The most beautiful picture in the Vietnam War

• Thanh Tran This place not too far from KheSanh .1968
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  Wayne Maddox Been there a few times.
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  Thanh Tran We always stayed in big bunker while standing- by operation for the special force. At night we fly to Hue and come back in the morning, On approaching to KS sometime we had to go-around couple of times because NVA saw us coming to land at northside of bunker.... 77 days KheSanh surrounding .
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  Wayne Maddox Sometimes Thanh Tran it doesn't seem that long ago until I do the math and then it was ALONG TIME AGO and we were YOUNG. Welcome to you and your family, bet you have grandchildren like me now. Take care.


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  Thanh Tran You are right Wayne, we spent our youth almost the same corner of the world and proud of it. Allow me say hello to your family . Keep in touch.

  
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  Than Pham I were there too, many time in that helicopter I feel humble to thank God let me live until now and some more years


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  Wayne Maddox Look at these on Facebook. Air medal society, Vietnam Helicopter war, POPASMOKE USMC. also I Corps VietNam.


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  Thanh Tran Everytime I think about you, we all spent our youth the same side the same philosophy of the war in the same corner of the world and now almost half of century went by thank God we all have Him upthere. God bless America.

Leghorn and the H34

One Day Too Long Top Secret Site 85 and the Bombing of North Vietnam

• 202642N 1034305E (UH65496355)
  Phou Pha Thi, Laos
  In the later half of 1966, the idea was conceived to install a Radar Bombing Control System (MSQ-77) at TACAN Channel 97 (Site 85) in Laos. The MSQ-77 is a sophisticated piece of electronic equipment to direct air strikes without the pilot actually seeing his target. The advantages being 1) that the aircraft can fly at an altitude reachable only by Surface to Air Missiles (SAM) and 2) bombing can be accomplished in all types of weather day or night. The advantages were obvious, but the political obstacles were going to be difficult. Laos was a neutral country. Placing this equipment in northern Laos would imply that Laos was allowing another country to use their country to mount an attack on a neighbor, which had recognized their neutrality. But this neighboring country, North Vietnam, was using their soil to transport men, equipment and supplies through the Laos panhandle into Cambodia and South Vietnam (Ho Chi Min Trail).
  Site 85's location in northern Laos was roughly 120 Miles from Hanoi, or the distance between San Diego and Los Angeles, CA. The existence and location of Site 85 was declassified in 1983. January 12, 1968, two AN-2 Colts, made in the Soviet Bloc, attempted to destroy Site 85 by dropping 120mm mortar shells from a hole in the bottom of the aircraft (they were armed by the slipstream). There are other opinions of what the AN-2's had in the way of munitions, but this seems to be the general consensus of opinions. The attack was basically ineffective. The TACAN installation was down for a few days due to a damaged antenna. A few power cables had to be repaired. The TSQ-81 was not harmed. One AN-2 crashed into the side of a mountain as a result of small arms fire from the ground, the other was brought down by an Air America sharpshooter (Glen Woods), with a rifle, while airborne. There were two other AN-2's in the area, orbiting at a higher altitude. They made no attempt to attack the site. Operations continued but there were other problems, as indicated by the Memorandum from the Country Director for Laos and Cambodia to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs on February 1, 1968.
  Several field investigations have been done on LS85 since 1994. Here are some pics of their findings. In March of 1994, Lt/Col Jeannie Schiff participated in a field investigation and excavation at Lima Site 85 (JFA 94-4L). During this investigation an east-west tunnel was discovered in a north-south narrow ridge line just north of the operations van. Mr. Robert J. Destatte who also investigated the site in December of 1994 and July 1998 states "It was very low and narrow. One had to crouch down to pass through it. It was carved through solid rock. I am nearly certain that it was not natural." Now the mystery begins. The question was put forth by Mr. Destatte "Who dug it, when and why?" Mr. Destatte continues "It has caused some confusion. I have often wondered whether it influenced the actions of the technicians at the site during the evening of 10 March and the early morning attack on 11 March. I understand that the technicians were worried about the possibility of another mortar or artillery attack, like the one that struck their bunker on 10 March - but did not expect a ground attack. If the tunnel was constructed prior to the fall of LS85, it would have offered the technicians complete safety from mortar or artillery bombardments. Also, the ridge above the tunnel might have shielded a rescue helicopter trying to extract survivors from the narrow ledge outside the cliff-side entrance to the tunnel. Thus, if Americans constructed the tunnel before 11 march 1968, its existence could help explain why some of the off-duty technicians chose to spend the night of 10 March near the tunnel in the area behind the operations center. On the other hand, if the tunnel was constructed after LS85 fell, it is irrelevant to our efforts to understand why the technicians decided to spend the night of 10 March in the area behind the operations center. None of the People's Army of Vietnam or Lao participants in the two battles at Phou Phi Thi (March 68 and Dec 68-Jan 69) that we have interviewed seem to have known about this tunnel. We can't infer anything definitive from their lack of knowledge, however, because each of them had made only brief visits to the TACAN/TSQ site."
  Survivors and installation crew members were queried about this tunnel. The replies were...
  Col Gerald Clayton, Commander of Site 85: "There was no tunnel under the site while we were there. There was a trench that ran along the face of the cliff where some of the men sought shelter, but the bombing destroyed most of it."
  John Daniel, Survivor: "I never saw a tunnel. It wasn't there prior to 11 March 1968. If there was one, why didn't we know about it?"
  Dick Grimes, TACAN installation crew: "I was super surprised any tunnel existed."
  Keith Johnson, TSQ-81 installation crew: "I never knew anything about the tunnel."
  Larry Bean, TSQ-81 installation crew: "I don't know who did it, or when, but it had to have been after we left. Looks like hard digging."
  Ronald Haden, operational testing crew: "I suppose it could have been there and the east entrance covered by heavy vegetation, therefore hidden. I did not explore the west side of the cliff in that particular area. Another thought is that it may have been a deep cave and the U.S. bombing opened up the west entrance. There is a large amount of debris below the tunnel entrance on the west side."
  Aerial photo taken after the battle (11 March 1968) which shows the tunnel.
  

