Ruff Puffs,’ Vietnamese Militia, Hunt Enemy by Night

By Gloria Emerson Special to The New York Times

• Aug. 16, 1970

Credit...

GIABINH, South Vietnam, Aug. 8 — At night, the “Ruff Puffs” of this village in Trang bang district move out on pa trol, garbed, like the Vietcong, in black pajama‐like clothing or in shorts, but armed with American M‐16 rifles.

“Ruff Puffs” is the Ameri can nickname for the men who serve in the Popular Forces, the trained, armed defenders of the hamlets and villages where they live. These militia men know the earth, every face, every normal sound. There are 215,000 of them in South Vietnam. They are poor ly paid.

“The Vietcong don't fear the army,” said 33‐year‐old Tran Van To, a former farmer. “They just avoid a big army opera tion.

“But the VC hate the Popu lar Forces very much, and they know that when they come to the village there is a good chance of being ambushed by us.”

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Wonder at Insecurity

The nickname Ruff Puffs al so includes a larger body, called the Regional Forces, who are concerned with province securi ty and are under the control of the province chief. The two groups — R. F. and P. F. —have an estimated total of 486, 000 men. There are 466,000 men in the regular armed forces of South Vietnam.

“I wonder why it is not more secure in Vietnam in general, even after the Vietcong sanc tuaries in Cambodia have been wiped out,” Tran Van To said.

Haunghia Province, in which this village is situated, borders on Cambodia's Parrot's Beak region where allied forces re cently cleared out enemy sanc tuaries. Haunghia also borders on Tayninh Province in South Vietnam, long considered a strategic region by Vietnamese Communists.

“Instead of living in the bor der areas the VC have now been driven deep into the territory,” Tran Van To said. “That's bad.”

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As most Vietnamese do, he uses the word VC to include both the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese forces.

There are six hamlets in the village of Giabinh, which is on Route 1, a main highway.

Their names are Phuochau, Phuochiep, Apchanh, and Binh nguyen I, II and III.

The Hamlet Evaluation Sys tem, which uses computerized ratings to measure progress, in dicated that 88.6 per cent of the population of Haunghia Prov ince in June lived in hamlets under Government control. But Tran Van To has his own ideas.

“Phuochau and Phuochiep hamlets are not secure,” Tran Van To said, speaking of two of the hamlets in Giabinh vill age. The Vietcong are there at night—still.

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“But even in the daytime they are in Thanhphuoc village of Hieuthien district in Tayninh Province,” he said. “It is a ‘liberated’ village. Five soldiers dare not go to that village in the daytime.”

Nguyen Hoang Khach, a 28‐year‐old platoon leader, said it had been quiet in Apchanh hamlet.

“Only recent trouble was a month ago when the Vietcong came to the edge of this hamlet to collect taxes—one family who owns a truck had to pay a lot, others less,” he said. “But the people who paid are not in trouble with us. What could they do? And who are they? They are relatives—mine or another P.F.'s.”

‘Gutsy Little Fellows’

There are four Popular Forc es plotoons in Giabinh village —or about 140 men at full strength. Ambushes after dark by the Vietcong on Route 1, and occasional mines, are routine problems for them.

An American advisory team for Trangbang district is head ed by Maj. Maurice Moore, who describes the P.F. forces here as “gutsy little fellows.” He feels that acts of terrorism by the Vietcong are “a primary indicator that the enemy is weak because if the enemy was strong enough it wouldn't be necessary.”

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Roman Catholic communities, or those of Cao Daiists—a Viet namese religious sect—are usually the least bothered by the Vietcong in Trangbang dis trict, Major Moore said.

“These communities are the best organized,” he said. “That is the secret of this damn war —organization. Organization of the people”

The Popular Forces platoons of Giabinh do not know the secret of the war. They are anti‐Communist but not men who much like such a long war.

They talk mostly about money: the pay for a private is less than $20 a month at the official rate of exchange, with a small allowance for depend ents. They do not want to leave the village, and they fear having to leave their families to fend for themselves.

 The VC force led by Nguyễn Văn Kịp (Đồng Đen) penetrated the base perimeter fence at approximately 01:00 on 4 December. The penetration was detected by a USAF sentry dog team at guardpost Alpha K-19 ( 10.828°N 106.658°E) north of the 07/25 runway and he raised the alarm. A USAF security patrol was deployed to guardpost and the VC began their attack shortly after this. An 8–9 man group of VC was engaged by guardpost 15 near Taxiway W-7. Another group of VC crossed the 07/25 runway and attempted to attack the aircraft parking area but were stopped by machine gun fire from bunker Delta 11 which killed 13 VC. ^[3]

