VIET CONG RUTHLESS ENEMY COUNTY SERVICEMAN LEARNS
From the Pottsville Republican
NOVEMBER 17, 1965 Sp4 John Ferenchick, Minersville, Pa.
Minersville- “I hope and pray the coal region people are different and I think they are.”, Writes a borough serviceman from Viet Nam after reading of the draft card burnings and other such protests by U.S. residents to the war against communism.
Sp4 John Ferenchick, who has been in Viet Nam four months, wonders if these demonstrators realize that Americans are dying so that those who attempt to undermine them may continue to be free.
“What kind of people are they?” he asks.
The people of South Viet Nam know what kind of ruthless enemy the Americans are helping them to fight, Ferenchick notes. To illustrate, he tells of one 12 year old boy he knows.
The lad, one of the youngest regulars in the South Viet army, joined the service because”the Viet Cong kept coming to my village and killed many of my people for no reason at all. They also kept me from going to school and working. I don’t like that, so I decided to become a soldier.
He and his father are members of the same heavy weapons platoon. His mother and a younger brother lived in a Montagnard tribal village outside the camp at Plei Me, but their fate is unknown since the communists attacked the camp in a recent heavy attack.
Ferenchick is a member of the 504th Military Police unit located three miles from Pleiku along route 19 in the Red infested Central highlands north of Saigon.
“Our main functions, “ he writes , “Are to escort convoys on route 19, to check security on incoming vehicles and to help the perimeter defenses of Pleiku, which is under surveillance 24 hours a day. Our part is small but ectremly important both for civilians and our own forces.””The point I want to get across to these people who are demonstrating,” he concludes, “is they should take one look at themselves and ask, What kind of a person am I.”
PART 2
17 DAYS IN THE VIETNAM WAR
NOVEMBER 1965
FROM THE FRONT PAGES OF THE POTTSVILLE REPUBLICANMinersville Soldier writes home about the Vietnam War 1965
While doing research for a musical program on the songs of the soldier 1756-1975, that I plan to do around Veterans Day, I came across one of the best songs I’ve heard, entitled “The 8th Of November”, by recording artists “Big and Rich”. It was recorded in 2006. It deals with the story of one man from the 173rd Airborne who was wounded in a battle north of Bien Hoa, Vietnam on November 8th, 1965.
Big and Rich talk about their Song, “The 8th of November”
Arts & Entertainment | Music
By RONNA RUBIN
Country duo Big & Rich (Kenny Alphin and John Rich) have never neatly fit into any one category or classification. Larger than life, the two came on the scene with the colorful “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy,” and have never looked back.
Their latest single, “The 8th of November,” is based on a story so significant that it could not be told in a standard 3-1/2-minute song and video. The track from their “Comin’ To Your City” album has been made into an hour-long documentary that will debut on GAC on Saturday, July 1, at 9 p.m. EDT.
The inspiration for “The 8th of November” is Niles Harris, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient who survived a battle that took place on Hill 65 in War Zone D on Nov. 8, 1965. Forty-eight of Harris’ comrades in the Army’s 173rd Airborne were killed and hundreds wounded in a battle that found them outnumbered 30 to 1.
In 1965, Alphin was a 1-year-old and Rich was not yet born, but a chance meeting with Harris in a Deadwood, S.D., bar created what has become a lasting friendship. In 2002 _ before they had a record deal _ Alphin and Rich played at a saloon in Deadwood where Harris tended bar.
Moved by Harris’ tale of life as a 19-year-old Army private shot down in jungle fire, the duo wrote “The 8th of November.”
“The difference between writing this song and writing other songs is that normally Kenny and I would sit right down, have a couple of beers and write a song,” Rich says in the documentary.
Big Kenny and Rich with Niles Harris
“But in this case, it was so important to us that we just wanted to make sure it was right,” Alphin adds. “It’s the pinnacle of all we’ve written so far.”
In 2005, the duo asked Harris if he would be interested in revisiting Vietnam for the first time since his last tour. With a documentary crew of Americans and Vietnamese in tow, the group traveled 34 hours to the exact site of the Hill 65 battle. The boots Harris was wearing the day of the battle were buried at that site in a crater made by a B-52 bomb.
“Niles Harris’ story sheds light on the realities of one individual in the center of a war,” the duo said about the inspiration for their documentary. “There are thousands more out there just like his and we wish to honor all of our military personnel who have represented our country with courage and bravery.”
Check out this video on you tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_OyFoxp_uo
As a sixteen year old Pottsville High School student I remember well the headlines of the Pottsville Republican in 1965. I was always interested in anything associated with the U.S. military and by early 1965 the Vietnam War was escalating into a major full scale war. Unfortunetly the war would last another 10 years. Five years after reading the headlines in the Republican I also would serve a tour of duty in Vietnam, starting on November 1, 1970.
President Lyndon Johnson sent a battalion of U.S. Marines to Vietnam, in April, they landed at Da Nang ;In May, the President submitted an emergency appropriation request to Congress to fund the U.S. effort in Vietnam; in June, LBJ gave General William Westmoreland the authority to commit American troops to ground combat operations in Vietnam. By the end of the Kennedy administration 16,000 troops had been committed to Vietnam By the end of 1965 184,000 American troops were in Vietnam.
This article will take a look at 17 days of headlines from the Vietnam War as reported by the Pottsville Republican centered on the 8th of November battle written about in the song.
It is hard to find any stories from the local men and women who served in the war. Seeing that this war was very unpopular not much was reported, especially during the early years.
