Dak Pek
B Company, 2nd Battalion1968
B Company, 2nd Battalion1968
| Montagnard village compound supported by a U.S. Special Forces A Team at Dak Pek: no taking of photos was allowed within the village due to the superstitions of the local tribesmen, the Montagnards, who were usually nomadic, foraging the jungle. The men hunted with wooden crossbows, and many of the women went topless. |
| B Company Squad Leaders meeting before pulling out from Dak Pek. The dirt runway in the background (where the two choppers are waiting) was so short and the approach was so steep that after a C-130 cargo plane crashed on landing, only smaller planes were used to land troops, with the planes coming in at treetop level. |
| Aerial view of Dak Pek: the compounds were all on hilltops, surrounded with six or more layers of barbed wire and bamboo stakes. Dak Pek is in the northern Kontum Province of South Vietnam and is only about five kilometers from the border with Laos. From John Hanscom (Intel, Det A-242, 5th SFGA, 1969-1970):This is the Dak Poko River, which flows from north to south past the SF camp. The Dak Ja flows into the larger Dak Poko about 200 meters north of camp, and the smaller Dak Pek River joins the Dak Poko about a half klick downstream southwest of the camp. That is Highway 14, which was closed to vehicles when I was there. Now it's a paved high- way from Kontum City to Danang. A former team mate recently drove Hy14 right past the SF camp location, and says the road now runs over where the airstrip was. He also says there is no trace of the SF camp remaining, but he could easily recognize all of the hills. Thanks for posting these. |
119th Assault Helicopter Company (GATORS and CROCS). |
| Aerial view of another compound: although Dak Pek was in the II Corps Tactical Zone, it was right at the II Corps/I Corps border. This photo is a good illustration of a jungle area defoliated through the application of Agent Orange. |
506th Airborne Infantry Regiment Association (Airmobile - Air Assault)
This page updated 04/06/13
No comments:
Post a Comment