Vietnam War
The Iron Rakkasans moved back to Fort Campbell, Kentucky in February 1964, to serve as part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. In December 1967 the 3rd Battalion deployed to Vietnam, alongside 1st and 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. Over the next four years the Iron Rakkasans fought in twelve major campaigns, conducting numerous air assaults and search and destroy missions. During one such mission in March 1968 Captain Paul W. Bucha, commander of D Company, received the Congressional Medal of Honor when he crawled through a hail of fire to single-handedly destroy a machine gun bunker with grenades near Phuoc Vinh, Vietnam. When the battalion colors returned to Fort Campbell the unit had distinguished itself by earning two Valorous Unit Awards, and its third and fourth Presidential Unit Citations for the battles of Trang Bang and Dong Ap Bia Mountain (commonly known as “Hamburger Hill”). The Iron Rakkasans emerged from the Vietnam War as the country’s most highly decorated airborne battalion.
Assignments in South Vietnam Source:
| Administrative Headquarters |
Forward Headquarters |
Arrival | Major Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/187th Infantry Regiment arrived in Vietnam on 1967-12-16 | |||
| Phuoc Vinh | Phuoc Vinh | December, 1967 | 3/101 Airborne Division |
| Dak To | June, 1968 | ||
| Cu Chi | July, 1968 | ||
| Long Binh | October, 1968 | 3/101 Airborne Division (Airmobile) | |
| Bien Hoa | Phong Dien | November, 1968 | |
| Ta Bat | July, 1969 | ||
| A Shau Valley | Berchtesgaden Fire Support Base | August, 1969 | |
| Bien Hoa | Ta Bat | September, 1969 | |
| Phong Dien | October, 1969 | ||
| Mai Loc | November, 1969 | ||
| Phong Dien | Phong Dien | December, 1969 | |
| Huế | Phu Bai | September, 1970 | |
| Camp Carroll | Camp Carroll | March, 1971 | |
| April, 1971 | 1/5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) | ||
| Huế | Phu Bai | May, 1971 | 3/101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) |
| August, 1971 | US Army Forces, Military Region 2 | ||
| November, 1971 | 3/101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) | ||
| 3/187th Infantry Regiment departed Vietnam on 1971-12-10 | |||
The 3/187th Inf. exploits from 10–20 May 1969 on hill 937 in the A Shau Valley were later put on the silver screen in 1987 using the hills nickname Hamburger Hill as the title. For this action the Unit received the Presidential Unit Citation for the valor shown over 11 assaults on the hill.
Read more about this topic: 187th Infantry Regiment (United States)
Famous quotes related to vietnam war:
“No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.”
—Richard M. Nixon (b. 1913)