August-September 1966 From the 1st Squadron Annual Historical Report for 1966:
“The seventeen day voyage [from the West Coast to Vietnam] was a busy one.
Training was conducted six days a week and included first aid, platoon and troop
tactics, lessons learned by other units, language training, civil affairs and
weapons. In their spare time troopers enjoyed movies, games and reading.
Physical training was stressed with two thirty minute sessions of calisthenics
daily. Another aspect was the nightly seminar for Officers and senior NCO’s
conducted by Colonel Howell on ‘Men Against Fire’, ‘Lucky Forward’, ‘Combat
Lessons’ and ‘After Action Reports of the 25th Division’.”
6-7 September 1966 From the 6th Transportation Battalion (Truck) History: The
initial mission of the 6th Battalion was to move arriving personnel and
equipment of major combat units from their debarkation points to the base camp
areas ... The first unit the battalion transported was the 11th Armored Cavalry
Regiment, which had arrived in country in September, a month after the 6th
Battalion headquarters had arrived. The battalion transported the 3,539
personnel and 8,039 tons of equipment from the air head to its base camp at Bien
Hoa.”
27 September 1966 From the Regimental After Action Report for Operation Atlanta,
1967: “On 27 September 1966, II Field Force Vietnam directed the 11th Armored
Cavalry Regiment to secure a base camp area in the vicinity of YS4296 [Long Giao],
to clear and secure highways and lines of communications in portions of Bien Hoa,
Long Khanh and Phuoc Tuy provinces. Execution of the mission was initiated under
the code name Operation ATLANTA. The operation commenced on 20 October 1966.”
Operation Atlanta resulted in Blackhorse Base Camp.
24 September 1967 From the 2nd Squadron Annual Historical Summary for 1967:
“Little contact was made with enemy forces until Sunday, 24 September when F
Troop, on a special area sweep, surprised a North Vietnamese Army reconnaissance
company northwest of Hill 29 at a village called Quy My. The enemy, in their
well entrenched positions, had no route of escape so they elected to fight to
the last man from the hedgerows and stone houses which provided natural
fortification for the village. F Troop was joined by G Troop and with the
support of Howitzer Battery the stage was set for the violence of an armored
attack ... The Nation’s second highest award for heroism was particularly
appropriate for Specialist Four Joseph M. Thomas who, at the cost of his life,
went to the aid of three wounded comrades. With bullets striking all around him,
he remained in the open to treat the casualties and move them to safety. Upon
receiving intense fire from an enemy bunker, Specialist Thomas stood up in the
midst of the firefight and fearlessly assaulted the enemy bunker alone. Firing
lethal bursts as he ran into the face of the enemy weapons, he reached the
fortification and destroyed it with grenades and rifle fire, killing three enemy
soldiers. It was this gallant action that merited Specialist Thomas the
Distinguished Service Cross.”
25 September 1967 The 46th Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog) was attached to the
Blackhorse Regiment.
24 August 1968 On 24 August 1968, the Air Cavalry Troop changed its
organization, including the establishment of the Aero Rifle Platoon
(transitioned from the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Platoon). Aero Weapons
pilots began the transition from Huey UH1-B/C gunships to AH1G Cobras.
August 1968 From the 2nd Squadron Annual Historical Report for 1968: “During
this period [first half of August] the Squadron had very little contact with the
enemy. In the second half of the month the Squadron encountered heavy enemy
contact from elements of the 141st and 165th Regiments of the 7th North
Vietnamese Army Division while conducting RIF [reconnaissance in force] in this
area [west of An Loc]. In the latter part of the month the Squadron conducted
RIF around and north of AP LOC THANH. During the fighting at LOC NINH
approximately one out of every fourteen men involved in direct contact with the
enemy was cited for a valor award. At the close of the month VC and NVA forces
broke contact with the Squadron and a general lull prevailed.”
