In November 1967, North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units were determined to rid the Central Highlands of American forces. The draws between the ridges are dreary, tangled places of perpetual twilight. Four days later, A, B, C and D companies of the 4th Bn., 503rd Inf., fought the NVA for four hours in the Ngok Kam Leat chain of hills and adjacent Hill 823, losing 16 KIA and 37 WIA. [34] The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment[35] and the 161st Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery[36] were attached to the brigade for one year in 1965. Melzer deployed abroad with the Army to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team . The 173rd had been operating near Bien Hoa Air Base outside Saigon and had been in combat only against NLF guerrillas. A gavel rests on the judges bench in the courtroom of the 39th Air Base Wing legal office at Nov. 14, 2019, at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Todays sentence makes clear that Melzers brazen actions backfired and that this office along with our partners in law enforcement and the military will work tirelessly to bring traitors like Melzer to justice and to protect the safety and integrity of our armed services., Melzer betrayed his fellow soldiers and his country, said Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBIs Counterterrorism Division. Email: wambicook@aol.com American and Vietnamese local intelligence was poor, the area was a traditional VC stronghold, and province and district officials were never able to eliminate the local VC infrastructure. The 173rd Airborne Brigade has received 21 campaign streamers and several unit awards, including the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Battle of Dak To during the Vietnam War. Cataloguing data may change with further research. In 2020 he was told he would be transferred to a sensitive base in Turkey, which is when he allegedly began plotting the attack. The most prominent of these is the 2006 single released by the country music duo Big & Rich, entitled "8th of November". The brigade was dispersed throughout the east of the country, with units operating in Kunar, Paktika, and Laghman Provinces. In May 2020, Melzer was reassigned to a unit preparing for deployment. Because their heavily armored tanks required so much maintenance, the 173rd incorporated much of 4th ID's area of operation into their own. Tragically, 50% of the deaths were due to friendly fire. Enemy fire claimed 41 GIs lives that day. The single deadliest day of Dak To was Nov. 19, when 83 Americans were killed and 110 wounded. The proposed bill is the latest among a string of measures targeting trans youth. Haynes never questioned anything until Spc. A year later, he allegedly joined O9A, which expresses admiration for Nazis, such as Adolf Hitler, and Islamic jihadists, the Justice Department said. In October 2019, Melzer and his unit were deployed to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Melzer betrayed his fellow soldiers and his country, FBI Counter Terrorism Assistant Director Robert R. Wells said following the sentencing. was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which . 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 Company. He was arrested in May 2020 while in Italy, before he could carry it out. On Nov. 3, A and B companies made a combat assault from Dak To airstrip to a ridge line just below Hill 1338, recalled Alex Cooker, then the platoon leader of 3rd Plt., B Co., 3rd Bn., 12th Inf. Florida parents are worried about the radical, prurient agenda that has become pervasive across most forms of media, specifically targeting young children, Yarborough said in a statement. A former U.S. Army soldier was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison, the maximum, for plotting what prosecutors described as a "murderous ambush" overseas on members of his own troop. There is something gut-wrenching about severely wounded men that I will never forget, recalled Earle Jackson, a 173rd medic who served on Hill 875. Rose L. Thayer is based in Austin, Texas, and she has been covering the western region of the continental U.S. for Stars and Stripes since 2018. The next morning, Nov. 20, 4th Bn., 503rd Inf., set out to relieve the 2nd Battalion paratroopers. [6], On 11 October 2006, as part of the Army's "Unit of Action" modularized unit force restructuring that General Shinseki had originally envisioned the 173rd Airborne Brigade became the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (an airborne IBCT). Membership. By integrating these support elements, the unit became able to maintain its fighting forces with all that is required to keep the ground soldiers supplied and moving. On 1 December 1951, the troop was inactivated and released from its assignment to the 87th Infantry Division. [40], The attached helicopter unit became the Casper Aviation Platoon, befitting a separate infantry brigade as the only separate aviation platoon deployed in Vietnam. On Nov. 23, the 4th Battalion from the north slope coordinated a final assault on the hilltop with the 1st Bn., 12th Inf., 4th Inf. [113], In March 2015, a 173rd Airborne battalion of around 600 American paratroopers headed to Ukraine to train Ukrainian national guard troops. Soldiers with the 173rd have faced some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan over the past decade. He and others then passed these messages to a purported member of al-Qaida, according to the Justice Department. [3] This was the brigade's fifth deployment since 2003, their fourth to Afghanistan as they prepare for a complete transition of the security of Afghanistan to the Afghan National Security Forces. According to the Department of Justice, Melzer, 24, communicated not only with O9A members but also alleged members of al-Qaeda. [24], 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. Melzer is a 22-year-old infantryman assigned