1/327th Infantry “Above The Rest” Vietnam
Operation Texas Star
From the FSB Ripcord Association website,
click HERE
Texas Star was the 101st summer offensive, Mar-Sept in the A Shau Valley. During the monsoon of 1970 all US forces, including Marine Recon, moved from the A Shau to the lowlands to support Vietnamization. This gave the NVA time to prepare the battlefield in the valley because they knew this battle was coming. Ripcord was an old Marine FB at the north end of the valley.
B 1/327th HQ was based on FB Bastogne at the southern end of the valley. At the start of the battle it was estimated there were 24,000 NVA troops in the A Shau Valley with troops in reserve in Laos. If you notice the excerpt I sent from Gen Hennesey’s report concerning 2/502nf Inf on Hill 882, after a firefight they captured a NVA PRC-25. After reading up on this I found the CIA had estimated, at the time of the battle there were 680 English speaking NVA troops, mostly assigned to sapper units. Our radio ‘Freq’s were compromised, that is a cold fact. We had them get on our ‘Freq also before our action on the 27th of May.
The significance of the Battle of Ripcord was that this was the last action of US combat troops in the Vietnam War and it was a major defeat for the US Army. It was also the largest withdrawal under fire by US troops during the Vietnam War.
It was also classified for twenty-five years; the National Archives began to release S-2’s in 1996. In 1997 I joined the Ripcord Association, contributed the material I had accumulated and it was decided to have Keith W. Nolan write the book concerning the battle. “Ripcord Screaming Eagles Under Siege Viet Nam 1970” was published in 2000 on Presidio Press. I like all of Nolan’s books, but in my opinion Ripcord was the best.
Click below for:
After Action Report
Hills 882/714
All of the S-2’s I sent are concerning B 1/327th’s action on Hill 882/714 from
27 May – 05 Jun 1970
No Agent Orange was used in the operation but Agent Blue was used. It was sprayed along Hwy 547 and into the valley. Agent Blue is a “forever”, herbicide that stays in the soil. Unprotected exposure can cause multiple health problems including seizures, eye lesions and birth defects. With the NA # and VA Letterhead this is an official document and could be used as evidence in a claim. Also attached, updated health effects from Agent Blue exposure for disability claim.
click HERE
Gen Hennessey’s Significant Action on Hill 882 from the end of April to when we relieved them on 24 May. Our action was not considered significant so it was not mentioned in his report, I had to request B 1/327th files CO ‘s S-2 files. The dates I received were from May 27 – June 5. The 502nd never recovered from this action and the NVA suffered heavy casualties also.
Just as a side note, check out the proximity of the red dot just to the left of the Ripcord location in the image at the top. That red dot is Hamburger Hill. And as seen below, just after the battle:
Ted McCormick
B-1/327
’69 – ’70
