Dak To 'Task Force Black' 173rd Airborne Brigade (SEP) Vietnam Operations

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Task Force Black

................On 5November1967 Bravo Company was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel David J. Schumacher's 1/503, which (against the admonitions of Colonel Livsey) was divided into two small Task Forces. Task Force Black consisted of Charlie Company supported by two platoons of Dog Company and Task Force Blue which was composed of Alpha Company and the remaining platoon of Dog. Task Force Black left Hill 823 to find the North Vietnamese who had attacked B/4/403. At 08:28 on 11 November, after leaving their overnight laager and following a NVA communications wire, the force was ambushed by the 8th and 9th Battalions of the 66th NVA Regiment and had to fight for its life.[15] Task Force Blue and Charlie Company 4/503 drew the job of going to the relief of the beleaguered task force. They encountered fire from all sides during the relief attempt, but they made it, reaching the trapped men at 15:37. U.S. paratrooper losses were 20 killed, 154 wounded, and two missing.

The commanding officer of Task Force Black, Captain Thomas McElwain, reported an enemy body count of 80 but was commanded by Schumacher (whose conduct of the action later came under severe criticism) to go out and count again.[16] He then reported back that 175 NVA soldiers had been killed. He later stated that "If you lost so many people killed and wounded, you had to have something to show for it."[17] McElwain and Schumacher later clashed over McElwain's recommendation for a decoration for Private First Class John Andrew Barnes, III, who had leapt on a grenade and sacrificed his life to save wounded comrades during the action. Schumacher refused to endorse the recommendation, stating that he did not think medals were for "men who committed suicide."[18] Barnes was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

Simultaneous with this action was a North Vietnamese attack on the three companies of the 3/8th Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division on Hill 724. Beginning at 13:07 and lasting for thirty minutes, a mortar barrage rained onto the battalion's laager site. North Vietnamese troops then charged out of the jungle to the attack. By the time the action ended at 19:03, 18 Americans were dead and another 118 were wounded. The 4th Infantry claimed that 92 North Vietnamese had died in the clash.[19]

On the night of 12 November, the North Vietnamese launched the first of many rocket attacks against the airstrip at Đắk Tô, firing 44 missiles. By 08:00 on 15 November, three C-130 Hercules transport aircraft were in the turnaround area as a NVA mortar barrage landed squarely on the aircraft, destroying two of them. The resulting fires and additional incoming mortar fire caught the ammunition dump and fuel storage areas a blaze with explosions continued all day and into the night. During that night's incoming shelling, a lone mortar round landed on two steel containers of C-4 plastic explosive. Both detonated simultaneously, sending a fireball and mushroom cloud high above the valley and leaving two craters 40 feet deep. This was said to be the largest explosion to occur in the Vietnam War, knocking men off their feet over a mile away. The explosion destroyed the entire 15th Light Equipment Company compound next to the ammunition dump but miraculously no one was killed. Engineer Lieutenant Fred Dyerson thought "it looked like Charlie had gotten hold of some nuclear weapons." Although more than 1,100 tons of ordnance were destroyed during the explosions and fires, this was as close as the North Vietnamese would get to taking Dak To. The rapid deployment of allied forces had upset the North Vietnamese offensive and had thrown them onto the defensive.

Three members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Maj. Charles J. Watters, Pfc. John A. Barnes III and Pfc. Carlos Lozada) all posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battles.

173d Airborne Brigade Memorial Foundation
The mission of the 173d Airborne Brigade Memorial Foundation is not over; much that remains to be done. Information from the 173d Airborne Brigade Combat Team's participation in Operation Enduring Freedom VIII, and the ongoing efforts in Operation Enduring Freedom X, must be gathered and engraved on the Memorial's granite panels. The Perpetual Care Fund, that will provide money for the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial needs to be built and maintained. We need your help and support both now and in the future!

The Memorial Foundation's Board of Directors pledges to you its best efforts to maintain the high standards established for our Memorial and will work to merit your sustained support for the Perpetual Care fund that will be used to maintain and update the Memorial in the months and years to come.

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For additional details and information, use the following link:

[henryrodriguez]

I served with the 173rd airborne in viet nam 1969-70 3rd of the 319 c battery I'm very proud to have served with them

[jcfleming]

Thanks for posting. My dad Arthur Fleming was there with the 2/503...he still hasn't moved on because of the friends he lost on Hill 875.

[Roselleg]

My father was 15th LE (truck driver) at Dak To, wounded in ‘67. He took mortar shrapnel mostly to his arms. Rarely spoke about it. Agent orange killed him in 2001.

[edge]

My father grew up and was best friends with PFC Carlos Lozado.

[joeg]

Was with A Co 1/503 - (67-68) Task Force Blue

[cahb]

My Dad, "Doc" Stanzak was there.  C co. 1/503

[luvfly]

served as a "grunt" with B Co. 1/503 Aug. 66 to 67