The Black Dragon on
the Waves of the Thach Han
Major Tran Ve
Whenever Quang Tri is mentioned, one always thinks of the city with its old citadel and slow flowing Thach Han River; invariably one also recalls the image of Marines, neck deep in the fighting to recapture the city from the foe. The “Sea Tigers” carved an indelible impression in Vietnamese history with their victory in the old citadel. Since then, the town of Quang Tri has always been mentioned in conjunction with the Marines... and so shall it remain in the history to come.
The victory could not have been attained but for the contribution of the various units of the Marine Division:
147th Marine Brigade
258th Marine Brigade
369th Marine Brigade
1st Marine Battalion - “Wild Birds”
2nd Marine Battalion - “Crazy Buffaloes”
3rd Marine Battalion - “Sea Wolves”
4th Marine Battalion - “Killer Sharks”
5th Marine Battalion - “Black Dragons”
6th Marine Battalion - “Divine Hawks”
7th Marine Battalion - “Grey Tigers”
8th Marine Battalion - “Sea Eagles”
9th Marine Battalion - “Ferocious Tigers”
1st Marine Artillery Battalion - “Lightning Fire”
2nd Marine Artillery Battalion - “Divine Arrows”
3rd Marine Artillery Battalion - “Divine Crossbows”
and all the Long Range Reconnaissance Companies.
All of the above units played a role in demolishing three regular NVA divisions. They were also responsable for the complete annihilation of the NVA regiment which occupied the old citadel. And when the battle was won, all the other units let the honour of raising the yellow national flag with three red stripes, go to ae “young” Marine Battalion - the “Divine Hawks”.
I was in the 5th Marine Battalion. The staff of the “Black Dragons” consisted of:
Major Ho Quang Lich, Battalion Commander. (radio code name Quang Dung)
Captain Tran Ve, Executive Officer. (radio code name Vung Tau)
Ngo Thanh Huu, 1st Company Commander.
Do Trung Giao, 2nd Company Commander.
Nguyen Van Tung, 3rd Company Commander.
Duong Cong Pho, 4th Company Commander.
Ho Ngoc Hoang, G3 Officer.
After the 147th, 258th and 369th Marine Brigades had all crossed My Chanh River to perform operations to occupy Hai Lang, the 5th Battalion was allowed an R & R of a few days at My Thuy so that we could be provided with more troops and logistical supplies.
After each operation, after countless days of suffering shelling and bombardment and witnessing death, we would bolt for the closest town to try to forget, to relax. Great Eagle Quang Dung understood us perfectly. After he had perused the lists of soldiers, accounted for the ammunition and the weapons, he waved me over and said,
“Hey, Vung Tau. What are you still moping about here for? Why so reluctant? Look, I'll stay and take care of the unit. Get out of here and have some fun. But remember, 24 hours only, and keep the radio switched on all the time. If anything happens I'll call you.”
It was music to my ears, but I lingered still; I was having a little problem with my treasury. Quang Dung read me like a book. He laughed and handed me 20,000 piastres.
“Here, take that. And tell Huu and Giao to go along with you.” I took the wad of banknotes, said thank you, and saluted him.
I winked at Huu and Giao, and we rushed for the jeep. 24 hours of leave! For us it spelt relaxation, drinks, and in a safe zone too. - We might even be able to find ourselves in the company of the fairer sex! As we sat in Huong Giang hotel, clinking glasses, a Marine ran up to me and whispered:
“Captain, Quang Dung is calling.”
“Uh oh!” I exclaimed “Something must have happened.”
Indeed, we received orders to return immediately for an operation. So we bid good bye to our fair friends To Nguyen, to Nhu Y, to Thu Suong, and to all the girls that we could have met had we but had more time! But we were accustomed to it. That was after all the life of a soldier, always on the march... to ensure that the rest of the population could sleep secure in their homes.
Entering Battalion headquarters, I saw Ho Quang Lich bent over a map spread out in front of him. Seeing me he said, “Vung Tau. Look what we are going to have to do. The Airborne has just tossed the problem of the old citadel in Great Eagle Lang Son's lap. So, we are going to advance from the T-junction at Long Hung to the subdistrict of Mai Linh located on the left flanc of the old citadel. The 3rd Battalion, the “Sea Wolves” is going to attack it directly. 2nd Battalion in Trieu Phong district is going to block the enemy's route coming in from Cua Viet. We're crossing the line of departure this evening.”
Previously, the area west of the old citadel and the citadel itself was the responsability of the Airbournes; the Marines were responsable for the area east of the citadel to Route 555. But the situation on the west worsened, and with the citadel as well, the load of the Airbornes became too heavy. The citadel was a most difficult target, since it was the stronghold of the NVA. Consequently, I Corps headquarters decided to “give” the job of recapturing the citadel to the Marines.
At the fixed time, the 5th Battalion reported to the 147th Marine Brigade, whose tactical area of responsability stretched from Quang Tri bridge (next to the Airbornes' position) to the subdistrict of Mai Linh on the left flanc of the old citadel. The 258th Marine Brigade was to occupy the citadel itself. The 369th Marine Brigade was in charge of the Trieu Phong District.
