I dedicate this page in memory of my buddies from
HHT, 3rd Squadron 17th Air Calvary
John Harold Tomeny
Hackensack New Jersery
age 21
November 2, 1946 to May 22, 1968
65E 001
Lionel Timothy Clover
College Park Maryland
age 21
January 10, 1947 to May 22, 1968
65E 006
Steven Gary Hicks
Napa California
age 20
February 3, 1948 to May 22, 1968
65E 011
The story based on my letter home on May 29, 1968, my journal entries, and from others who were there...
My twenty-first birthday was one I'll never forget - totally different than what I'd hoped and expected. At about 0100 hours the morning of May 22nd, 1968, VC hit our base at Tay Ninh with mortars and rockets. Their target area was the perimeter adjacent to the 175mm and 155mm "big gun" locations. Soon after the attack the sky became bright from flares lighting up the area being hit. A huge explosion followed - I estimated it to be equivalent in force to a 250 pound bomb. The explosion wiped-out the ammunition storage for the big guns.
A few smaller explosions followed the large one. We also heard and saw several small weapons firing. We could tell who was firing by the color of the tracers. The enemy had green tracers and our forces had red (almost orange) tracers.
Those of us in HHT (Headquarters Troop) were very familiar with the targeted area - it was the area assigned to our buddies. I felt helpless. As I remember, we had put our personal weapons under lock at night so we had nothing to fight with even if we had wanted to run to the aid of our buddies. We were all very concerned for our buddies in bunker 44.
I don't remember how long the fighting lasted that night but there were several fire fights before dawn. A few hours after the fighting began our platoon leader returned with the sad news that the three in bunker 44 were dead. Included in the dead was John Tomeny, a bunkmate, and an Air Traffic Controller. I knew the others but not as well: Tim Clover and Gary Hicks. One was personnel clerk and other was from the Commo (Communications?) platoon.
Here's what happened: The VC had infiltrated the perimeter that night carrying satchel charges which they used to blow up the ammunition bunker for the big guns, completely destroying two and causing major damage to a third gun. Coordinated with the explosions was an attack on the perimeter using RPGs, mortars and small (AK47) weapons.
One of the RPGs hit Bunker 44 entering through the "window" and exploding inside the bunker. It was lucky shot or fired at close range because the bunker's windows were shallow in height and not very wide. The explosion from the RPG inside the bunker killed one immediately. The other tow may have been asleep on top of the bunker when the RPG hit the bunker because they died from gun shot wounds. Accounts from from B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Artillery report 3 dead and 14 wounded.
Our loses would have been much higher because of the heroic counter attack by Delta Troop (Blue Tiger). We were fortunate they were on base that night since they spent most of their time on patrol. Fighting was fierce and heavy . The Blue Tiger troops fixed bayonets because they were so close to the enemy and they were running out of ammunition. The enemy finally retreated when gunships joined the battle. (To learn more read John Dugan's article "Fix Bayonets".)
Our troops found eight VC bodies on the perimeter. One of the VC dead was a barber for the 187th ACH. (Source: A friend from Tulsa who was with the 187th AHC in Tay Ninh who remembers the attack.)
The next morning we took an ammunition inventory in bunker 44. The attack was so sudden they were not able to fire a single round from the M60. I'm sure the two not killed by the RPG returned fire with their M16s but being right in the middle of the attach they had no chance. Bunker 43 next door about 100 yards away reported their M60 jammed but were able to fire their M79 grenade launcher and M16s.
The next morning we checked the barbed wire perimeter and found it had been cut in three places between bunkers 42 and 44 - three places within 200 yards. As I remember the scene, the VC had been infiltrating our perimeter so many time the ground was bare (no grass).
It was a dark night, no trip flairs, and no mine field. We were so vulnerable. We wondered, who would get the blame for not having a secure perimeter? The Squadron XO came out to the next morning and expressed surprise that the we had no minefields at the perimeter.
Work on securing the perimeter took more than a week. I spent three days there myself helping to spread another row of barbed wire, setting up trip flairs and digging foxholes.
In my letter to my family I recalled advice from an "old-timer" in country who spoke to us shortly after our arrival. He said, "never let up on the enemy". In my letter home about the attack, I said that we had let up. We made it easy for a VC attack. We thought Tay Ninh was a holy-city that the VC would never hit us. (There was a large Buddhist Temple inside the city that drew worshipers from a large area.)
I pulled guard duty in bunker 43 the week before the attack. The following morning I had walked out to disconnect our claymore mines and then walked to the edge of the perimeter to the first row of concertina wire. I noticed how easy it would be for the enemy to get through our perimeter. Later we discussed our concern about the security of our base but we failed to bring our concern to our leaders. There is an ache in my chest to this day because I did nothing to alert my leaders!
Dennis Morkert, also of HHT, remembers that "Charlie had (probably) been preparing that attack for a couple of weeks, at least. On one occasion I gave the order to fire at moving shadows directly in front of our position, and to the right of us. At that time there was only ONE roll of wire in front of us, and another new roll that wasn't 'stretched out' yet. Maybe the fact that command thought the perimeter was mined is why nobody ever bothered to go out there to check it out. There was, what looked like, an old farmer with a water buffalo out in front of us on another occasion, pulling something, or plowing (????). He was probably laying out mortars and burying them for use during the attack. Then there was the truck I spotted on another night, and Tay Ninh Arty refused us flares and/or artillery fire. That truck was probably hauling in men and supplies. It seems that none of this was ever checked out with recon or whatever."
Like me, Dennis has never forgotten this attack on Tay Ninh. And, we're not interested in blame - as Dennis says, there's enough of that
going on today. But telling the story is important.
.... The casualty database lists 67 American's who died or disappeared in Viet Nam on my 21st birthday. Three were my buddies. All
were defending the freedom we all have today. Please, America, if you love freedom, never forget!