to the 173rd Airborne's 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, in Vicenza, Italy, 173rd spokesman Maj. Chris Bradley told Military.com. [5] The infantry battalions and the brigade headquarters remained in Vicenza, Italy through the transition. The success of the program varied greatly from unit to unit, but the programs of the 173rd and Task Force South were generally regarded as effective. Official websites use .gov Four additional battalions were activated or designated at Bamberg and Schweinfurt, Germany. On 1 July 2006, a documentary inspired by the song and based on the brigade's actions during the operation premiered on the GAC Channel. [88] In the weeks before there had been heavy rain and the mud created problems for those doing the jump. Resupply became a necessity, because of high ammunition expenditures and lack of water, but was impossible to accomplish: Six UH-1 helicopters were shot down or badly damaged that afternoon trying to get to 2503.[59]. (46.7 31.4 cm) Sheet: 18 7/8 12 13/16 in. [20] The brigade was also the only separate brigade to receive its own tank company,[21] in the form of Company D, 16th Armor. (47.9 32.5 cm) The 173rds 2nd Bn., 503rd Inf., led the assault. [46] During the battle, the brigade operated out of the northeastern part of the war zone along with the 196th Infantry Brigade (Separate), as four other brigades from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions attempted to surround and destroy the 9th Division in the War Zone. [5] Under Williamson, the unit trained extensively, making mass parachute jumps. At the same time that Hello Dolly opened at Nha Trang airbase, a company of 173rd Airborne had walked into an ambush in Viet Cong base zone, known as the Iron Triangle. Last year a former member of an Air Force security team was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a police officer in the name of sparking a second civil war. The enemy loss in lives was about four times that of the allies.. He was awarded the Medal of Honor nearly 60 years after he was nominated. Company commanders pulled their troops back and called for more firepower. [102] The 173rd IBCT(A) officially relieved the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division on 6 June 2007.[102]. [18], In the late 1990s, Army leaders including General Eric Shinseki began shifting the Army force toward brigade centered operations. He was arrested May 30 at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza. Reproduced from VFW Magazine, March 2006 issue, article by Tim Dyhouse. The centerpiece of the battle was the 110-hour fight for Hill 875. Regt ., and supporting units such as the 335th Aviation Company. Masthead | The army apologized and promised to improve their procedures for defining training areas. SENATE GOP PLOTS CONFRONTATION OF WOKE PENTAGON AS MILITARY READINESS, MORALE PLUMMET, U.S Army badge is seen on a uniform of American soldier. 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. In the days leading up to the fight for Hill 875, 4th ID units sought out the enemy south of Dak To. The sign had read "American who read this die. While there, he consumed extremists propaganda from O9A and the Islamic State. [54] 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. Parents would be allowed to kidnap their children and take them out of state if they are receiving gender-affirming care or are considered at risk of receiving such care under a proposed Florida law, Vice News reports. [101], In 2006, the brigade was notified for a second tour of duty in Iraq from 2007 to 2008, but its deployment plan was changed to Afghanistan in February 2007 when the Pentagon announced that it would relieve the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division along with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Artillery support was rendered ineffective by the limited range of visibility. 99 U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade conduct an ambush on Cypriot troops during a force-on-force squad-level blank. All rights reserved. Non-hostile - electrocution. Specifically, Melzer corresponded with individuals belonging to an O9A subgroup known as the RapeWaffen Division, which is known to promote rape and murder as weapons in the groups pursuit of a race war. She's scheduled for sentencing April 10," reported Janet Oravetz. [16] The brigade deployed to France along with the rest of the division in September 1918, but it did not participate in any campaigns and never saw combat, instead being utilized as a pool of laborers and reinforcements for frontline units. As the father of four young boys, I know that childhood is as special as it is short. On Nov. 11, A, C and D companies of the 1st Bn., 503rd Inf., engaged the NVA for eight hours at two separate locations south of Ben Het sustaining 21 KIA and 128 WIA. To further the attack plan, Melzer and his co-conspirators passed these messages to a purported member of al Qaeda. [3][24], On 26 March 1963, the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) was assigned to the Regular Army and activated on Okinawa. . ALSO IN THE NEWS: Americans belief in God hit an all-time low about 6 months ago here's why. Mississippi, Utah, and South Dakota in the last month have approved bans on health care providers offering gender-affirming care to minors, the report said. 501FSC, 173rd Abn Bde. Americans serving their country overseas should never have to fear a terrorist attack from within their own ranks, and todays sentence holds him accountable for his deadly plan to attack the brave men and women of the armed forces who protect our nation.. The 173d Airborne Brigade was constituted 5 August 1917 as an infantry brigade and organized 25 August 1917 at Camp Pike, Arkansas as an element of the 87th Division. The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. Melzer was listed Friday as an inmate at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn in New York, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Training also included securing roads, bridges, and other infrastructure and treating and evacuating casualties. [32] The brigade was put under the command of IIField Force, Vietnam. no news. . He was the first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War. [76] The original plan was for the 173rd to be attached to the 4th Infantry Division as a flexible force of airborne troops to complement the heavy weapons of the division's three brigades. [104][107] The 173rd's tour ended in July 2008, and the last redeploying paratrooper from the brigade returned to Europe by the beginning of August 2008. [82] A few days later, the 173rd and 10th Special Forces Group departed for northern Iraq. