Army Reporter information
for 101 ABN
101 CAG 101 ABN
158 CAB 101 ABN
For date 710315
101 ABN was a US Army unit
101 CAG 101 ABN was a US Army unit
158 CAB 101 ABN was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation LAM SON 719
Quang Tri Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Khe Sanh
Description: 115Mar71 101st Eagles fly allies to where the action is
KHE SANH - Helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) provided troops of the ARVN Airborne Division with swift airmobility for their initial Feb. 8 combat assault across the Laotian border in Operation Lam Son 719. Flight crews of the 101st Aviation Gp.'s 101st Aviation Bn. and the 158th Assault Helicopter Bn. sped 1,400 ARVN paratroopers from a hilltop near Khe Sanh to their Laotian landing zones (LZ) on the first day of the operation. From another location, CH47 Chinooks of the 101st's 159th Assault Helicopter Bn., and CH54 Skycranes of the 478th Aviation Bn., transported ARVN Airborne Division artillery units, numerous vehicles, and ammunition and other supplies. Pathfinders of the division's aviation group directed air-ground liaison at both loading sites. In all, Screaming Eagle flight crews flew about 200 sorties in ferrying the ARVN airborne troops from the small airstrip. The South Vietnamese soldiers had been assembling there for three days before the assault, according to Capt. Joe Caballero. Equipped with rucksacks with full field gear and light infantry weapons, the ARVN troops needed only seconds to scramble aboard the 101st aircraft. Air traffic was heavy with as many as eight of the UH1 helicopters touching down at the same time to load up and steer westward into slate-colored skies over Laos. Helicopters returning from the Laotian LZs hovered over the airstrip to repeat the round-trip shuttle. Meanwhile, pathfinders and riggers of the ARVN Airborne Division kept up a hectic pace preparing cargo nets and hooking sling loads aboard the hovering CH47 and CH54 helicopters. "IT was a smooth operation," summed up Caballero after the shout of "PZ (pick-up zone) clean!" - pathfinder jargon meaning that the last item of equipment had been airlifted - had gone up.
Photo Captions:
1) Screaming Eagle helicopters pick up ARVN troops for combat assaults.
2) Passengers await the liftoff.
3) Just off the choppers, ARVN troops set up defensive perimeters around the Lang Vei base in northwestern Military Region 1, near the Laotian border.
4) OFF AGAIN from refueling in this protective surrounding, a Chinook helicopter of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) continues its mission.
The source for this information was 7103AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Last updated
04/12/2005
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023