3rd Bridge Company
68 TET OFFENSIVE - HUE CITY
1 Feb 68 the NVA had taken over the countryside. Route 1 was under their
control, we knew THAT from our trip the day before, but that night they
hit us all over the place. When the dawn cracked, there was no lower feeling
then the view, two clicks North of us, of the NVA Flag flying over the
compound of the CAP Unit (Combined Action Platoon) in place of the stars
and stripes. The children from the village at Namo Bridge were walking
into the First Aid Station at FLC, those that could at least, most were
being carried in by their playmates. We knew these children from our time
at Namo. I suppose it was the Big Brother in us, but I know all we wanted
to do was get a little payback. Late afternoon, we were recalled to the
3rd Bridge Co. area, to load up bridging to go on LCU's (Landing Craft
Utility's). For a beach assault landing in Hue City, the first Combat
Beach landing since Korea. We would be involved in the first door to door
City Combat, the Marine Corp had done, in One Hundred years. Mike Moran
All photo's from M. Moran
Deep Water Pier was were we loaded up for Hue.
Right: Three man group to the right is Sgt. M. Hall
??? L/Cpl. R. Brannon
PFC. J. Smith scooting down pier. L/Cpl Jordan with hand/foot on LCU
Jordan writing home. Him, I and another spent three days in the forward Port 'hole' waiting for a nasty Typhoon to pass us before we set out to the China Sea.
When we finally set sail,...I knew the United States Navy had lied to us. The wind was howling, the seas were rough, and the rain was coming down in buckets. I still have not forgiven them. Sick,...is not really a good enough word to describe our condition on that trip.
This was the view that greeted us upon our arrival in Hue City, along with a few mortar rounds the NVA loped at us from the North shore. The Bridge is part of Route 1 and in some pictures from Harry Dill I believe you will see this Bridge from the road view. The river was named by the French in all their wonderful humor they named it "The Perfume River" and true to it's name it did have a distinct odor about it.
There's a white dot on the far shoreline, center of the picture. That was where the NVA Mortar Team WAS located at. The dot is the explosions from a Huey helicopter gun ships rockets. Our LCU's have landed on the South shore and we are preparing to unload the bridging. There's a white dot on the far shoreline, center of the picture. That was where the NVA Mortar Team WAS located at. The dot is the explosions from a Huey helicopter gun ships rockets. Our LCU's have landed on the South shore and we are preparing to unload the bridging.
Hue City, pontoons on highboy trailers, which I believe were 1st Platoons. PFC. Kelley (MOS1371) was 2nd Plt. Radioman at the time. Our call sign was 'Lake Louise' or 'Lake Elizabeth' I always forgot which was who, and that may be the reason I was not the Radioman. Later we got a 'REAL' Radio Operator, L/Cpl Moore from Texas.
From Bobby Cook;
'LAKE LOUISE ONE' for 1st Plt. 'LAKE LOUISE TWO' for 2nd Plt. 'LAKE LOUISE THREE' for 3rd Plt. Thanks Bobby. Which means 'LAKE ELIZABETH' was the call sign for 3rd BRIDGE COMPANY Commanding Officer. Why didn't they pick some real Manly type name? Like RED DOG or BOB or BILL anything,...
This was on the feeder creek into the Perfume River, on the street where L/Cpl. Charles 'Jay' Sheehan was KIA. We spent the night on that street and I pulled a 'roving one man patrol' from midnight to 0400 hours. At the one end was the bridge with an Ontos, nearly out of fuel, I talked with the 'A-Driver' on each round trip. Inside that Ontos, slept the Driver, a 'Buddy' Burger, my childhood neighbor from Chicago, IL.
The feeder creek name was "Ann Cuu Canal" and the NVA (North Vietnam Army) set up an ambush from the buildings in the background. When the 1st Platoon of 3rd Bridge showed up to recon the bridge across the canal located to the left of this picture they sprung the trap. Elements of a recon platoon and 2/5 where also on the ambush site, 2nd Platoon of 3rd Bridge showed up for the end of the firefight. An estimated number of 110 Marines in total force we had some 68 causality's that day. It was a tough day for all involved.
Picture of the Ann Cuu Bridge over the canel in the present day. Sent by Barney Barnes
This is a 'Shell Gas Station' at a bend in the road in Hue City. The picture was taken before the Tet Offensive, during the battle for Hue City the NVA had staged a small stopping action from the station and the station was ablaze.
This is a Catholic Church In the outskirts of Hue City, it had Beautiful stain class windows and a Large statue of Jesus Christ. Harry Dill has a better picture of this I will be posting.
This web site is not, or is it intended to represent any government agency, including the United States Marine Corps.
©1999 - 2008 Moran. All Rights Reserved