page_title: 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
section_title: Dak To
hierarchical_section_title: 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team / History / Dak To
caption_attribution_description: English: From Joel D. Meyerson, Images of a Lengthy War. Washington DC: US Army Center of Military History, 1986. This photo looks like it is of Mahlon S Jenkins, A/1/503d - 173rd Airborne Brigade, and was taken during the battle of Dak To on Hill 882 (1967).
context_page_description: The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe.
  Activated in 1915, as the 173rd Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War II but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. The brigade was the first major United States Army ground formation deployed in Vietnam, serving there from 1965 to 1971 and losing 1,533 soldiers. Noted for its roles in Operation Hump and Operation Junction City, the 173d is best known for the Battle of Dak To, where it suffered heavy casualties in close combat with North Vietnamese forces. Brigade members received over 7,700 decorations, including more than 6,000 Purple Hearts. The brigade returned to the United States in 1972, where the 1st and 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry, were absorbed into the 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, and the 3d Battalion, 319th Field Artillery was reassigned to Division Artillery in the 101st. The remaining units of the 173d were inactivated.
context_section_description: In mid-1967, the 4th Infantry Division's 1st and 2nd Brigades conducting Operation Francis Marion in western Kon Tum Province were making heavy contact with People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces. These contacts prompted division commander Major General William R. Peers to request reinforcement and, as a result, on 17 June, two battalions of Brigadier General John R. Deane's 173rd Airborne Brigade were moved into the Dak To area to begin sweeping the jungle-covered mountains in Operation Greeley. The 173rd had been operating near Bien Hoa Air Base outside Saigon and had been in combat only against the Viet Cong. Prior to its deployment to the highlands, Peers' operations officer, Colonel William J. Livsey, attempted to warn the Airborne officers of the hazards of campaigning in the highlands. He also advised them that PAVN regulars were a much better equipped and motivated force than the Viet Cong. These warnings, however, made little impression on the paratroopers, who were about to become victims of their own overconfidence.
  On 20 June, Company C, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry (C/2-503) discovered the bodies of a Special Forces CIDG unit that had been missing for four days on Hill 1338, the dominant hill mass south of Dak To. Supported by A/2-503, the Americans moved up the hill and set up for the night. At 06:58 the following morning, Alpha Company began moving alone up a ridge finger and triggered an ambush by the 6th Battalion of the 24th PAVN Regiment. Charlie Company was ordered to support, but heavy vegetation and difficult terrain made movement extremely difficult. Artillery support was rendered ineffective by the limited range of visibility. Close air support was impossible for the same reasons. Alpha Company managed to survive repeated attacks throughout the day and night, but the cost was heavy. Of the 137 men that comprised the unit, 76 had been killed and another 23 wounded. A search of the battlefield revealed only 15 dead North Vietnamese.
  In response to the destruction of Alpha Company, MACV ordered additional forces into the area. On 23 June, the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry (1st Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division) arrived to bolster the 173rd. The following day, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam's (ARVN) elite 1st Airborne Task Force (the 5th and 8th Battalions) and the 3rd Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division (5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry; 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry; and an additional infantry battalion) arrived to conduct search and destroy operations north and northeast of Kon Tum. General Deane sent his forces 20 kilometres (12 mi) west and southwest of Dak To to search for the PAVN 24th Regiment. By October, the 173rd, the 4th Infantry Division, and six ARVN battalions were moved to Dak To. The PAVN, in turn, had moved almost 6,000 troops in four infantry regiments and one artillery regiment.
  The battle around Dak To became more costly as 4-503 of the 173rd was ordered to occupy Hill 823, south of Ben Het Camp, for the construction of Fire Support Base. Only the battalion's Company B was available for the attack, which was borne by helicopter. The company was able to take the hill but suffered 9 dead and 28 wounded. The following morning Bravo Company was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel David J. Schumacher's 1-503, which (against the admonitions of Colonel Livsey) was divided into two small task forces. Task Force Black consisted of Charlie Company supported by two platoons of Dog Company and Task Force Blue which was composed of Alpha Company and the remaining platoon of Dog. Task Force Black left Hill 823 to find the PAVN who had attacked B/4-503. At 08:28 on 11 November, after leaving their overnight laager and following a PAVN communications wire, the force was ambushed by the 8th and 9th Battalions of the PAVN 66th Regiment and had to fight for its life. Task Force Blue drew the job of going to the relief of the beleaguered task force; however, Task Force Blue ran into resistance and was pinned down by enemy fire on all sides. C/4-503 was then assigned the mission of relieving Task Forc
caption: 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade soldiers battle for Hill 882, southwest of Dak To.
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