  Last edited by Half Moon; 08 Mar 10, 13:05.

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  Miss Saigon

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#4
08 Mar 10, 13:48
I think we are confusing two different sites here. Leghorn and Lima Site 85?
Lima Site 85 was in fact over run. There is an excellent book (I had some minor problems with it) on the subject by Timothy Castle.

Leghorn pictures

Leghorn Relay Site

Located at YB 604-356 in southeastern Laos. The site was discovered by SOG Lieutenant George K. Sisler. What Sisler had found was a 1,000 meter peak with almost vertical sides, easy to defend. Sisler stated that the site could be used as a SOG radio relay site that would enable recon teams to maintain radio contact with their departing airsupport if an immediate extraction was needed. Sisler said "I am absolutey certain that I could stay on that rock indefinitely". Indeed, the SOG-NSA people managed to hold Leghorn for five years. SOG teams and NSA radio intercept people could monitor a tremendous amount of NVA radio traffic. From their perch on top of Leghorn they could hear NVA truck traffic moving down route 96, some six miles west of Leghorn and a major part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail network.

Sammy H. Cathey, a former SGT with MACV/SOG stationed at Leghorn, graciously provided the following photos.

Man spent 19 months in Vietnam War - in Laos

In 1967, “Rap” Peavy was attending the University of South Florida in Tampa when he had to drop out of school because his stepfather suffered a heart attack and he had to get a job to help his family out financially.
He lost his draft deferment and became 1-A for the draft. So he decided to enlist in the Army before he got drafted.
He took basic and advanced military training at Fort Benning, Ga., and then flew to Vietnam in 1968.

Peavy landed at Cam Rahn Bay and wound up in the 5th Special Forces Group MACV SOG (Military Assistance Command Studies and Observation Group). They worked for the Department of Defense.
SOG’s mission was to try to de-escalate the Vietnam War before it reached the border of South Vietnam.
“I was sent across the border into Laos to a communication station atop a 5,500-foot hill in jungle country 30 miles inside the border,” he said. “My job was to provide radio communications for our troops who were trying to stop the North Vietnamese Army from coming into South Vietnam.
“One of my missions was to provide communications for small recon-teams who were sent into enemy territory for a week or so to spy on the NVA (North Vietnamese Army), Peavy explained.
“We were the only communications you had other than choppers when they were in the field on one of their missions.
“Probably the biggest mission I was involved in was ‘Operation Tailwind’ he said. “This was an operation run by the CIA. It took place in 1971 as a diversionary mission in Laos performed by Company-B, Command and Control Center. This was the outfit I worked for.
“‘Tailwind’ operated north in Laos from where our communication center was located,” he said.
“The U.S. sent in Company-B to divert the NVA away from several CIA operations. The American unit was spotted by the enemy and they were shot up pretty good.
“Gary Rose, the medic serving with Company B attacked by the NVA, received the Medal of Honor in the last couple of years, years after the war,” Peavy said. “He was hit several times by enemy fire, but still keep going out and patching up the wounded. He should have gotten the medal back then, but he didn’t.”
The other operation he can recall was an intelligence mission in Laos on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
“A good friend of mine, Curtis Green, was killed in that operation. I was on the radio with Green when he was shot in the chest and killed. He was in a six-man recon team they were trying to extract from enemy territory that was surrounded on the top of a hill in Laos by a much larger NVA force.