My command group B was composed of Huu's 1st Company and Giao's 2nd Company. As we approached the T-junction at Long Hung, we heard the sound of two artillery departing from the north bank of the Thach Han River. Quang Dung called us:
“Look Vung Tau. They're crowing!”
“Yes, I know,” I replied “But it's alright.”
Two salvos of 130mm rockets exploded to the left of me, but since I had deployed my troops thinly and also thanks to the fact that they were all hidden in the trees by now, nothing happened. Huu's Company was advancing in front. I made contact with Huu, whose radio code name was Hong Ha.
“Have you reached the T-junction yet Hong Ha?” I asked.
“Yes, Vung Tau. My guys are firing right now.”
I heard the sound of firearms for a moment, and then silence. This pattern of firing occured again and again. Huu reported that at the T-junction there were three contiguous houses. The enemy defended the first house. Meanwhile, the 1st squad of the 1st platoon had successfully destroyed the enemy's outposts and were now attempting to enter the first of the houses. Huu had ordered the 2nd platoon to occupy the second house. I led my Staff out to meet him, firing at the first house. Seven NVA died on the spot. I collected the enemies' weapons and reported the first piece of good news back to Quang Dung. Ho Quang Lich laughed heartily over the radio.
“If any of the rats are still alive, bring them in to me.” he said.
“They've left for hell already. Great Eagle, you'll have to wait until next time.”
Our advance was momentarily halted by the 82mm recoiless rifle in the enemy's second stronghold. Huu threw M79s into the back yard and through the holes in the wall. The instant the enemy fire stopped, Marines were dashing forwards and discharging liberally from their machine guns. The 2nd platoon soon mastered the situation, although the warrant officer - 2nd platoon's leader, had been wounded. In addition to that, two Marines had been killed whilst they were storming the target.
After medevac, I left it to Giao to handle the occupation of the third house. To reach this target it was necessary to traverse an empty yard of 20m. I requested artillery and 81mm mortars. Meanwhile, Giao let one of his platoons deliver a constant barrage, to enable the other Marines to cross the yard one by one. Giao reported back that of the 1st squad, one Marine had been killed, two others wounded. However, the 2nd squad of the 1st platoon had managed to reach one end of the house. They had tossed a few grenades inside, and then entered moments after. The sound of fire broke out. Giao called again, his voice troubled he said, “Two killed, one wounded, but target has been captured.”
As I crossed the yard, my body bent down low, a volley of bullets was fired at my left side. I dashed for cover. Giao, hiding behind a wall, saw me and grinned pointing at a 82mm recoiless rifle. I grabbed it, then reported back to the Battalion Commander. Crawling to the end of the wall I observed the terrain. The houses which we now occupied, were at the junction. I also saw that the road from where we were all the way to the subdistrict of Mai Linh boasted contiguous houses. On the left side of the road, right on the corner, there was a two storey house whose walls had been scarred, exposing the brick work. At that moment, an enemy AK and middle size machine guns fired at us from the house we had been looking at.
Quang Dung called me. “I've heard so much fire. What's the situation like?” I told him how the land lay, then asked him to contact the Airbornes who were in a higher position, and could observe the enemy for us. Ho Quang Lich agreed to do so, telling me to wait. He called back a moment later. “Do you know Bearded Thanh?” Lich asked me. “He asked you to talk to him on his radio frequency.”
I knew immediately to whom Lich referred. It was Nguyen Van Thanh, from the 19th class of Dalat, who was presently an Airborne Battalion Commander. His Battalion was probably situated next to me. The Dalat National Military Academy had the number 4027 as its zip code. We had a convention between us that if we ever needed to talk to each other whilst of the battlefield, we only had to tune our radios to the frequency 40.27.
The radio crackled and I heard, “Ve Vang. Tango is calling.”
I immediately replied “Tango, Ve Vang is listening.” He then informed me of his position, which happened to be next to the bridge, up on a high point. He had seen the NVA in the two storey house fire at my troops. He told me to keep the current positions: he was going to let his artillery shell the house. A moment later, as promised, shelling silenced the fire from the house. I thanked Bearded Thanh, as he was known amongst friends, and then said good bye. Just having had that brief conversation with him I felt comforted. The bonds of brothers-in-arms was strong. We always looked out for each other, and when we could helped and supported as was necessary. It was pretty much an unwritten code at the Dalat National Military Academy.
After having had the dead and the wounded transported back, I sent the seized weapons to the 5th Battalion Headquarters. I told the 2nd Company to prepare to occupy the houses in the direction of Mai Linh. Quang Dung sent me Duong Cong Pho's 4th Company, and kept the 3rd Company back to protect the Battalion staff.
Only after a few steps I heard the sound of M16 fire coming from the 2nd Company's position. I grabbed the hand set:
“Who the fuck fired? I told you to shoot only if you saw the enemy clearly.”
