Vietnam: Remembering...
Page opened Mar 00
Rev: Jul 00
Aug 00
The following pages recount the experiences of individuals who served with the company during the Viet Nam War. Below is some background information to help those who were not there to understand where we were, what we did, and what we had to do it with.
Background
The First Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) arrived in Nam in July 1968 after months of grueling training at Fort Carson, Colorado, the home base of the Fifth Infantry Division (Mechanized). The remaining two brigades remained there, along with an attached brigade so the 5th Division remained at full strength. Ft. Carson is just south of Colorado Springs, which lies at the foot of Pikes Peak (elevaton 14,200+ feet). With "The Peak" and the Rocky Mountains on the west and the high plains on the east, Ft. Carson is in a truly impressive setting. There are a number of other military facilities in the area including Cheyenne Mountain, home of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), the United States Air Force Academy, Peterson Field, and Ent Air Force Base.

The First Brigade's structure was as follows:
(if I missed anyone, please advise me)
(unit websites are noted in blue. I am having some problems with linking - please copy/paste the URL to your browser if they do not work)

ORGANIC UNITS

1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, a "straight leg" unit with no armor (the troops walked)
                    C Co:  http://www.oocities.org/Heartland/Cliffs/4954/index.html
                    D Co:  http://w3.ime.net/~ncocloca/DELTA.HTM (This link may not work, copy/paste to your browser)
                    E Co:  http://www.oocities.org/sanfordr_49509
              Official Site (1/11 now is a training unit at Ft. Benning):
                                   http://www.benning.army.mil/11th/1-11INF/BNHQ/BNHQ.htm

1st Battalion, 61st Infantry, a mechanized unit equipped with APCs (the troops got to ride)
                    Battalion: http://members.aol.com/bn61st/161index.htm (unofficial)
                    A Co:  http://www.vietnamaco1st61st.bizland.com/index.html (Patrick A. Maddalino's site)(site not active)
                    A Co:  docmelson.com (Doc Melson's site)
              Official Site (1/61 is now a basic training unit at Ft. Jackson, SC ):
                                    http://jackson-www.army.mil/1-61/index.htm

1st Battalion, 77 Armor, an all tank unit
                    http://177armor.50megs.com
                    1/77 Reunion Website:  http://www.oocities.org/lockfire1
                    B Co:  http://u2.lvcm.com/jscb/jack.htm (site not active)
                    C Co:  http://www.oocities.org/Pentagon/Barracks/2373 (Tom Rosser's site)
              Official Site (1/77 is now part of the 1st Inf Div, Wurzburg, Germany):
                                     http://www.1id.army.mil/units/units.htm (Not active)
                                     As of May, 2001, the only active link to the 1st Div is for the 1st Bde at Ft. Riley, KS.
                                     I cannot find any site for the 1/77 on active duty

5th Battalion, 4th Artillery, 155mm self propelled artillery pieces (they look somewhat like tanks)
                    http://www.5thbn4tharty5thinfdiv.com
                   
A Troop, 4th Squadron, 12th Cavalry, a mixed unit of mechanized infantry and tanks

A Company, 7th Engineer Battalion (no link to this superior website, you silly goose - you are already there!)

75th Support Battalion, provided transport, maintenance, medical, and other very necessary non-combat functions

298th Signal Company, provided phone, radio, MARS station, and Photo section

86th Chemical Detachment

517th Military Intelligence Detachment

48th PIO (Public Information Office)


Attached Units, either directly attached or under the brigade's operational control (OPCON)

C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry

3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry
                      http://pone.com/bk/index.htm?

P Company (Ranger), 75th Infantry
                       http://www.75thrangers.org/hq/hq2.htm
                       http://www.5thbn4tharty5thinfdiv.com (Tommy Dorris' 5/4 arty site)

407th Radio Research Detachment (RRD)
                       http://asa.npoint/bub01.htm

Kit Carson Scouts


There is an excellent history of the brigade on the Society of the 5th Division @ http://www.elite.net/~knight/index.htm
and at Yves Bellenger's excellent WW II  5th Division site:  http://www.oocities.org/Athens/Forum/8149
A7E was constituted as a combat engineer company supporting a separate infantry brigade. The three line platoons and HQ Section were augmented with a float bridge platoon (2nd platoon, E Co [Floating Bridge]was assigned to A Co and became the Bridge Platoon), two AVLB's, a heavy equipment section, a reinforced maintenence section led by a Warrent Officer, and two CEV's. The company was capable of performing any mission (on a reduced scale of course) which a combat engineer battalion could perform. As I recall the company strength was six officers, one Warrent Officer, and 261 enlisted personnel plus one medic attached to each line platoon. Heavy equipment included two Caterpillar D-7E bulldozers, two road graders, a 40 ton rough terrain crane, three front end loaders, and a fork lift, along with the ubiquitous 5 ton dump trucks and Deuce and halves .On several occasions we had to borrow equipment from either the Marines or the Seabees - we did not have a cement mixer, for example.

Initally, the three line platoons were in direct support of and attached to the maneuver battalions: 1st platoon to the 1/11 and based at LZ Sharon: 2nd platoon, the 1/61 and based at C-2, while 3rd platoon was with the 1/77 and based at LZ Nancy. The rest of the company was based at Camp Red Devil adjacent to the USMC Quang Tri Combat Base.

Primary duties included daily mine sweeps of roads, bridge building, fire base construction/renovation, and demolition support to the maneuver battalions.
The Division Patch used as background is definatly not an official US Army insignia. It was sold in roadside stands along QL 1 by Vietnamese nationals. The CG reportedly ripped one of these off the sleeve of a certain BN commander. This patch was supplied by Jim Dustin and scanned for me by Tommy Dorris. Thanks guys!
Vietnam Service Medal
3Jul65-28Mar73
(Service in Laos. Thailand, or Cambodia also)		 Republic of
Vietnam Campaign Medal
1Mar61-28Mar73
(Awarded by Vietnam Gov't.)
National Defense Service Mwedal
27Jun50-27Jul54
1Jan 61-14Aug74
2Aug90-30Nov95

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