C and D companies soon found themselves absorbing small-arms fire and grenade attacks from seemingly every direction. Thus began the Battle of Dak To.. . (U.S. Army Photo by Visual Information Specialist Davide Dalla Massara) Read more. 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. Have You Heard of the 173rd - YouTube 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. He was arrested in June 20020 and pleaded guilty in 2022. By clicking below to download MFAH collection images, you agree that you have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions of MFAH Website Use: Address: 18458 East Orkney Street, Azusa CA 91702-0219. [The 173rd] were good soldiers and did their fair share, said Steve Stark, who was an artillery liaison specialist with 6th Bn., 29th Artillery, 1st Bde., 4th Inf. Since its reactivation in 2000, the brigade served five tours in the Middle East in support of the War on Terror. Watters received a posthumous Medal of Honor. So heavy, in fact, that the NVAs 32nd, 66th and 174th regiments were unable to participate in the 1968 Tet Offensive. In 2019, he deployed to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, prosecutors said. [5] It was a subordinate unit of the U.S. Army's VCorps and after June 2013, subordinate to US Army Europe. Only the battalion's Company B was available for the attack, which was borne by helicopter. 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. As part of this intensive training, Melzer learned details about the purpose, layout, and security of the Military Base. Private Olive's body absorbed the full, deadly blast of the grenade and he died saving his comrades. 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. The 23rd and 26th Mike Force companies (indigenous outfits led by Green Berets) were engaged as well. [49] Charlie Company was ordered to support, but heavy vegetation and difficult terrain made movement extremely difficult. An estimated 2 enemy battalions, the VC 85th Main Force and the PAVN 95th Regiment, were rendered ineffective as they had 297 killed, with D/16 Armor receiving credit for killing 218. [108] 42 soldiers from the brigade lost their lives during the deployment. [62] Combined with noncombatant losses, this represented one-fifth of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's total strength. [78] The resulting wear and tear of 4th ID's M1 Abrams and M2 Bradleys made them an ineffective unit in tight urban areas such as Jar Salah. It is a merciless land of steep limestone ridges, some of them exceeding 4,000 feet, wrote Robert Barr Smith in, Vietnam magazine. Task Force Black left Hill 823 to find the PAVN who had attacked B/4-503. On Nov. 20, 1967, Pfc. US soldier plotted with Satanic neo-Nazis to ambush his own unit Reproduced from VFW Magazine, March 2006 issue, article by Tim Dyhouse. Lost Battles of the Vietnam War - G2mil Before this heroic act, according to his citation, Barnes dashed through the bullet-swept area, manned the machine gun [the team had been killed] and killed nine enemy soldiers as they assaulted his position.. Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison For Attempting Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. Dawn on Tuesday, Nov. 21, revealed a scene on Hill 875 no survivor of that battle could ever forget, Edward F. Murphy wrote in Dak To: Americas Sky Soldiers in South Vietnams Central Highlands. [92] On 10 April the brigade was able to move into the city, securing it after a short urban battle. [3][44][45] The operation saw three brigades controlling eight battalions dropped by helicopters and US Air Force aircraft into War Zone C, in Ty Ninh Province. Activated in 1915, as the 173rd Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War I, but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War . [53] The following morning Bravo Company was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel David J. Schumacher's 1503, which (against the admonitions of Colonel Livsey) was divided into two small task forces. He said Melzer's fellow paratroopers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were left feeling angry as . A South Vietnamese Marine, severely wounded in a Viet Cong ambush, is comforted by a comrade in a sugar-cane field at Duc Hoa, about 12 miles from Saigon, on August 5, 1963. . The source of the debate strategy information possibly from reporting not yet publicly revealed or somehow indicated in the ads wasn't immediately clear. In May 2020, Melzer was informed his unit would be deploying to another overseas location to guard a sensitive U.S. military base. An internal inquiry had confirmed an officer's widely publicized charge that members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade had tortured detainees in Vietnam. Throughout the movie, he wears the Vietnam-era, mustard yellow, "subdued" shoulder sleeve insignia worn by 173rd paratroopers on their jungle fatigues during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Army video by Sgt. from around the world. The Army did not immediately respond Friday to comment about when Melzer was discharged from the service. Soldiers with the 173rd have faced some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan over the past decade. While there, he consumed extensive propaganda from numerous extremist groups, including O9A and ISIS, and routinely downloaded and accessed videos of jihadist attacks and executions, court documents showed. 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. Scandal-plagued Republican former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters has been convicted of obstruction of government operations, reported 9News on Friday. (U.S. Army Photo by Visual Information Specialist Davide Dalla Massara) Read more Image Jumping in July, 173rd Airborne at Aviano [115], In 2017, some 600 personnel (1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment) were deployed to the Baltic countries to be positioned in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia for six weeks to coincide with the duration of the joint Russian/Belarusian strategic Zapad 2017 exercise that began 14 September 2017.