Army Reporter information
for 57 AHC

For date 710329


57 AHC was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Pleiku Province, II Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Pleiku
Description: 29Mar71 Cougars unleash claws on NVA PLEIKU - A village near Pleiku was under attack by NVA regulars when Cougar gunships from the 17th Aviation Group's 57th Assault Helicopter Co., 52nd Avn. Bn., were scrambled to the scene. Once on location, the gun pattern was set up to provide support for friendly ground troops and the fight for a village's life began. Receiving heavy ground fire, the Cougars began to put the enemy on the run. Headhunter observers pinpointed the main enemy concentration in a bamboo thicket, 400 meters from the village. Adjusting rocket input, they kept pounding the thicket until secondary explosions occurred. Leaving for home, the friendly ground troops radioed up thanking the Cougars. The ground forces felt they had the situation under control with the total number of enemy killed at 40. The following day an observer flying over the same area spotted about 100 NVA moving through a wooded area. Again the Cougar gunships were on station, raking the immediate area with accurate fire, receiving no retaliation from the enemy. This action resulted in the Cougars's killing 30 more enemy to bring the total after two days to 70.

The source for this information was 7103AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines


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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023