November 8

[Pathfinder]

I wanted to remind everyone - especially these days with the terrorist attack at Ft. Hood - that this is the anniversary of the attack on the 173 Airborne Brigade by over 1200 VC in 1965. Although our men were heavily outnumbered and took heavy losses, we held the ground and made the enemy pay a heavier price for the attack.

I learned of this through the Country group Big & Rich who did a song and video of the even after learning of it from one of the wounded survivors. This is that video. Watch, remember, and say a prayer for these brave men.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfElHIt7n0s&feature=player_embedded

Here's the wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/173rd_Airborne_Brigade_Combat_Team_%28United_States%29

[twyacht]

Greater Love Hath No Man, To Lay Down His Life For His Brother..

All in God's Grace. Lest We Forget.

Thank You Pathfinder.

[MikeBjerum]

Thank You Path!

I have that CD in my pick up and listen to it often.  I often wonder what it must have been like to have been in that situation.

[PegLeg45]

Thanks for posting, Path...

This video, and the story behind it, chokes me up every time I watch it.




And it reminds us why we shouldn't make fun of another man's hat.


Big and Rich 8th of November Lyrics


Said Goodbye to his moma
As he left south dakota
To fight for the Red, White and Blue
He was 19 and green with a new M16
Just doin what he had to do

He was dropped in the jungle
Where the choppers would Rumble
With the smell of Napalm in the air
Then the sergeant said, Look up ahead

Like a dark, evil cloud
1200 came down
On him and 29 more
They fought for their lives
But most of them died
In the 173rd Airborne.

On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

Now he's 58
And his ponytails gray
But the battle still plays in his head
He limps when he walks,
But he's strong when he talks
About the shrapnel they left in his leg.

He puts on a grey suit
Over his Airborne tattoo
And He ties it on one time a year
And remembers the fallen,
As he orders a tall one
And swallows it down with his tears.

On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965.

On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.

On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around,
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

The 8th of November
The 8th of November

He said goodbye to his mamma
As he left South Dakota
To fight for the Red, White, and Blue.
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do.

[r_w]

And it reminds us why we shouldn't make fun of another man's hat.

And that reminds me of this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiIgADk2EJc&feature=related

You don't mess with a man's colors.

m58:  I really hope to never know what it would be like. 

[Sponsor]

[Bill Stryker]

I was in Vietnam on the 8th of November 1965. I was carrying my M2 carbine. My hide out gun was a Bayard 1908 .32 ACP. My sidearm was a S&W Combat Magnum, aka M19, .357.
I do not remember hearing about what happened to the 173d ABN Bde at the time. We had our own problems with out the 173d's firepower and support fires. I was an adviser to the Regional and Popular Forces in the IV Corps area. What I do remember is that we were having our lunch handed to us until the US units landed in the north and started to take the pressure off us. The US Army units, like the 173d, seemed to me to suck off the NVA units in the north and leave us to deal with the VC in our area. That lasted until the Spring of 1966 when we started a series of engagements with the NVA regulars -- we stacked them up in piles then.

[Timothy]

Bill,

Thank you!

Tim

[twyacht]

All I can say is a truly sincere Thank You Bill for sharing your story.

tw