Another group of VC entered the C-47 and helicopter parking area. The VC fired and threw hand grenades into the aircraft parking area before withdrawing at 01:40. A power unit next to an aircraft revetment exploded after being hit by a grenade and the resulting fire damaged an RF-101C aircraft. ^[3]: 10

VC mortar fire from outside the base was detected by counter-mortar radar and the mortar site was targeted by ARVN 105mm artillery, Vietnam Air Force A-1s and helicopters from the US Army 120th Assault Helicopter Battalion. Elements of the ARVN 53rd Regional Force Battalion were ambushed as they approached the mortar site, suffering two killed but they overran the mortar position by 02:15 suffering a further one killed. ^[3]: 10

As some VC withdrew at approximately 01:40, the USAF security police moved to block their escape. At 02:10 the retreating VC engaged the USAF line in a firefight that lasted until 02:35. Two USAF security police were killed in this engagement and two wounded, while three VC were killed. ^{[3]: 11–12}

At 02:30 a VC satchel charge exploded in the old bomb dump area in the north-central area of the base, detonating a store of US Navy 5 inch shells. ^[3]: 14

At 03:05 a USAF guard at post Alpha K-20 reported that the VC were attacking his position. At 03:50 a sentry dog unit at Alpha K-21 pursued retreating VC and at 04:15 Alpha K-20 was secured but the USAF security policemen at that post had been killed. ^[3]: 13

At 04:00 the base security forces were put on hold and at 04:45 a full search of the based was conducted. ^[3]: 14 At 06:25 as the sun rose, VC were spotted on the road outside the base perimeter near the penetration point and were engaged by USAF security police, the VC returned fire and two VC were killed, one USAF wounded and two VC captured. A further two VC were captured near the west of runway 07/25. At 08:10 US forces mounted a search and destroy operation on the west perimeter of the air base until 09:20. ^[3]: 15

The air base resumed normal flight operations at 08:49. ^[3]: 14

At 20:21 Alpha Post K-34 detected VC and a quick reaction team was despatched to the scene. At 21:00 a search operation commenced and at 21:45 two VC were killed in the area, a further two VC were killed later. At 22:45 to the south of the position another VC was located and killed. At 00:29 on 5 December a sentry dog team from A-34 detected VC and was soon engaged by three VC, the dog handler was shot and wounded, a quick reaction team arrived and the VC were killed with grenades. ^{[3]: 16–7} It was later determined that the VC were part of the original attack force who had been attempting to escape through the original entry point. ^[3]: 17

At 11:53 on 5 December, a VC was observed in the old bomb dump area and he was engaged and killed. ^[3]: 18

Aftermath

The Viet Cong claim that they withdrew having destroyed 260 airplanes, a depot of bombs and shells, 13 military vehicles and having killed or wounded over 600 US and ARVN soldiers. ^[2]

The US suffered three USAF personnel killed and 15 wounded while the ARVN suffered three killed and four wounded. The US/ARVN killed 28 Viet Cong and captured four. ^{[1] [3]: 20} 17 aircraft suffered minor to moderate damage, three aircraft suffered major damage and three USAF vehicles were destroyed. ^{[3]: 20–1  [4]} The US considered the engagement as a victory as they had repulsed the attack with minimal losses. ^{[4]: 16–7}

References

 An Lao: A beautiful, scenic, rice-rich and deadly valley (STARS AND STRIPES • April 26, 1967) 

Two tanks from 1st Platoon, A Company, 60th Armored Cavalry move in to help soldiers shield a wounded comrade during fighting along a riverbank in the An Lao Valley in 1967. (John Utt/Stars and Stripes) 

BONG SON, Vietnam—The An Lao Valley sits like a giant spoon lying less than three miles west of the coastal highlands rice bowl known as the Bong Son Plain. 

For more than 10 years the An Lao has been a north Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong sanctuary, a base from which the Communists dipped into the rice-rich area for taxes, rice, salt, fish and forced laborers. 

The 3rd NVA Div. had its headquarters and rear area somewhere in the 10 miles of jungled mountains which line the valley. Both valley walls boast natural caves and rock formations along its entire length from which a platoon could hold off a battalion for days. 

The North Vietnamese tucked their fixed installations, their clothing factories, weapons repair shops, hospitals, printing shops and even an R and R center into what they considered "an impenetrable stronghold." 

Nearly 7,000 people farmed the valley floor, a mile and a half across at its widest point, on both sides of the twisting An Lao River, providing an additional source of labor, food and homes for the battalion of NVA regulars regularly stationed there.

 Two other battalions roamed the Bong Son Plains. The Communists closed the schools in 1958. South Vietnamese government control shrank to only the district headquarters, which was finally overrun in 1962.

 The valley and its people had been controlled by the enemy since then.

 But, no more. 

The 1st Air Cav. Div. has moved 5,000 people and their livestock out. The other 2,000 presumably fled. 