“By the time they made it to the hill the NVA had cut off their radio communications until they reached the top and reestablished communications again. Green and his unit was able to talk to a couple of rescue helicopters from our facility.
“We always had another American unit along the Vietnam-Laosan border ready to be sent into to rescue Americans in situations like this. But this time the situation on the ground was too hot.
“A 22-year-old captain on the ground who was running the operation called in during the height of the shootout and said, ‘This is Fox. My face is gone. We are about out of ammo. Can you do anything to help us?’”
His plea for help was picked up by a Cobra attack helicopter circling over his landing zone. He told the wounded captain on the ground, “This is ‘Panther 1-2. I’m going to make one more round above you. What do you need?
“Can you give us some fire to the southwest as you’re coming up over the ridge?” the wounded captain radioed from the bush.
“The pilot of the Cobra helicopter kept his mike opened. You could hear the mini-Gatling gun firing as he flew over the NVA enemy below.”
Of the six who went into enemy territory, eventually two Green Berets got out and two Montagnards were also rescued. Green and a Montagnard were left behind because the firefight was too heavy.
During the 19-months, eight-days Peavy served in Vietnam, most of his time was spent running radio communication in the central highlands of Laos, 30-miles into enemy territory. They went into the bush with a few Americans and the rest were indigenous people who hated the Vietnamese and were happy to kill as many enemy troops as possible.
“I flew back to Fort Lewis, Wash. from Vietnam in August 1971,” Rap Peavy said. “The reception we received from the civilians in the USA was lousy. They spit on us and called us ‘Baby Killers!’
“When we arrived at Fort Lewis we had to sign a waiver that prohibited us from talking about anything we did in Vietnam for 25 or 30 years.”
A short time later he was discharged from the service.
“Before I went in the Army I sold cars at my uncle’s car lot in Orlando. I got out of the Army and began selling cars with him again. Then I opened my own car operation in Atlanta. After that I relocated to Panama City Beach with a car dealership I called: ‘Big Boys Toys.’ I spent 45 years altogether selling cars.
“I shut my dealership down in Panama City Beach in December 2016. My wife, Mary, and I moved down to Venice Acres in 2018.”

MACV-SOG Area Of Operations: Google Earth Aerial photos showing the SOG area of operation using Google Earth

CCC FOB 2 Dak To Launch site and Ben Hat artillery base. Click the image for a larger view.

 

 More detailed view of the Dak To launch site, the airstrip can clearly be seen.Click the image for a larger view.

 One of our team has been using technology to explore the SOG area of operations, specifically that used by SOG Command & Contral Central. The map above shows CCC at Kontum and famous features such as Leghorn (radio relay site in Laos), the Bra, The Golfcourse (so named for its rolling grassy landscape) and Dollar lake (a round volcanic lake) Click on teh picture for a larger version of the screenshot.

 Detail map showing Hotel 9, The Bra, Leghorn and India 8. Click the picture for a larger image.

 Birdseye view of the mountain top radio relay site Leghorn. This bounced radion signals from Recon teams back to South Vietnam from Laos. Click the image for a larger view.

http://www.modernforces.com/fieldgear_google_earth.htm

Leghorn Mission Support Site

Leghorn Mission Support Site
Attapeu Province, Laos
Coordinates	14.782°N 107.415°E
Type	Army
Site history
Built	1967
In use	1967-72
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Garrison information
Occupants	MACV-SOG

Leghorn Mission Support Site (also known as Leghorn MSS, Eagle's Nest, Gibralter or Golf-5) was a MACV-SOG base located northwest of Đắk Tô Base Camp, in Attapeu Province, Laos.

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Current use
• 3 See also
• 4 References

History

The base was located on a steep and narrow ridgeline, approximately 10 km west of the Vietnam-Laos border and 43 km northwest of Đắk Tô Base Camp.^[1]
The base was first established on 15 January 1967 as an operations base and radio relay site to allow SOG teams to remain in contact while conducting operations in southern Laos. The hillside on which it was constructed was so steep as to render the base practically impervious to ground attack or small arms or mortar fire. While intended as a temporary facility, Leghorn remained in use for five years.^[1]

Current use

The base has reverted to jungle.

See also

• Hickory Hill Mission Support Site
• Sledgehammer Mission Support Site

References

1. Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. pp. 5–294. ISBN 978-1555716257.