"NÚI BÀ ĐEN LUÔN LUÔN TRONG TÂM KHẢM TÔI" . (LỜI CỦA 1 CỰU ĐẠI ÚY THIẾT GIÁP MỶ Ron Tinnel ĐẢ ĐÓNG QUÂN TRÊN ĐỈNH NÚI) .

1 GÓC CỦA ĐỈNH NÚI BÀ . BÊN TRÁI LÀ HỒ CHỨA NƯỚC MƯA . LÍNH MỶ CHÊ NƯỚC NÀY MẤT VỆ SINH NÊN T.THĂNG PHẢI CÂU NƯỚC TỚI . 

T.THĂNG CHUẨN BỊ ĐÁP XUỐNG TIẾP TẾ CHO BINH SỈ ĐÓNG TRÊN ĐỈNH NÚI . TA THẤY CÓ 1 SỐ BS ĐANG ĐỨNG CHỜ Ở HELIPAD

NÚI BÀ NHÌN TỪ CHÂN NÚI

 SAU ĐÂY LÀ 1 BÀI DO 1 QUÂN NHÂN MỶ THUỘC TĐ 3 TR.Đ 17 THIẾT GIÁP NÓI VỀ NÚI BÀ ĐEN VÀ SỰ QUAN TRỌNG CỦA NÚI NÀY ĐỐI VỚI TĐ 3 . HÔM NÀO RẢNH TÔI SẺ DỊCH RA TIẾNG VIỆT VÌ HÔM NAY BỊ BỊNH .
Here's a fascinating report from Ron Tinnel about Nui Ba Den and its importance to the 3rd of the 17th ACR. Thanks Ron - Nui Ba Den will continue to be on our minds.

"During the Tet offensive on January 31, 1968, the VC began using Chinese built 122mm rockets to attack U.S. bases. The 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry (Redhorse) needed a high elevation observation point to spot and destroy VC rocket sites. Nui Ba Den, the Black Virgin Mountain, was God's gift to Redhorse.

Nui Ba Den stood alone in the middle of nowhere as if it was waiting for someone. At the time we thought it was waiting for Redhorse. Nui Ba Den was located at latitude 11°22'N and longitude 106°10'E, 11km northeast of Tay Ninh, in the Phu Khuong District of Tay Ninh Province, and 106 km from Saigon. (It will always be Saigon, many Nam vets still refuse to call it Ho Chi Minh City.) Nui Ba Den looked like a dormant volcano approximately 3,200 feet high (986 meters). The granite rock mountain was very steeply sloped, covered with enormous boulders, and honeycombed with caves and tunnels. More than half of its 3,200 feet had 45 to 50 degree slopes and the rest of the mountain had slopes of 60 degrees or more. There were many rockslide areas. Wind shears bouncing off of the slopes of the mountain often caused problems for Redhorse choppers during fire support and re-supply drops. Heavy dense fog and unexpected tropical torrential rain storms frequently added to the excitement.

Nui Ba Den was a historical and beautiful site covering an area of more than 24 square km. Based on Vietnamese legend, Nui Ba Den was not waiting for Redhorse. As one legend goes, Ba Den was to marry a soldier, but on her wedding day her fiancé went to war and never returned. Ba Den waited, grieved and cried herself to death and when she died she became the mountain. A Buddhist pagoda shrine was built on the summit in memory of her faithfulness and devotion. After her death, the Nguyen Dynasty ordered a mould of her to be cast in black bronze, which started the legend of the Black Virgin Mountain and Nui Ba Den became a Vietnamese Buddhist holy place.

Before Redhorse arrived there was a radio communication station and a Special Forces camp on the summit of the mountain and a rock quarry at the bottom of the mountain. The Vietnamese mountain people who had made their homes on the summit had already been evacuated. All of their buildings had already been torn down, including a small Buddhist shrine. The mountain people were not happy about having to leave their homes. There was a large round rain pool, shaped like a giant cone, on the east end of the lower part of the summit which served as a water supply for the Vietnamese mountain people when they lived there. The water was not safe to drink so Redhorse brought in drinking water for Redhorse troopers by chopper.