In a short while, the An Lao will be defoliated and declared a free-fire zone. 

Six weeks ago, the 1st Bn., 7th Cav. went into the valley to stay. During that time they've been moving up and down the valley, moving out civilians and fighting the harassing forces left behind when the enemy main force fled. 

For D Co., led by Capt. Frank Finn, enemy contact has been fairly constant. 

A platoon was pinned down recently by heavy automatic weapons fire in a small hamlet at the foot of the western valley wall. 

SSgt. Ken Miller of the 1st Platoon, 4th Bn., 60th Arty. volunteered his "duster," two .40 mm cannon mounted on a tracked vehicle, to go help. 

Moving down the riverbank 1,000 meters to the beleaguered platoon, the duster spotted a squad under fire on the other side of the river. 

The squad had moved into the open at the edge of the river prior to crossing and reinforcing the platoon in the hamlet. 

Miller plunged the duster into the 300-foot wide, 6-foot deep river to pull the nine men out of trouble.

 Two tanks of the 1st Platoon, A Co. 60th Armored Cav. arrived, one backing in front of a wounded man to shield him. and blasted away at the jungle.

 The communist fire died. 

The bank on the far side of the river was too high for either the tanks or the cluster to climb, so the eight remaining infantrymen waded across. 

Three were swept away by the water, but managed to scramble ashore 300 feet downstream, minus their equipment. 

There were 300 yards of open rice paddy between the squad and the hamlet. Only five had weapons and all were low on ammunition. 

Lt. Ray Shackelford, an artillery forward observer, directed artillery fire so precise and close that two Americans received minor shrapnel wounds, but the enemy fire stopped. 

"I wouldn't rather fight anywhere else," said Finn later ^that evening. "This valley has a strange fascination for us. I can't quite explain it. Maybe, it's because the An Lao is so beautiful and so deadly. But it's my valley." Since the 1st Cav. battalion has been in the An Lao, 130 of its defenders have died. 

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/news/1967-04-26/an-lao-a-beautiful-scenic-rice-rich-and-deadly-valley-1821565.html1
Source - Stars and Stripes

 Tan Son Nhut Air Base

Tet 1968
O51 Bunker
Views From The Past, 1998!

by Frank Ybarbo
377th Combat SPS
1967-1968
© 1999

Like many before me, I served in Vietnam exactly thirty (30) years ago in 1967-1968. My tour of duty was strictly at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, located on the north-western edge of Saigon. I know many of you remember this base, especially Air Force Security Policemen who were there with me during the 1968 Tet Offensive. As you may recall, during the Tet attack in the early morning hours of January 31, 1968 we lost four good men (Sergeants Cyr, William J., Fischer, Louis H., Hebron, Charles E., and Mills, Roger B. all Awarded the Silver Star) in the O51 Bunker (Echo 37) which was located on the western perimeter of Tan Son Nhut Air Base and took the brunt of the enemy battalions. Without exaggeration, the five Security Policemen (including Sgt Alonzo Coggins who survived!) in the bunker and the 377th SPS fought gallantly against overwhelming odds. In my mind, I can still hear O51 Bunker's frantic radio transmissions for help as tracer fire, flares and rockets lit up the night sky.

      Recently (December 1998), I had the fortunate opportunity to return to Saigon. During my visit I made it a point to see Tan Son Nhut Air Base one more time and try to locate the area of the O51 Bunker. Believe it or not, O51 is still standing. With the help of some excellent Vietnamese guides (Tung and Hoai) we located the bunker. O51 Bunker is the only bunker still there. The original barbed wire perimeter of the airport has been replaced with a twelve (12) foot concrete wall. Highway One (also still there) is a bustling, busy two lane thoroughfare.

TSN O51 Bunker, Fence line

(Click to see panorama!)

At first, because of all the area improvements and the concrete security wall, I could not locate the exact area of the O51 Bunker which sat approximately forty (40) meters east of Highway One. As we were searching down Highway One I just "happened" to see the roof of a what appeared to be an old bunker protruding above the concrete wall! With the assistance of the two Vietnamese guides I was able to get to the area and to the top of the wall to get a view of the lone, overgrown, standing monument. It was the O51 !

For a moment, all I could do was stare in amazement. I couldn't believe it was still there! As I stared and recalled the battle, it seemed to just stand silent... alone... as a reminder of the acrifices of war.

TSN O51 Bunker, Close Up, 1998

Close up of O51 Bunker, TSN, 1998

TSN O51 Bunker, Fence line, 1968

O51 Bunker, 1968, USAF Security Police, after battle for Tan Son Nhut

(Viewed almost from the same angle as above)

TSN O51 Bunker, Fence line, 1968

(O51 Bunker as viewed from the rear. Concrete is heavily pock-marked after being overrun by NVA/VC, and then recaptured by Air Force Security Police)

The area across Highway One which used to be an open kill zone with just a few dwellings and rice paddies is now built up with businesses all along the highway. The old Vinatexco Factory, from which the Viet Cong staged their attack, is also still there but now operates under a different name.

