March 1st, 1969. Operation Wayne Grey commences.
LZ Swinger (Hill 729). Elements of the 1-14th Infantry constructed the original firebase on Hill 729 in April of 1968. The U.S. Army abandoned it some point after that and the North Vietnamese Army, quick to move into any void left by American forces, occupied the firebase. The NVA then moved at least one heavy […]
Alpha & Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment – November 28th thru December 7th, 1967 combined operation.
The following summary was compiled from information gathered from battalion Operations Daily Journals, 4th Infantry Division Operational Readiness Report Lessons Learned, casualty and other records. These daily summaries are not the complete story of each day, just a brief description of the items noted in the journals and logs. Each soldier present in the battalion […]
Specialist Fourth Class Alfonza Watson
This grainy black and white photo has always bothered me. It was the only known photo of SP4 Alfonza Watson, an Alpha Company, 3-12 Infantry soldier who was killed in action on May 1st, 1967. It’s obviously a government photo, probably from his draft board appearance or induction day. Either way, it’s not right that […]
Finding Captain Jones
In the amazing book, Nine Days In May (Warren Wilkins), he begins the section involving the 3-12 Infantry by briefly covering the action of May 1st, 1967. On that morning, Alpha Company was hit at their night defensive position by a large NVA force. The perimeter held, the NVA was repulsed, and Alpha was eventually […]
3-12 Infantry operational summary, April 25th thru April 30th, 1967
US Army’s 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division operational summary for the period of April 25th-30th, 1967. II Corps, Pleiku Province. The 3-12 Inf HQ is moved to LZ Jackson Hole. Alpha & Bravo Companies continue company patrols. Charlie Company secures the perimeter at Jackson Hole. The Braves enter the mountains A looming […]
History Blog Post #7 – March 1967 – Part 1 – the 101st Airborne at Hill 86, a prelude to March 9th, 1967
1967 – MARCH From September of 1966 to February of 1967, the Braves of the 3-12 had become acclimated to this new style of guerrilla warfare. Hard lessons had been learned. The M-113 incident in February caused a stand down at the 10th Cav, and all drivers and commanders received retraining on the proper use […]
History Blog Post #6 – 1967 – January & February – The Pond.
1967 – JANUARY & FEBRUARY 1967 started for the battalion much as 1966 had ended. Operation Adams continued, moving into the fifth and final phase of the operation, dubbed “Operation Rice Bowl”. The mission was simple, secure the rice paddies in the lowland coastal basin and let the civilian farmers harvest the crops free of […]
Gravesite Visit #42 – PFC Roy L Edelstein – Superior, Wisconsin
Minneapolis, Minnesota In October of 2022 I found myself in Minneapolis, Minnesota for work. On Monday the 17th I had visited the gravesites of three men who were serving in the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment in Vietnam when they were killed in action. Once I finished up at the cemeteries, I picked up a […]
Gravesite Visit #39 – Specialist Fourth Class John Forman Lobsinger – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 17, 2022 In the fall of 2022, my employer gave me the opportunity to travel to Minneapolis-St. Paul for a planning session. After looking at the proposed schedule, I realized I could easily fit in a visit to a few gravesite visits located in and around the area. I compiled a list of […]
Gravesite Visit #20 – Specialist Fourth Class James Robert Long – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday April 10th, 2021- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania On Saturday, April 10th, 2021, my family and I left our Air BnB in Morgantown, West Virginia and drove north on Interstate 79 towards Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We had barely completed our move from Alaska to West Virginia, and had not yet closed on our home purchase. One of the […]