101st Airborne Division At Fire Support Base Ripcord, Vietnam War, July 1970

[MikeFrom618]

my dad was in artillery on firebase ripcord and took shrapnel in july of 1970.

he passed in 2008 and a dozen or so ripcord vets flew out to be pall bearers for a man they really didn't even know.

brothers in arms, indeed.

happy veterans day.

[jimgusto]

....there it IS.... Currahee, brothers!! 

[TR5T]

Yeh! THANK YOU SCREAMIN EAGLES.

[BeaverMartin]

I'm a 101st Soldier in the stan reading the book by Keith Nolan about Ripcord. Great book. Mountain warfare sucks!

[linuxpowerification]

@BeaverMartin

any warfare sucks

[acblueeagle]

Something happend to my last comment. I just intended to say I saw blood all over the inside of that helicotper. Memory still with me all these years later.

[alvo69]

A head bowed in REVERENCE to those brave young men on Firebase Ripcord.... The position was untenable from the get go. I want to say THANK YOU to those that served there, or whose fathers served there, and to Chris (and his mopic and photog comrades) for risking his young azz to take these films. Without these films any descriptions would fall woefully short. It is NEVER good when you are shooting artillery downhill.....those cannoncockers are some serious studs. NEVER, EVER, FORGOTTEN.

[tachikaze222]

1:13 That is NOT an elevation a gun bunny wants to dial in.

[ChristopherJensenNH]

This must have come from the government archives. I shot this footage along with Jerry Dubro (spelling). We were Army photographers with the Southeast Asia Pictorial Center. Jim Saller was our still photographer. The PIO at Eagle forbade us to go to Ripcord but we hooked a ride on a dust-off anyway. Lt. Col. Lucas let us stay but refused to allow us to join the grunts in the bush. He probably saved our foolish, young lives. Still, Saller was wounded.

Regards, Chris Jensen (SP5 Retired)

[DocMcCrae]

The Ripcord site was poorly planned. The taller mountains surrounding Ripcord allowed the VC to observe all activities and fire down on the base. Patrols sent out from Ripcord to find the VC were pretty well wiped out due to being observed from the time they left and ambushes were easily set up.

[Okoloz]

Actually Ripcord is a prime example of what happens when politicians try to run battles from their cozy seats in D.C.. You may call it a US defeat but not a US Military defeat. Politicians working 9-5 jobs in D.C. randomly pulled the plug on munitions deliveries, authorizations for incoming fires, and micro managed even MEDEVAC flights! Keith Nolan took the time to talk to the men who lived through Ripcord, his book is outstanding. Fleishegurken, my father was also on Ripcord. CURRAHEE!

[tachikaze222]

@Okoloz While A Shau and Ripcord was more of a defeat of political will than US arms, the end result was the USA put its foot in something we wish we hadn't.

It wasn't lack of munitions or micro-management from DC that forced us to abandon FSB Ripcord -- it was the enemy's strength compared to what we were willing and able to throw into the battle in reply. If this had been 1966, we'd have gone toe to toe. But 40,000 KIA -- many draftees -- put a stop to the WW2-style heroics, after mid-1969.

[fleischegurken]

My dad was on Ripcord...

[sexymalcom1970]

according to some research the base was abandonned due to incessant PAVN and NLF attacks. Its one of the few battles in the vietnam war that can be recognised as a US defeat

[punipunipunisher]

Not that few. There were many that were covered-up.

And it continues even to this day - We Were Soldiers featured only the LZ X-Ray battle and not even mention of the American defeat at LZ Albany.

[turbineslim]

Any videos of MACVSOG or SF in Vietnam?

[Tovkal]

Windy days ...