THE HEADLINES
92 VIET CONG SLAIN IN PLEI ME MOPUP
November 2, 1965 WOUNDED SERGEANT WANTS TO GO BACK
NOVEMBER 2, 1965
VIET WAR MAY LAST ANOTHER TEN YEARS..U.S. LEADERS MAP STRAEGY FOR VICTORY
NOVEMBER 4, 1965
GI’S AMBUSH CONG
NOVEMBER 4, 1965
EVEN THE CAUTIOUS CAN DIE-AND DO IN VIETNAM
NOVEMBER 4, 1965
HANOI TROOPS IN SOUTH VIET PUT AT 7,500
NOVEMBER 5, 1965
JETS RIP MISSLE SITES NEAR HANOI
NOVEMBER 6, 1965
VIET CONG KIDNAPS FOUR U.S. AIRMEN
NOVEMBER, 6, 1965
PENTAGON CLAIMS 133 PLANES LOST
NOVEMBER 6, 1965
FIVE PLANES LOST MISSLE SITE RAID
NOVEMBER 8, 1965
AGGRESSIVE YANKS OVERCOME 2-1 ODDS
NOVEMBER 8, 1965
TAYLOR WARNS OF LONG WAR
NPVMEBER 8, 1965
HANOI CAN BE WIPED OUT IN MINUTES IF WORD COMES FOR NUCLEAR STRIKE
NOVEMBER 8, 1965 THE STORY WRITTEN BY THE AP ABOUT THE SONG
8TH OF NOVEMBER
FIERCE JUNGLE BATTLE…391 VIET CONG KILLED
NOVEMBER 9, 1965
Saigon, South Vietnam, (AP) U.S. paratroopers fighting in the thick jungle of D zone north of Saigon killed 391 Communists troops, a U.S. Spokesman reported today.
The spokesman said American casualties in the day long battle Monday were moderate but reliable sources said the 173rd Airborne Brigade had suffered its heaviest casualties since it came to Viet Nam.
The bulk of the Communist losses were attributed to air attacks, heavy artillery and automatic weapons fire.
Battle Starts Quick
The battle occurred about 30 miles northeast of Saigon when a U.S. company encountered an estimated 500 men, of the enemy, Within the hour a battalion of paratroopers was fighting.
The spokesman said in one area an artillery barrage killed 60 Viet Cong. The Communists stripped all the bodies apparently to prevent identification.
Unofficial sources said fighting continued during the night. U.S. Air Force B52’s from Guam raided a dense jungle area of D Zone 10 miles to the west, but a spokesman said the raid was not directly related to the paratroopers operation.
Ground action was reported light in other areas. A Viet Cong company attacked a government outpost in the Mekong Delta Monday night but was reported beaten off. The Communists left arms, and bodies behind.
U.S. Air Force and navy planes flew 36 missions over South Vietnam and North Viet Nam, attacking roads, bridges and rail yards and truck parks.
South Vietnamese Gov’t troops reported they killed 25 Viet Cong in an action 80 miles south of Saigon.
Communist ground fire brought down a U.S. Army helicopter south of Saigon Monday, and one crew man was killed. The helicopter was supporting a ranger operation. Rescue helicopters picked up the other three crewmen.
Troops of the U.S. Army’s 101st “Screaming Eagles” Brigade reported seven VC killed, one captured and 106 suspects detained in a mop up operation west of Qui Nhon, in Central Vietnam.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade’s 1st battalion had been scouting an area of D zone for four days before it made its first contact.
The Communists opened up with heavy fire from entrenched positions as a company of paratroopers was searching an abandoned village.
The battalion’s two other flank companied moved in on the flanks in an unsuccessful attempt to overrun the communist position.
The three U.S. companies remained heavily engaged as heavy U.S. air and artillery fire came raining in on the enemy.
The Viet Cong held fast for several hours, and then gradually broke off contact.
An Australian battalion got into a firefight in the same general area late Monday afternoon and reportedly suffered light casualties. Darkness made an estimate of Viet Cong losses impossible.
The Australians said they had killed six Viet Cong earlier in the operation and captured five.
Brig. General Ellis Williamson commander of the 173rd said the enemy troops engaged Monday were not wearing the black pajamas usually worn by the Viet Cong but were dressed in gray fatigue uniforms and had steel helmets and rucksacks.
“The enemy made every effort to strip all of the bodies of everything, including identification, and all usable equipment,” Williamson said, “There is no question but this was a main force outfit.”
70 YANKS DIE IN ONE WEEK OF VIET WAR
NOVEMBER 10, 1965
CONG AMBUSH BACKFIRES
NOVEMBER 11, 1965
100 RED TROOPS DIE IN BATTLE WITH U.S. 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION
NOVEMBER 12, 1965
LBJ OK’S MORE TROOPS FOR VIET
NOVEMBER 12, 1965
VIET CONG CASUALTIES MOUNT NIGHT ATTACK FOILED
NOVEMBER 13, 1965
B52 BOMBERS CLEAR PATH FOR U.S. GROUND FORCES
NOVEMBER 15, 1965
U.S. TO SEND MORE TROOPS…PUT PRESSURE ON ENEMY
NOVEMBER 15, 1965
URGE BOMBING VITAL NORTH VIET HARBOR
NOVEMBER 15, 1965
U.S. TROOPS HOLD GROUND IN BIGGEST BATTLE OF WAR
NOVEMBER 16, 1965
FOUR U.S. PLANES LOST IN NORTH VIET BOMBING
NOVEMBER 17, 1965
MUST RECOVER VILLAGES AS FIRST STEP
NOVEMBER, 17, 1965
WHAT 17 DAYS OF REPORTING THE VIET NAM WAR WAS LIKE IN NOVEMBER OF 1965..
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