5 September 1968 Aero Rifle Platoon and I Troop, 3/11 supported a South
Vietnamese “snatch” operation in Chanh Luu Village, picking up the Executive
Officer of the K4 Viet Cong Battalion, Dong Nai Regiment, who said he wanted to
defect. The Blackhorse Troopers then engaged then engaged elements of the K-4
Battalion, resulting in 1 US Wounded in Action, 11 VC Killed in Action, and 3 VC
captured. The Regimental Commander, Colonel George Patton, was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross for this action.
13-18 September 1968 From the 2nd Squadron Annual Historical Summary for 1968:
“From 13 to 18 September, Troop E was involved in heavy fighting at LOC NINH
while attached to the 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. More than 100
casualties were inflicted on the enemy by E Troop alone; all without the loss of
a single American life.”
14 September 1968 From the 919th Engineer Company Annual Historica Summary for
1968: “The platoon [1st] worked out of various fire support bases along Route
Zinc and Phu Loi until 14 September when the platoon moved to Tan Son Nhut AFB
[Air Force Base]. The platoon obtained a Combat Engineer Vehicle [CEV], as did
the 3rd Platoon to replace their tank dozer.”
July – September 1969 From the 3rd Squadron Annual Historical Report for 1969:
“From 28 July to 6 September, the Squadron was relocated to central Long Khanh
Province [Blackhorse Base Camp] and was placed OPCON [operational control] to
the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During this period the Squadron received the
M551 Sheridan vehicles and conducted training on this new equipment. Upon
completion of the training, the Squadron rejoined the 11th Armored Cavalry
Regiment to participate in Operation Kentucky Cougar. During this same period,
the 4.2" mortar sections were formed into a provisional mortar battery, which is
now operating as a separate element within the 3rd Squadron.”
3 September 1969 From the Hartford [CT] Courant newspaper: “Elsewhere
helicopter gunship crews of the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment spotted an
undetermined number of enemy troops Monday [1 September] camouflaging the
entrance to a tunnel 12 miles northwest of An Loc and just two miles east of the
Cambodian border. They attacked the enemy with machine gun and rocket fire and
called in U.S. air strikes. Aerial observers later reported seeing 16 enemy dead
in the area and 72 enemy bunkers destroyed. Field officers [from the Regiment]
said the tunnel the enemy was trying to conceal contained an estimated 15 tons
of rice. There were no U.S. casualties reported.”
5 September 1969 From the U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV)
monthly summary for September 1969: “TOAN THANG OFFENSIVE (BINH LONG PROVINCE)
-- At 1555 [hours] an element [C Troop] of the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry
Regiment received heavy small arms and automatic weapons and rocket-propelled
grenade fire from an unknown size North Vietnamese Army force two miles north of
Loc Ninh (76 miles north of Saigon) and seven miles from the Cambodian border.
The troopers fired back with unit weapons, including the heavy machineguns of
their armored personnel carriers and their tank guns. At 1615 [hours] the enemy
withdrew, leaving 12 dead NVA in the battle area. Two crew-served and three
individual weapons were captured. U.S. casualties were two wounded, no
fatalities. Damage to armored vehicles was light.”
7 September 1969 2nd Squadron at Di An Base Camp OPCON (operational control) to
2nd Brigade, 1st (US) Infantry Division began receiving M551 Sheridans and
conducted 8-day training course for each Recon Troop and prepared for Command
Maintenance Management Inspection (CMMI). Yes, a CMMI in the middle of a war
zone.
7 September 1969 Acting on intelligence from a North Vietnamese defector, I
Troop engaged an NVA battalion headquarters element northwest of Fire Support
Base Aspen II. Five India Troop were wounded in the action. Platoon Leader Ty
Dodge said in an interview: “We’d taken quite a number of wounded. I looked
across the clearing and there was a medevac ship coming down. He had a Red Cross
painted on the front of it. I could see the pilot and co-pilot’s faces. To my
left the NVA soldier fired an RPG that hit the medevac ship, took it down and
killed everybody on board.”
14 September 1971 The Des Moines [IA] Register reported under a picture
of a 2nd Squadron Trooper repairing an M551 Sheridan track at Firebase Warrior
that heavy “monsoon-created mud causes breakdowns among armored vehicles that
help provide security for the Saigon area.”
