Keeping by fly buttoned up, my ammo dry, watching the world turn, buying lots of rounds for my AK and CAR 16 carbine in preparation for what could be WW III both domestically (thanks to the liberals) and globally.
Other Comments:
From 1966 to 1970, I held the Guiness Book of World Records for the Most TDY assignments ever bestowed on one trooper. In my perfect 20-20 hindsight, I'd like to go back to the 60's and kick a lot of asses that needed it ; especially LTC DeVane's skinny ass, provided more covering fire, burned out more M-60 barrels, tried one "joint", R&R'ed in Bangkok, drank a lot less Bud and Kulmbacher, asked either Chris Noel or Judy Thompson (Waycross, GA) to marry me, and kept a sleeping bag as essential gear in my Huey1 Delta.
Vietnam War/Advisory Campaign (1962-65)/Attack of Camp Holloway Pleiku
From Month/Year
February / 1965
To Month/Year
February / 1965
Description 300 Viet Cong slipped past ARVN guards and swept through Camp Holloway Airfield (6-7 February 1965) killing 8 Americans, wounding 126, destroying 10 aircraft and damaging 15 more. The Viet Cong withdrew to avoid battling reinforcements, with few losses.
The attack on Camp Holloway occurred during the early hours of 7 February 1965, in the early stages of the Vietnam War. Camp Holloway was a helicopter facility constructed by the United States Army near Pleiku in 1962, to support the operations of Free World Military Forces in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
In August 1964, the United States Navy reported they were attacked by torpedo boats of the North Vietnamese Navy in what became known as the Tonkin Gulf Incident. In response to the perceived aggression of Communist forces in Southeast Asia, the United States Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which enabled U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to deploy conventional military forces in the region to prevent further attacks by the North Vietnamese. Immediately after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed, Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnamese Navy bases in retaliation for the reported attacks on U.S. Navy warships between 2 and 4 August 1964. However, the Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam were not deterred by the threat of U.S. retaliation.
Throughout 1964, the Viet Cong launched several attacks on U.S. military facilities in South Vietnam but Johnson did not start further retaliations against North Vietnam, as he tried to avoid upsetting U.S. public opinion during the 1964 United States Presidential Election. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, were experiencing political changes of their own as Nikita Khrushchev were removed from power. As leader of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev had begun the process of disengagement from Vietnam by reducing economic and military aid to North Vietnam. However, in the aftermath of Khrushchev’s downfall, the Soviet government had to redefine their role in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam, to compete with the growing influence of the People’s Republic of China.
In February 1965 Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin travelled to Hanoi to rebuild Soviet ties with North Vietnam, and the formation of a military alliance was on the agenda. Coincidentally, senior security adviser to the U.S. President McGeorge Bundy was also in Saigon to report on the political chaos in South Vietnam. In the shadow of those events, the Viet Cong 409th Battalion staged an attack on Camp Holloway on 7 February 1965. This time, with his victory in the 1964 presidential election secured, Johnson decided to launch Operation Flaming Dart which entailed strikes on North Vietnamese military targets. However, with Kosygin still in Hanoi during the U.S bombing, the Soviet government decided to step up their military aid to North Vietnam, thereby signalling a major reversal of Khrushchev’s policy in Vietnam.
