Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for 101 ABN DIV

For date 700502


101 ABN DIV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Thua Thien Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, FSB GRANITE
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "9 GIs, 47 Enemy Killed 3 Firebases Repulse Red Attacks" by the S&S Vietnam Bureau. SAIGON - Bands of Communist guerrillas hurled themselves at three northerly firebases late Wednesday and early Thursday only to be driven off each time by the outpost's American defenders, a spokesman for the U.S. Command said late Thursday. The three assaults cost the Communist 47 dead, while American losses were nine dead and 46 wounded, according to an official spokesman. Meanwhile two Americans were killed Wednesday when Red sharpshooters downed two U.S. observation helicopters in Vietnam's northern quarter - one 90 miles southeast of Da Nang and the other on the northern edge of the A Shau Valley 68 miles west-north-west of Da Nang. The costliest attack - seven GIs dead and 41 wounded - fell upon Firebase Granite, a 101st Airborne Div. outpost nestled atop a roughly-hewn hill in the dense tree-clad valleys 19 miles west-southwest of Hue, which survived its second savage bout with North Vietnamese troops in less than six weeks. On March 20, North Vietnamese sappers gnawed at the base for seven hours, killing 10 Americans and wounding 31. The second battle for Granite lasted nine hours, starting Wednesday evening and climaxing at dawn Thursday, an official spokesman said. Mortar and rocket-grenade fire kicked off the enemy assault-the spokesman said, and U.S. troops inside the base answered back with rifle, machinegun, grenade and artillery fire and a call for helicopter gunships. Eighteen NVA troops died in the clash the spokesman said. Earlier Wednesday, 101st Airborne Div. infantrymen, backed by artillery salvos, armed helicopters and U.S. Air Force F4 Phantom jet bomb strikes, fought a string of battles with Communist forces in three bunker complexes 18 miles southwest of Hue and killed 15 enemy, a military spokesman said. The series of fights left 26 Americans wounded.

The source for this information was 7005pss.avn supplied by Les Hines 05/07/2000


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Last updated 12/26/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023