THE BATTLE OF FSB RIPCORD...THE BEGINNINGS

Fire Support Base Ripcord, or FSB Ripcord, was a vital link in the defenses of the 101st Airborne Division in the mountainous Nam Hoa district of Thua Thien province (northern I Corps Zone) in 1970. Nearly 1000 meters high, Ripcord sat at the northeastern rim of the infamous A Shau Valley, and close to North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Laos. Ripcord was part of the mile-high Coc Muen massif, dominant terrain along which enemy infiltration routes to the populated lowlands had to pass.

Vietnamization of the war was already well along, and U.S. troop withdrawals from the Republic of South Vietnam were under way when the 101st Airborne Division found itself embroiled in a fight for its life. But we're getting ahead of our story.

Soldiers of the Screaming Eagles (we called ourselves grunts and boonie rats) had patrolled and fought in this rugged triple canopy rain forest since 1968. In that time the Viet Cong guerrillas had been all but destroyed as an organized fighting force, and North Vietnamese regulars, who had made an appearance in strength during Tet 1968, had been pushed back to the A Shau and beyond. Many of the enemy were licking their wounds in Laos and gathering strength for the next major offensive. We would soon learn just how devastating their massed combat power could be.

As the winter monsoons drizzeled on into spring, the 101st prepared to mount an offensive campaign into the Nam Hoa mountains and then, some say, back into the A Shau Valley. The A Shau had been the scene of fierce and bitter fighting the year before, at a place called Dong Ap Bia, more commonly referred to as Hamburger Hill. The memory of the previous year's grueling campaign was in our minds as we prepared to assault and secure the stepping stone outposts and fire bases that would support our offensive into the dreaded "valley."

As a first step, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces of the 1st ARVN Infantry Division air assaulted onto Fire Base O'Reilly. At the same time, the 2d Battalion, 506th Infantry, siezed Fire Base Gladiator. Both these fire bases were within artillery supporting distance of the key objective, FSB Ripcord. On March 12, an "exploratory insertion" took place on Ripcord by A Co., 2/506.

Alpha Company was met by a storm of small arms fire, rocket propelled grendades and mortars. Assault helicopters (UH-1D "hueys") skittered across the fire base disgorging their human cargo, barely taking time to touch down. Troopers sought cover on the barren, rocky outcrop as best they could and fought back. SP/4 Jody Smith (Auburn, Kansas) had his life saved when a case of C-rations he was carrying stopped a bullet from an enemy AK-47 rifle. Others weren't so lucky. Men fell, wounded and dying. Second Lieutenant Dudly Davis (Alvarida, Colorado) became the first man to die in the long struggle for Ripcord.

Nowhere was safe, and A Co. was withdrawn from Ripcord. After three weeks of vigorous patrolling and sporadic fighting in the jungle around Ripcord, the Best of the Currahees were ready to try again. This time Bravo Company had been given the mission. They went in hot on April 1, in what would become known as the April Fools Day Assault. Enemy gunners were well prepared, and B Co. was savaged by enemy fire. They, too, were withdrawn from the mountain peak.
 
More combat patrols around the mountain were conducted. Then, on April 10, it was Charlie Company's turn. Instead of assaulting Ripcord by helicopter, the men of C Co. attacked from the ground. Moving forward to squad release points in the pre-dawn darkness, and after a preparation fire of artillery and cobra gunships, Charlie Company's troopers began their assault up the steep southern slope of Ripcord. As dawn broke clear and bright, U.S. soldiers swept over and around the hill top. Exept for the preparation fires, not another shot was heard. Ripcord was ours. The enemy had ceded the first phase of the battle.

Now began the task of building a fortress in the jungle. The infantrymen of Charlie Company worked day and night, emplacing wire, setting up obstacles, digging in antipersonnel mines (claymores), digging defensive positions and clearing fields of fire. Artillerymen from Bravo Battery, 2d Battalion, 319th Artillery, came with their split trail 105mm howitzers. The 2/506 sent out an advance party to set up a tactical operations center (TOC). Bulldozers arrived to help and counterbattery radars were situated to detect incoming enemy mortar rounds and provide a firing location grid, even before they impacted.

Soon, four ARVN 155mm howitzers were added to the fire base defenses, later to be replaced by American 155s of Alpha Battery, 2d Battalion, 11th Artillery. By June, Ripcord had become the premier defensive bastion of the division. Three belts of triple concertina wire surrounded the mountain, under which other rolls of the "razor" wire had been crushed to fit the folds of the earth in order to stymie infiltration by North Vietnamese sappers--specially trained fighters who could wiggle through even the most formidable obstacles. Over 500 claymore mines had been emplaced, along with numerous other lethal devices, including GI-made booby traps, buried fougasse (napalm) canisters and bangalore torpedos (long tubes of explosive) ringed with rolls of barb wire. The attitude was: "If the enemy wants to attack this, then let him. We're ready."

On July 1, the test began. Enemy mortars began firing at 7:02 a.m. The rounds impacted near the perimeter defenses and did no damage. B/2-319th was quick to respond with counterbattery fire. It was the inauspicious beginning to a 23-day siege.