Those that served in Vietnam during
the NVA's Spring or Easter offensive that began on 30 March 1972 may
be interested in reading, "The Bridge at Đông Hà Air Field", by John
Grider Miller, published by the Naval Institute Press, Bluejacket Books,
186 pages. This enemy offensive took the life of a high ranking American
when Brigadier General Richard J. Tallman, US Army, was killed on 9
July 1972 at An Loc in Military Region III (MR III), formerly known
as III Corps. The highest-ranking American killed during the Vietnam
War was M/Gen. Bruno Hochmuth, USMC who was KIA on 18 March 1967*. The
book details the action in MR I at the Đông Hà Air Field bridge. A descriptive
battle account is given that involved the Vietnamese Marines, an ARVN
Armor unit, and the two American advisors assigned to those units. The
focus of the book is on the exploits of USMC Colonel (Ret) (then Captain)
John Ripley who placed demolition's under the Đông Hà Air Field Bridge that when
exploded closed the immediate invasion route of the NVA units. Through
sheer force of will, excellent physical conditioning, and an almost
total recall of previous training in explosives, Captain Ripley turned
the tide of battle and saved countless lives. Captain Ripley was awarded
the Navy Cross for his heroism. I highly recommend this book to you.
Some of our Association members were stationed at Đà Nàng during this
NVA offensive. You may be interested to know I have learned the Air
Force Presidential Unit Citation was awarded to the Đà Nàng Security
Police Squadron, not too many people have one of those. If you were
at Đà Nàng from April to June 1972 and a PUC is not shown on your DD-214
let me know and I will assist you in getting that corrected.