      Much of the Air Base flight line looks the same as it did in 1968. Most of the revetments have been removed and replaced with concrete canopies which are still there and are visible from the terminal. The original aircraft Control Tower, adjacent to the old C-130 and terminal is still in use today. The original airport terminal has been remodeled on the inside, but looks the same on the flight line side as it did in 1968. The front side of the terminal has also been remodeled; however, I was able to clearly recognize the area as it was in 1968.

      The original main gate to the base has been removed and the main gate area along the main gate road, which led west to the SP barracks, MARS station and heliport, is now open and a commercial business area. Tan Son Nhut has been down sized and the perimeter moved about two hundred yards to the north of the main gate road. The two large octagon water towers east of the old SP barracks are still there. These towers helped me recognize the area. Many may recall the area just outside the main gate referred to as "100 P Alley". This area of buildings is also still there. In consideration of my Biên Hòa counterparts, I traveled to Biên Hòa in hopes of photographing the Bunker Hill-10, and the Air Base where Capt Reginald Maisey (Air Force Cross) and KIA A1C Edward Muse (K-9) were both killed in action that Tet night. However, after the ride there, photographs were not allowed anywhere around the base area. The highway to Biên Hòa from Saigon and the Biên Hòa area are now all built up with very little country side. Saigon still looks much the same as it did in 1968, but is much more crowded. You can see some modernization and building improvements and such things as cell-phones street phone booths, fax machines, photocopy centers and, believe it or not, the "yellow pages". Anyone desiring to return need not have any anxiety or concern about the trip. The Vietnamese people are friendly and have no animosity toward Americans. The city was safe and relatively inexpensive. Western influence is very much alive and English is still widely accepted and spoken. Although the official name of the city is Hô Chi Minh, everyone continues to call it Saigon. "Again", one thing this trip taught me was "God Bless America And Her People". We are a really blessed nation. I feel more proud now that I had the opportunity to defend our way and assist the Vietnamese people. To me, the trip was well worth it. Frank Ybarbo,

USAF, 7th Air Force,

377th SPS

Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam, 1967-1968

"PROVEN IN COMBAT"

Sgt Alonzo J. Coggins, O51 Bunker survivor, who was severely wounded and medevaced immediately out of Vietnam, has been located and will receive the Silver Star (awarded but never received) in Feb 1999, at Lackland AFB, Texas!

Watch for Sgt Coggins' story here at VSPA!

Recommended reading is a book called "TheBattle for Saigon" which really tells the Air Force SPS's side of the battle! Excerpts follow:

"The attack force (against TSN AB) numbered 2,665 VC and NVA. The 350-man 269th F Battalion https://www.vspa.comspearheaded the attack on the O51 Gate Bunker... the 267h MF Battalion and the 1st Battalion, 271st Regiment were in column formation behind it. The attack was 'on a very narrow front,' noted a U.S. after-action report. The lead battalion's mission was to effect a (base perimeter) penetration, the second battalion in the line was to exploit the penetration, and the third battalion in line was to destroy the equipment and facilities of TSN...."

      Nearly twelve hours after the attack began, the lone survivor of the five men O51 Bunker, Sergeant Alonzo Coggins, was released by the four VC who (still) held the bunker. "... The fire on the bunker came to a screeching halt. It resumed when the delirious, burned, and badly wounded airman proceeded down the perimeter road... the guerrillas did not surrender... (and Tech) Sergeant [Bernard C.] Gifford [Silver Star] of the 377th SPS... peeled off his flak jacket... popped up to hurl a third grenade, which exploded in midair right in the doorway. The O51 Bunker was thus retaken.... Four of the five 377th Security Police at O51 Bunker were KIA. Sgt Coggins, the 5th sentry, was so badly wounded the NVA disregarded him as they spun the post's M60 toward the flight line and opened fire...." The savage storming of O51 Bunker by VC and NVA was temporarily successful, but cost tremendous casualties for the NVA, and ultimate defeat. The valiant defense of O51 Bunker delayed enemy advance and provided time for the 377th's SP Response Team to get in line and block the enemies' flight line attack, which gained time for the 25ths' arrival. When O51 Bunker was overrun, firing was so intense from the captured bunker that base defenders asked and received permission to fire on the bunker, as everyone assumed the five SPs were dead. The concrete bunker, with Sgt Coggins inside and very much alive, was hit several times.

Don Poss

Tan Son Nhut Air Base: 377th SPS, 051 Bunker, 1998, Revisit by Frank Ybarbo. 1968.