“It was some of my guys. They thought they saw someone. I've told them off already.” answered Giao.
I had given very strict orders to the Companies before the operation about firing. After Tet Mau Than and the incursion into Cambodia, the Marines had picked up quite a few pointers on fighting in a city. They were to move as slightly as possible, to fire rarely to hide our exact positions amongst the houses and buildings, and to support each other as we moved from one corner of the houses to another. I was annoyed that there had been gunfire sounding from the 2nd Company - when fighting in an urban environment, it was madness to fire aimlessly: it amounted to disclosing your position. I wished that Giao had kept a firmer grip on his soldiers, but I said no more of it. I asked him softly,
“Was it the new recruits who fired?”
Giao laughed. “Don't worry about it anymore. He's had his arse kicked already.”
Though the distance from the T-junction to the subdistrict of Mai Linh could not have been more than 300m, we had great difficulty attacking for the houses were built very solidly and most had rolling iron security doors. I now ordered the Companies to rotate in the attacks on the houses, and to maximise their use of artillery. We attacked mainly at night, since the darkness hid our exact positions, and because it was so difficult to budge during the day without being seen. It seemed that the enemy was tiring. When we paused in our fire, they stopped firing too. And when we sprayed barrages to protect advancing troops, they fired back feebly. To occupy one of their strongholds, we generally lost two or three Marines to their seven or eight killed. Sometimes we lost platoon leaders, sometimes it was a Company Executive Officer. Whenever I saw someone medevacuated I would feel a sharp pain in my heart. But I had received strict orders to capture Mai Linh at a fixed time, by a set date. So we had to push on. Many times I had to take the lead, ignoring the danger, and making my signalmen very stressed. On the set date, Huu's first company reached the wall of the Mai Linh subdistrict. I happily informed Quang Dung of the progress. He also had good news: the 6th Battalion, the “Divine Hawks” had already arrived at Nguyen Hoang High School, and were now preparing to storm the old citadel.
For my part, I now sat down to plan the capture of the Mai Linh headquarters of the Communists with my three Company Commanders: Huu, Giao, and Pho. I gave each unit a task and sent them back to their positions to rest a little. At 1.00am, I ordered the attack on the subdistrict's headquarters. This time I had given the Marines permission to fire as much as they liked, and they fired and advanced and supported one another. At the main gate, the enemy had positioned their machine gun which spat out bullets incessantly - our first wave was prevented from entering. In the 2nd wave of attack I ordered Pho's 4th Company to attack from the rear of the headquarters. Being from Hue originally, I had visited Quang Tri on countless occassions, and thus knew the area well. The area of the Mai Linh headquarters was also familiar to me since a gas station where I used go for petrol was located just behind it. I knew from memory that behind the headquarters was another gate, down towards the swamp - it was there that I now directed Pho and his Company. Whilst the 4th Company attacked the rear, the 1st ompany maintained its assault on the front gates. The result was that after two waves of fire, Pho was able to lead two platoons inside the subdistrict headquarters - much to the horror of the Communists within. Huu's 1st Company meanwhile had succeeded in storming down the main gates. Like the “Divine Hawks” we too had been successful in our mission.
Whilst I was assessing the state of my troops, the number of enemy casualties, and the amount of weapons seized, Ho Quang Lich called: he was itching to know the result. Experience had taught us that no sooner had we occupied a target, then the enemy would counteract. Knowing that, I ordered the Companies to take up positions in sheltered places, and not to run about in open spaces recklessly. No sooner had the order been issued, when five minutes later two salvos of 130mm Artillery rounds from the direction of Ai Tu hit our positions. When the shelling stopped we discovered that about five or six of our men had been wounded from shrapnel from the 130mm.
The town was littered with the bodies of the enemy. Two of them had somehow survived, about 18 years old each one. I transferred them along with the haul of weapons back to Quang Dung. Once in the hands of the "Black Dragons" Commander, their days were numbered. The shelling by the Communists continued on and off. But this did not really become that bothersome as I had set up Bravo Command Group headquarters inside a fortified block, left over from the time when the French were in Vietnam.
Over the radio I followed the progress of Major Do Huu Tung's 6th Battalion. “Little” Dinh's Bravo Command Group of the “Divine Hawks” had recaptured the old citadel. The 2nd Marine Battalion - the “Crazy Buffaloes” of the 369th Brigade, had entered Trieu Phong district. Tran Van Hop, who had been in my 19th class back at Dalat, he and his men had endured very heavy shelling. His position was crucial to the Communists for it was their route of supply to their units in Quang Tri and the old citadel.
In the end, all three regular crack divisions of the NVA in Quang Tri were repelled. The yellow National Flag with its three red stripes was raised in the old citadel of Dinh Cong Trang, which from all the fighting was now a ruin. It was a glorious victory for the Marines. Later, in a ceremony to acknowledge the outstanding courage of the troops, President Nguyen Van Thieu honoured all officers, under officers, and privates of the Marine Division, who had carved their names into the history of Vietnam.
Major Tran Ve
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