Chapter 10
A Total Division Effort
This discussion has focused primarily on the combat capabilities of infantrymen and their direct support organizations: the artillery, air cavalry, assault helicopters, Air Force, and Navy. Many other units not specifically mentioned—such as the 45th Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog), the 65th Infantry Platoon (Combat Tracker), the Air Cushion Vehicle Platoon, the 1097th Transportation Company (Medium Boat), and the 15th Engineer Combat Battalion—also participated in ferreting out and destroying the enemy.
For example, on 26 April, while en route to conduct a cordon and search operation, B/2-47 Infantry received very heavy fire from a large enemy unit which was fortified in bunkers. The company occupied a blocking position while air strikes and artillery were brought to bear on the enemy until they could be reinforced by other units. When the reinforcement arrived, which were C/2-47 Infantry and two platoons of D Company, 15th Engineer Battalion, the assault was renewed. Sixty-three enemy of the K-6 Battalion, 1st NVA Regiment were killed.
Yet, all units of the division contributed to its combat success. The importance of the medical battalion needs no explanation. Not only did the doctors, nurses, and corpsmen maintain the health of the troops, but they were instrumental in the humanitarian efforts on behalf of the Vietnamese people, thus fostering pacification. The 9th Signal Battalion provided outstanding communications, so essential to combat effectiveness. The aircraft and other equipment were maintained and repaired by the 709th Maintenance Battalion. Its mechanics were often called upon at night to fly over enemy territory to repair radars. The 9th Supply and Transportation Battalion kept an average of thirty-eight trucks per day on the roads to supply the brigades, traveling over roads that were mined and subject to ambushes. They also operated aircraft rearm and refuel points in forward areas under hazardous conditions. The finance, judge advocate, and adjutant general units formed contact teams that spent days at a time with infantry battalions at base camps to review finance records, pay troops, and provide personal and legal advice to ensure that the morale of the troops was kept high. All of the division’s soldiers were constantly in harm’s way because of the constant Viet Cong mortar attacks.
Early in the morning of 26 March 1969, “Old Reliables” living in the Dong Tam base camp were roused out of bed by one more of the frequent enemy mortar attacks. This one took a very serious turn when a mortar touched off a tremendous explosion in the base ammunition dump. The explosion, which shook buildings as much as a mile and a half away, destroyed close to 500 tons of ammunition, and caused fifty-eight casualties, most of whom were Navy personnel living near the dump.
As another example, the MASH hospital at Dong Tam had inflatable buildings. During an enemy attack by fire, mortar fragments would often perforate the buildings, creating serious problems for the hospital staff who were treating patients. So concrete walls were built for protection; ultimately, key hospital locations, such as the operating rooms, had to be almost totally encased in concrete for the wonderful medical personnel to be able to treat the troops safely and without interruption from VC attacks by fire.
Clerks, cooks, mechanics, and others constantly manned the basecamp perimeters and were subject to direct fire attacks by the enemy on many occasions.
While repulsing an enemy mortar and rocket attack on the Brigade Headquarters at Tan An, Sergeant First Class Robert F. Baugher demonstrated that feats of heroism are not confined to the rice paddies, but that support troops, too, are capable of valor in the face of the enemy. Baugher, on perimeter guard at Tan An, was one of the first to react to enemy movement spotted outside the berm. When his section of the perimeter received enemy rockets from close range, he went from bunker to bunker encouraging his men, redistributing ammunition, and removing the wounded. He personally defended a bunker that had received two hits from the rockets and kept the enemy from penetrating his defense.
The examples of individual bravery beyond the call of duty are virtually legion … a daily thing expected as a matter of course from not only the infantrymen but the helicopter pilots, the artillerymen in far-flung fire support bases, and even the cooks and clerks manning the defensive perimeters.
The unflinching dedication to duty and the outstanding performance of all the brave men and women of the 9th Infantry Division and its supporting units in Vietnam contributed to its unsurpassed combat record from February 1967 through July 1969.