The plains around the base of the mountain were very flat for as far as the eye could see. Banana trees covered the lower slopes. Past the lower slopes bamboo and banyan trees were scattered here and there among the enormous granite boulders. While Redhorse was at Tay Ninh, Redhorse frequently fought with the VC for control over the sides of the mountain. Our troopers stationed on the summit were not permitted to go down the mountain along the slopes because the mountain had been heavily booby trapped starting approximately a hundred meters from the summit. This was done by the Special Forces to serve as a first line of defense against attack. One of the favorite tricks of the VC was to booby trap the U.S. booby traps, especially our fragmentation grenades. Our troopers had to be very careful about moving a booby trap once it had been set. If you saw a grenade on the ground, and you were smart, you never picked it up, you had it blown in place.

Nui Ba Den was a VC headquarters used to plan attacks on Tay Ninh City and Tay Ninh Province. Until Redhorse arrived it was a safe place for the VC traveling the Ho Chi Minh trail to regroup after entering Vietnam from Cambodia. It did not take long for Redhorse to figure out the VC were hidden inside the mountain in caves. By cleverly using the caves, the VC had control of everything on the slopes of the mountain. The VC knew they owned the land surrounding the mountain during the night, and they seemed to accept that Redhorse owned the land surrounding the mountain during the day.

From the Redhorse Tay Ninh Base Camp we used to enjoy watching bombers working the slopes of Nui Ba Den. Many nights, we could see green tracers coming out of the mountain toward our choppers and red tracers fired from our choppers back into the mountain. At night it looked like we were fighting the mountain instead of the VC.

During heavy engagements, the Redhorse communications command net used during enemy contact became heavily congested. Redhorse had to have communications; therefore, the Redhorse Headquarters Troop manned a signal site, on top of Nui Ba Den.

On the night of 5/13/68, Nui Ba Den was attacked and over run by the VC. Including Redhorse troopers, there was a total of approximately 100 Americans of various units on Nui Ba Den that night. Our troopers reported there were approximately 30 members of the Special Forces, soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division, and at least one Korean. The enemy attacked with RPGs, rockets, mortars, and sappers. The VC broke through the perimeter and severely damaged the Redhorse radio relay equipment. That night our troopers heard the VC laughing and moving around in the compound, firing their AK-47s and shooting the survivors. The killing continued until about dawn when Redhorse choppers arrived to assess the damage and search for survivors. Copper-colored AK-47 shell casings were found everywhere. Large piles of AK-47 shell casings were along the trails and next to the pagoda.

A warrior is only as great as the warrior's greatest enemy. The VC were the greatest light infantry the world has ever known. The initial reports disclosed the VC attack resulted in 1 U.S. MIA (MẤT TÍCH) , 22 U.S. WIA (BỊ THƯƠNG) , 19 U.S. KIA (TỬ TRẬN) and 25 confirmed VC KIA. Based on eyewitness testimony we had killed more than 25 VC; however, the VC carried away their dead after the engagement and it was difficult to get an accurate body count. The VC decision to attack was probably based on revenge for the beating we gave them during the Tet Offensive of January 31,1968.

At least one Redhorse Headquarters Troop trooper was recommended for the Silver Star for bravery and valor during this engagement. The Redhorse trooper was trapped with a SFC from another unit in the pagoda on the summit. During the VC attack, the two of them maintained radio communications all night with Redhorse gun ships saving many U.S. lives and preventing the VC from doing more damage than they did. The Redhorse trooper and the SFC transmitted situation reports every five minutes until their radio antenna on the back of the pagoda was blown up by the VC just before dawn.

Nui Ba Den was closed as a U.S. base in 1973. It is now designated as a Socialist Republic of Viet Nam historic cultural site. Buddhist temples have been constructed on the mountain's slopes and visitors can now ride a gondola cable car up to the summit from a park at the base of the mountain.

Nui Ba Den will always be on my mind."


S.J.25.12.10 LÚC 1116PM .