survivors. We know they passed out candy because the men who went down from the hill and discovered the bodies two days later found pieces of it in the mouths and hands of the dead children.
The commander of the 1st Company that took charge of the attack on Phong Nhi, Captain Kim Sok Kyun, who also claimed not to have a clear recollection of the operation, was shipped back to Korea after the killings were publicised. The results of the Korean government's own investigation remain sealed.
There is the villagers' version of the same incident that paints Koreans as reacting in an erratic and bloodthirsty manner. According to the villagers, a detachment of Korean soldiers struck a land mine a few hundred yards from Phong Nhi, rather than coming under fire. Shortly after the explosion Korean soldiers entered village, rounded up people, and shot them.
They also killed some who remained in their homes and set fire to the hamlet. '[S]ome of the bodies, including those of children, had been disemboweled with knives', one witness claimed to have seen. Another related that there were 'naked bodies of small children who appeared to have been literally torn apart by people pulling on both legs'.
Phong Nhi, incidentally was a 'secure' village where even the families of South Vietnamese soldiers, the allies of the Koreans, lived. Their denunciation of the actions of the Korean forces prompted the Saigon government to lodge complaints against the Seoul government. Therefore, stories of the Phong Nhi killings were less likely to have been instigated by Communist propaganda.
In any event, according to some recent research that is disputed by the Seoul government, Korean soldiers might have killed somewhere between 8000 to 9000 civilians in South Vietnam.
Indeed, Koreans, as part of psychological warfare, dropped leaflets that read, 'Dear citizens! We, Koreans, are the same Asians as you. We preserve the similar traditions and customs as you. We respect the aged people, protect weak females, and love children ...'. Actually, South Korean soldiers reminded some Vietnamese of the Koreans who were part of the Japanese military that occupied French Indochina at the end of the Second World War. Regardless of the fact that Japan had colonised Korea and that those soldiers were forced into service, they were considered Japan's 'mercenaries'.
Excerpts from British newspaper “Independent - Vietnamese women raped in wartime seek justice for a lifetime pain and prejudice. September 11, 2017
Tran Dai Nhat. “I was 18 when my mother finally sat me down and told me she had been raped by Korean soldiers - not once but three times. My two sisters are also mixed blood or Lai Dai Han as we are known in Vietnam."
South Korean troops were not alone in their exploitation of civilian women but their country has never acknowledged the allegations or taken steps to investigate.
In 1987, the Amerasian Homecoming Act resettled the children of American soldiers in the United States. 21,000 Amerasians and more than 55,000 family members made homes on US soil as a result. South Korea did not follow suit.
Mrs. Ngai. I was just a young girl during the war but I worked as a nurse to support people in my village. My parents worked on a farm and we were quite poor. … She was 24 and still a virgin when she was first raped. “During my nursing shift, I went home to take a lunchtime nap. A South Korean commander from a nearby base appeared in my room and started hugging me. I froze. I felt petrified. No-one could argue with soldiers. He started touching my body and then raped me. I shouted out loud for help but no-one came. Afterwards I cried for days but my parents just shouted at me. They thought I had had sex with him of my own free will. No-one would believe me. My parents told me to abort the child so I tried to do it with medicine but it didn’t work. Sometime after, I gave birth to a little girl. I thought about committing suicide but somehow I found a way to carry on.”
Once ‘defiled’ by Korean soldiers, women were labelled ‘fair game’ for fellow comrades. This warped code of honour sealed Mrs Ngai’s fate for a second time. Catching her breath between sobs, she explained: “The father of my first-born child returned to South Korea but sent another soldier to my house on the pretence of checking up on the baby. Once again, this man moved towards me holding me tightly before pulling me down to the ground and raping me on the floor. He later returned to Korea too and I gave birth again to another daughter. I cried every day.”
Incredibly, she was raped a third time the following year by yet another Korean solider who had been briefed on her whereabouts by departing colleagues. “After it happened a third time I felt very vulnerable and miserable - like there was no hope anyone would believe me.”
“Despite suffering crippling depression, Mrs Ngai made an admirable attempt to be a good mother. She was especially determined to send her children to school despite prejudice from teachers and parents.
She said: “I received a lot of criticism from the villagers and my children were treated badly by the principal of the school who questioned their right to be there. Some teachers hit my children and asked them why they didn’t return to Korea with their fathers. When they got older they moved to Ho Chi Minh City to escape the criticism in the village.”
Vo Thi Mai Dinh. “When I was 16 I didn't go to school. Instead, I was working as a cleaner to help my family survive during the war. One day I met a translator who said the local troops needed a dishwasher. I was so happy for chance of a better-paid job so I happily accepted the work at a nearby Division. “A year later I moved into another job as a lunch cook for one of the South Korean commanders. One day in 1972, I was taking food to his room when he closed the door. I was very frightened and scared but couldn’t shout for help. He might have killed me.”
“He raped me. Afterwards I was afraid of so many things including losing my job. I had to keep it a secret from everyone.” “I couldn’t share my pregnancy with family or friends. As my belly got bigger, I began receiving criticism from people but managed to carry on working a local farm.” Her son said: “My mother was only a girl when she was raped. Since then she has had to work very hard to support me on her own.” The 44-year-old tree cutter is angry with his father, adding: “This man was a senior commander in the army but he took no responsibility for me or my mother.
Cu Thi Hong Lien. “I was a teenager during the war and used to help my mother transport water to and from houses and sometimes the army base. We survived on one meal a day and at night we took refuge from the fighting under beds and tables. …Every day was terrifying.”
“One soldier was like a father to me and began buying rice and other food for my family. I thought he was really nice. My mother would ask me to take bananas and coconuts to him as a way of saying thank you. A relationship between him and my family was established.”
One day, the soldier treated his new ‘surrogate daughter’ to a glass of Coke while she was tidying his living quarters. “The next thing I knew I was waking up from a very deep sleep. I realised straight away that I had had sexual intercourse. It was 4pm and I was sitting in his living room in a pool of blood.”
She believes the high-ranking soldier slipped a heavy sedative into her drink before raping her. Later she discovered she was pregnant and gave him the news. “He was terrified of losing his job,” she explained, “So he accompanied me to Saigon where he paid for lodgings to keep me out of sight. It was a lonely, frightening time.”
Aint War Great
I ok l