[116][117][118]. [3] With combat experience already earned in other similar mountain regions in 2007 and 2008, the Brigade distinguished itself in combat regularly against the Taliban and fought tenaciously against them, while still promoting and attempting to legitimize the Afghan government. [79] The force also received force field artillery headquarters from the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery, which brought a Tactical Operations Center, a Q-36 counterfire radar and Combat Observation and Lasing Team (COLT)a pair of Dragoneye Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from the US Marine Corps, to be operated by the Brigades Ground Surveillance Systems (GSS) team. Melzer, a private, was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which was deployed to Italy. One paratrooper said of the enemy: They fight like theyre all John Waynes, three clips and making every bullet count., A Merciless Land Combat was brutal, close and fought in the unforgiving terrain of the Central Highlands. [5], In mid-1968 at the instigation of II Corps commander General L Mng Lan, I Field Force, Vietnam commander General William R. Peers paired with the Brigade with the ARVN 22nd Division in Bnh nh Province in what was almost a replica of Operation Fairfax. The sign had read "American who read this die. After the brigade finally left South Vietnam in 1971, the greater portion of the province reverted to VC control. Those of us fortunate enough to be there will. 3rb Battalion News - Bullentin Board At 14:30 PAVN troops hidden at the bottom of the hill launched a massed assault from the rear. Masthead | For example, Melzer subscribed to encrypted online forums where he downloaded and accessed videos of jihadist attacks on U.S. troops and facilities and jihadist executions of civilians and soldiers, in addition to far-right, neo-Nazi, and other white supremacist propaganda. He used his membership in the military to pursue an appalling goal: the brutal murder of his fellow U.S. service members in a carefully plotted ambush. In an instant, he leaped on the device, shielding the blast with his body. The 173rd Airborne Brigade currently consists of 3,300 soldiers in seven subordinate battalions as well as a headquarters company:. 173rd Airborne Brigade deploys to South Vietnam - HISTORY After he was notified of the assignment, Melzer joined his new unit and attended weeks of training, including classified and unclassified briefings, to prepare for the deployment. While several of its units, including the 2-503rd and A/3-319th were ordered to Tuy Ha to repair and refit,[64][65] the 173rd was transferred to Camp Radcliff in An Kh and Bong Son areas during 1968, seeing very little action while the combat ineffective elements of the brigade were rebuilt. "Operational Report Lessons Learned (1 May 1969 31 July 1969)." Former U.S. soldier gets 45 years for helping neo-Nazi group in plot to 4th ID had to relocate their forces from Turkey to Kuwait and were subsequently slowed down in Baghdad. During this operation multiple buildings belonging to the airfield were secured. [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. 173rd Airborne Brigade - United States Army NVA snipers made the going slow, but B Company finally reached the perimeter by dusk. After. He was arrested May 30 at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza. Brigadier General Ellis W. Williamson took command of the unit,[3][25] which was chartered to serve as the quick reaction force for the Pacific Command. One of these was the 101st Airborne Division, which had also been redeployed to Fort Campbell. By unlawfully disclosing his unit's location, strength, and armaments to other O9A members and jihadists in furtherance of this ambush, Melzer traitorously sought to attack the very soldiers . [22] Consistent with regimental combat teams activated before them, these separate brigades were given their own shoulder sleeve insignia. The group has expressed admiration both for Nazis, such as Adolf Hitler, and Islamic jihadists, such as Usama Bin Laden, the now-deceased former leader of al Qaeda. Of the 137 men that comprised the unit, 76 had been killed and another 23 wounded. cause another 10 year war in the Middle East would definitely leave a mark.. Gen. John W. Barnes officially ended the unit's pair-off program and replaced it with Operation Washington Green, an intensive area security effort with territorial and paramilitary forces in Bnh nh Province. According to court documents, Melzer planned a jihadist attack on his U.S. 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 (O9A), a white supremacist, neo-Nazi and pro-jihadist group. Forward deployed across Italy and Germany, the brigade routinely trains alongside NATO allies and partners to build partnerships and strengthen the alliance. The 3rd Battalion on Nov. 10-11 sustained another 18 KIA and 118 WIA on Hill 724 during a five-hour ground and mortar attack. Sky Soldiers that died in the service of their country while in Iraq. Federal prosecutors alleged that Melzer intended to spark a jihadist terror attack on his own unit or any other that took up its location in order to undermine the United States abroad and further the goals of O9A, a largely United Kingdom-based group that has sympathized with al Qaeda. [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. Artillery support was rendered ineffective by the limited range of visibility. [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. [24] Immediately after its transformation, the brigade began intensive training in both Germany and Italy to prepare itself for future deployments. Division doctors at Dak To kept busy, too, often getting by on only three or four hours of sleep a night. [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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The other hit C Companys command post and aid station. Melzer and his unit also received in-depth training about and practiced for numerous threat scenarios at the Military Base, including how to respond to various potential terrorist attack scenarios. Amazon.com: 173rd Airborne Hat Attorneys Sam Adelsberg, Matthew J.C. Hellman and Kimberly J. Ravener for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by Trial Attorneys Alicia Cook of the National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section and Scott Claffee of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. [55], Following an attack on the k T Base,[56] and actions on hill 882 by the 1-503rd that saw 7 men dead and 34 wounded,[57] 330 men of 2-503 moved in to assault Hill 875. The brigade served mainly in Kirkuk for the next year. Kloepper assumes command of 173rd Airborne Brigade - United States Army