I read about the Sapper
Attack discussion of sapper attacks on Ubon RTAFB, Thailand, in January
1970. A little lagniappe, courtesy of DET-3, 600th Photo Sq., shows
one of the NVA sappers that came on base in January 1970, apparently
headed straight for the Gunships. The aircraft in the background is
a Blind Bat C-130A Flare Ship. The photo is dated 14 Jan 70.
The guy in civilian clothes
on the left is, I think, an OSI agent, and the two guys in cammies are
Cops. Note that the sapper is in stocking feet, presumably for quiet.
I was working Day Shift in the AC-130 prop/engine shop, which was located
in a corner of the building which housed the AC-130 gun shop. We got
recalled to work from the barracks when the horn went off, and when
we got there, the gun shot guys had a mini-gun with a hand crank attached
and rounds loaded aimed out the end of the building toward the flight
line. It's a minor miracle that no one was cut in half by accident.
Below are the two photos of the KIA
NVA Sapper, so if you are a little squeamish, you might move on to another
story.
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Stories & Photos
VSPA WARNING:
The following Photos of the
January
13, 1970 attack against American forces stationed at Ubon RTAFB,
during the Vietnam War, are graphic
and gory.
The enemy chose to attack and tried to kill American
fighting men
and destroy U.S. aircraft--and failed.
We Lived. They
Died.
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The enemy failed because of the swift response of the 8th Security Police Squadron.
8th Security Police Squadron, Ubon RTAFB,
safeguarded and defended the base, which was probed and attacked in
force by NVA and VC soldiers.
Photos are of the Ubon Base attack
on January 13, 1970.
Left, Airman David Hart, Right, A1C Waren.
-----Original Message-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Hart [mailto:dave33bea1@earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 8:20 PM
Subject: vspa-ra: ub-buzbee-sappers-1970.htm
Don Thanks so much for the help in getting me into the site, imagine the suprize when I saw myself in pictures from MANN, 13 Jan 70, Ubon RTAFB, I am the one with then a mustache and my M60 gunner, A1C Warren, our Thia guard was (Moon) it was longer than that but thats what we called him, this was the first night I worked with him, Warren and I had been together many times, that was Bravo Sector and they crossed the runway from Echo Sector after going under the fence line near the base of a tower on the perimeter.losing the first three members of their team over in Echo Sector. My jeep quit on me and for the rest of the night we had to sit out there not knowing if there were any more alive or not, too close to the aircraft to put motor flares in.and we quickly ran out of slap flares, I still have about 30 of the pictures from this attack which I intend to bring to Las Vegas.
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