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Melzer, who was a private assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy, planned a jihadist attack on his Army unit in the days leading up to a deployment to Turkey and sent sensitive details about the unit including information about its location, movements and security to members of the extremist organization Order of the Nine Angles, according to court documents. The enormous amounts of ordnance expended by both forces had turned the once-lush tropical jungle into a scarred and torn landscape.. Interrogators also employed a technique called the "water rag", which involved pouring water onto a rag covering the captive's nose and mouth, which creates the sensatation of drowning and can lead to death by asphyxiation. A former soldier was sentenced to 45 years in prison for attempting to plot with a hate group to attack his unit. Copyright 2023 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | A class of prime youth shredded in seconds. U.S. losses were 20 killed, 154 wounded, and two missing. [76] Supported by the 1st Infantry Division and the 10th Special Forces Group, the 4th Infantry Division was to assemble in Turkey and use its heavy mechanized brigades to attack through Tikrit and eventually assist V Corps, which would attack from the south, in surrounding Baghdad. The author visited Afghanistan's Korengal Valley five times in 2007 and 2008 as a reporter embedded with part of the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade as it attempted to thwart the Taliban in . 56,244 10 months ago (NSFW) Russian Soldier Grenades Ukrainian Trench and Bunker . [3][5][25] During their time in Okinawa, they prided themselves as the "toughest fighting men in Okinawa, if not the entire U.S. Armed Forces". The 2-503rd conducted combat operations in Zabul Province. On 14 June 2009, the 173rd IBCT(A) was announced as one of the brigade combat teams deploying to Afghanistan, and the unit prepared to once again return. One of the few combat operations that brigade conducted during this time was an amphibious assault against PAVN/VC forces as part of an operation to clear the rice-growing lowlands along the Bong Son littoral. [141][142], Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta received the Medal of Honor for heroic actions as a rifle team leader in Company B, 2503 INF (Airborne) when his squad was caught in a near-ambush the night of 25 October 2007 during Operation Rock Avalanche in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. Lethal Fire: Enemy and Friendly According to the after-action report, GIs sustained 242 KIA and 876 WIA in the battles between Nov. 2 and Dec. 1, 1967. Sky Soldiers serving in Vietnam received 13 Medals of Honor, 32 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1,736 Silver Stars and more than 6,000 Purple Hearts. The LRS detachment and 5th Group ODA conducted many combined and individual operations to ensure the stability of the region. [61], The battle of Hill 875 had cost 2-503 87 killed, 130 wounded, and three missing. took place InTuyhoe then on to the kontum proence battle 3/68.then to ahn khe.gravy.then we went to lz english I Think.Dalat Was The LAST . On Nov. 20, 1967, Pfc. "The defendant believed he could force the U.S. into prolonged armed conflict while causing the deaths of as many soldiers as possible," the Justice Department said in a previous statement. Prosecutors said Eric Melzer, 24, of Kentucky, gave information about the location and layout of a U.S. military installation overseas to the anti-government group Order of Nine Angles. As part of his plot, he planned on sharing additional security details of the base once in Turkey in order to maximize damage done in an attack. Nine soldiers from the brigade lost their lives during the deployment. Click here. [69] A U.S. Army report detailed a pattern of "cruelty and maltreatment" between March 1968 and October 1969. Headquarters, 4th Infantry Division. A transphobic parent could kidnap their trans child in violation of custody agreements and abscond to Florida and be protected by Florida law under this despite likely committing felony kidnapping in their home state, Caraballo said. [20] The 173rd Brigade was selected to become a separate brigade and a special airborne task force, which could deploy rapidly and act independently. [66] The company commander, Captain Robert Helmick, was awarded the DSC. Of the 137 men that comprised the unit, 76 had been killed and another 23 wounded. [6] Controlling the oil fields had been a specific operational goal of the Task Force[85] because they were viewed as the most valuable strategic asset in northern Iraq. 5, March 1970 173rd Airborne Brigade Newsletter A bolt of an AK47 rifle betrayed an enemy ambush, and soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) turned the tables on the Viet Cong. The 173rd Airborne Brigade currently consists of 3,300 soldiers in seven subordinate battalions as well as a headquarters company:. The staff judge advocate from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, also based in Vicenza, helped investigate Melzer, and a picture included in his now unsealed criminal