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This Remembrance Profile was originally created by Maj Max Fischer - Deceased
Vietnam War/Tet Counteroffensive Campaign (1968)/Battle of Lo Giang
From Month/Year
February / 1968
To Month/Year
February / 1968
Description The battle was from 7 to 11 Feb in around the village of Loi Giang.
TASK FORCE MIRACLE
The 1st Battalion 6th Infantry became a part of Task Force Miracle on 7 February 1968 when III MAF tasked the Americal Division to provide a two battalion Task Force to become OPCON to the 1st Marine Division. The Task Force was formed because of the enemy offensive threat against Da Nang during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet), 1968. The Task Force was composed of two US Army units (1st Bn, 6th Inf from the 198th Inf Bde, and the 2nd Bn, 1st Inf from the 196th Inf Bde). It was established by verbal orders later confirmed by Americal Division Fragmentary Order 2-68.
Enemy activity began anew early the morning of 8 Feb 68. At 0345 hours, enemy mortar rounds fell into the CAP Echo 4 compound vic BT 028704 near Lo Giang. By daylight, enemy ground forces surrounded the CAP hamlet. At 0602 hours, the fourteen men at the location under the command of SGT B. Keith Cossey received heavy small arms fire from BT 027699.
Four NVA killed in the action were found to be armed with CS grenades. All friendly units in the area were alerted of the enemy gas attack capabilities. The defenders at CAP Echo 4 had expended most of their ammunition, but rearmed themselves with enemy weapons and ammunition.
As daylight arrive over the area, a OV-1 "bird dog" aircraft detected approximately 400 persons on the ground in the vicinity of Lo Giang. The aerial observer could not determine whether the soldiers were enemy or friendly before they disappeared under the canopy of trees in the area.. Such brazen daylight moves by large enemy forces were a rarity. The information about the large number of suspected enemy soldiers was not communicated to the 1st Bn 6th Inf soldiers in the vicinity of Lo Giang.
At 1:30 p.m., the company reported that 78 enemy were killed in the action. The company moved to a night position only to go out in search of the enemy again the following day. Another company of the battalion led by CPT Max Bradley (Athens, Ga) came under intense automatic weapons fire. Their forward position was pinned down. Air support was called for. Gunships found it difficult to penetrate the enemy's .50 caliber machine gun.
After a few futile attempts the gunships finally were able to fire their rockets on the enemy. Intense fire still continued after the air strike. Finally, CPT Bradley moved his company to a safer position taking along his dead and wounded. Ten enemy were killed in this action.
CPT Brennan at this time was exchanging fire with a force of unknown size. The fighting began at 11:20 a.m., near the village of Lo Ginag. As the company started to deploy to a new position south of there, the Marines called to say that they were surrounded by 200-300 enemy soldiers. The company moved in the direction of the Marines only to come under severe attack.
Automatic weapons and mortar fire were used on the company. The company then moved back in order to get out of the way of the incoming mortar rounds, only to be met with a barrage of rocket fire. Gunships arrived just in time to blast the enemy's ranks with rockets and tactical air strikes. The individual heroism by Brennan's company and their fantastic stand against overwhelming odds, plus the support of helicopters who dodged anti-air-craft fire, and the pinpoint air strikes by the Air Force finally turned the tide
for CPT Brennan's company.
After four days of fierce fighting, the threat to Da Nang was obliterated. Americal units killed 308 enemy, while the Marines accounted for 411 enemy KIA. A total of 31 crew served and well over a hundred individual weapons were captured along with hundreds of grenades, thousands of rounds of ammunition and tons of rice. On 12 Feb 68, the unit returned to the Americal area of operations and was placed under the operational control of the 3d Bde, 4th Infantry Division to participate in Operation Wheeler/Wallowa.
"Note: as a historical comparison, the loss of 34 KIA in only a few hours by a battalion sized unit is a tragedy comparable to the 36 KIA suffered by the 3rd Bn 187th Inf, 101st Abn Div, in ten days of combat at the infamous battle for "Hamburger Hill" (Dong Ap Bia) during 10-20 May 1969. Other Army and Marine units also suffered greatly during the Vietnam war, but the ferocity at Lo Giang was seldom matched."
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
February / 1968
To Month/Year
February / 1968
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember Don't remember
Memories III MAF got hit hard in April or May with rockets & sappers
Saw rockets hit to my right - think he was a Lt on guard dury got knocked on his ass sappers came up out of the water crawled out on dirt & laid flat !
I was OK - my 1stSgt hit in head Sgt next to him KIA !