complaint indicates he was a . In May 2020, the Army told Melzer he would be assigned to another unit slated for deployment where they would be guarding a military base. 88, 93. Melzer also shared the intelligence with someone claiming to be a member of al Qaida, and promised to leak more information, including photos and U.S. radio channel frequencies, upon arrival in-country. While he was deployed to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in the fall of 2019, Melzer "consumed propaganda from multiple extremist groups" such as O9A and the Islamic. mfah.org/terms. [18] 340 of the 570 173rd Airborne troops who attacked the hill became casualties. [129], Captain Willard, a fictional character portrayed by Martin Sheen in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, was a member of the 173rd assigned to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group. This week a former member of the Ohio National Guard was sentenced to six years in prison for manufacturing ghost guns and making threats against Jewish schools and synagogues. The 173d, composed of two airborne infantry battalions and associated artillery, reconnaissance, and support elements was essentially given the mission originally assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, that of opening a Meltzer, who ascribed to the groups ideals of promoting extreme violence to accelerate and cause the demise of Western civilization, aimed to essentially cripple the units fire-teams with the inside information he was providing, according to documents. In approximately October 2019, Melzer deployed abroad with the Army to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. "Ethan Melzer infiltrated the U.S. Army in service of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and jihadist group. Supported by A/2-503, the Americans moved up the hill and set up for the night. Melzer told members of O9A in his encrypted electronic communications [y]ou just gotta understand that currently I am risking my literal free life to give you all this and that he was expecting results. Melzer further acknowledged that he could be killed during the attack and described his willingness to die for O9As goals, writing who gives a fuck [. Division doctors at Dak To kept busy, too, often getting by on only three or four hours of sleep a night. The 1-508th (minus Company B) conducted combat operations in eastern Afghanistan, attached to 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. Ethan Melzer infiltrated the U.S. Army in service of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and jihadist group, said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. He had been quietly discharged from the Ohio National Guard last year after his arrest, Military.com reported. A paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne Brigade's Sky Soldiers, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, in Vicenza, Italy, in 2019 through 2020 plotted an ambush on his unit, "to result in the deaths of as many of his fellow service members as possible. "Operational Report Lessons Learned (1 May 1969 31 July 1969)." [26], The brigade arrived in South Vietnam on 7 May 1965, the first major ground combat unit of the United States Army to serve in the country. [5], After Vietnam, the Army retained the 173rd Airborne Brigade as a quick deploying contingency brigade. [144], NATO Training exercise incident in Bulgaria. Former Pvt. Supporting the Veterans, Soldiers and Friends of the 4th Infantry Division Since 1919. Gold Star, Active Duty, etc.). Although its roughly 4,000 soldiers . [26][31] As larger US Army commands were established in Vietnam, the brigade was assigned to the IIICorps and IICorps tactical zone, which they would serve in for the next six years. [85] Operation Iraqi Freedom began on 20 March with V Corps, consisting of the 101st Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division, and 3rd Infantry Division making a forceful push from the south, beginning the Iraq War. Melzer traitorously sought to attack the very soldiers he was entrusted to protect.. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe. [5] The 173rd incurred 1,533 deaths and around 6,000 wounded. Div., at Dak To. Melzer provided RapeWaffen membership with information on troop movements, relevant dates and locations, security details, weaponry and topography to facilitate a mass casualty jihadi attack, according to court documents. A former Army paratrooper was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday for plotting with a violent extremist group to ambush and kill members of his own Italy-based unit, federal law enforcement officials said. Tiffany Muller, president of the End Citizens United PAC, called on the FEC to "immediately investigate," according to a copy of the complaint provided to NBC News. Regt. [citation needed], In July 2012, the 173rd IBCT(A) once again deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Bayonet to relieve the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Task Force Bulldog in the Logar and Wardak Provinces. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Attempting for Murder Fellow Service Members in Deadly Ambush. As Peers' successor in March 1969, Lt. Gen. Charles A. Corcoran, reflected, "Barnes may have just been keeping the lid on the situation." Deadly Prelude The Battle of Dak To was actually a series of intense clashes culminating in the decisive battle for Hill 875. One thing that we took a great deal of pride in was that every wounded soldier, many in very, very serious condition, reached the 71st Evac Hospital at Pleiku alive.. The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the FBIs Legal Attach Office in Rome; the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; U.S. Army Counterintelligence; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; and the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service. In-Depth Coverage .
