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Battle of Lima Site 85

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Battle of Lima Site 85

Part of the Vietnam War

Date March 10 – March 11, 1968

Location 20°28′5.4″N 103°43′32.2″E / 20.468167°N 103.725611°E / 20.468167; 103.725611 (Lima Site 85)Coordinates: 20°28′5.4″N 103°43′32.2″E / 20.468167°N 103.725611°E / 20.468167; 103.725611 (Lima Site 85)
Phou Pha Thi, northeastern Laos

UTM Grid UH 68-60[1]

Result Communist victory

Belligerents
United States
Royal Lao Army (Hmong)
Thai "volunteers" North Vietnam
Pathet Lao

Commanders and leaders
Lt. Col. Clarence F. Blanton
Richard Secord
Vang Pao Truong Muc
Strength
1,300+ 3,000+
Casualties and losses
12 Americans killed
42 Thais and Hmongs killed Unknown




The Battle of Lima Site 85 was a battle of the Vietnam War which resulted in the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force (USAF) personnel in that war. The site was located atop Phou Pha Thi; a mountain in Laos 15 miles (24 km) from the border of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) and 30 miles (48 km) from Sam Neua, capital of the Pathet Lao. The term "Lima Site" was derived from the American acronym for map designations of "Landing Sites" within the Secret War zone of the Second Indochina War, an active covert battleground in the larger Cold War.



Background

In August 1966, to assist ongoing aerial operations against the DRV (Operation Rolling Thunder), the United States Air Force sited a TACAN facility on the peak of Phu Pha Thi to assist American aviators conducting bombing operations in the northwestern region of North Vietnam. In 1967, a portable TSQ 81 COMBAT SKYSPOT ground directed bombing unit was added and operational by the end of November. By early 1968, the site was controlling 55% of Operation Rolling Thunder strikes in the DRV and 20% of air strikes being carried out in northeastern Laos under Operation Barrel Roll.

Aerial attack
On 12 January 1968, 4 Vietnam People's Air Force Antonov An-2 "Colt" biplanes lifted off on a mission to destroy the base. The Colts reached LS 85 and 2 Colts began dropping 120 mm mortar rounds on the site and making strafing runs[2].

An Air America Bell 205 helicopter, carrying ammunition to the site, lifted off to avoid destruction. Captain Ted Moore said that the attack “Looked like World War I,” and gave chase to a Colt as it turned back to the Vietnamese border. Moore positioned his helicopter above the biplane, as Crew Chief Glenn Woods fired an AK-47 rifle down on it. The pursuit continued for more than 20 minutes until the second AN-2 flew underneath the helicopter. Moore and Woods watched as the first AN-2 dropped and crashed into a ridge just west of the North Vietnamese border. The second Colt hit the side of a mountain 5km farther north. The other Colts escaped, inactive observers throughout. Within hours a CIA Special Activities Division team reached the crashed aircraft and found bullet holes in the downed planes. [3]

Ted Moore and Glenn Woods gained the distinction of having shot down a fixed-wing aircraft from a helicopter, a singular aerial victory in the Vietnam War. On 27 July 2007, the CIA officially dedicated a painting entitled "An Air Combat First" in an event attended by members of the Air America Board; pilot Ted Moore; Sawang Reed, the wife of flight mechanic Glenn Woods; CIA paramilitary legend Bill Lair; and the donors of the painting, former Air America officers Marius Burke and Boyd D. Mesecher. [4]

"An Air Combat First" - CIA painting of Air America helicopter engaging 2 VPAF AN-2 biplanes


Ground Battle

By 10 March the communists were ready for another attack, this time utilizing the 41st Dac Cong (sapper) Battalion of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the 923rd PAVN Infantry Battalion, which had the task of capturing and/or destroying the radar equipment and covert USAF personnel at LS-85.

On the night of 10 March the 766th PAVN Regiment launched a diversionary attack preceded by an artillery barrage. Lima Site 85 was encircled by the North Vietnamese to trap the American personnel there, while all egress routes were blocked to prevent rescue by Royal Thai Army "volunteers" and the Hmong Special Geurrilla Unit of the Royal Lao Army. During the night, the North Vietnamese scaled the 5,600-foot (1,700 m) mountain, while the infantry units fought their way up the slopes to create a diversion. The Americans were taken by surprise when 33 sappers appeared with submachine guns and RPG-7s.

Throughout the night, U.S. F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers and A-26 bombers repeatedly hit the attackers, while simultaneously, Air America aircraft were ready to evacuate the survivors. By morning, USAF and Air America missions had airlifted out the surviving defenders from the top of the mountain, the Hmong and Thai troops abandonded the base of the mountain and Lima Site 85 fell to communist forces.

Aftermath
Once the 41st PAVN Sapper Battalion had secured the site, they began collecting the TSQ 81 equipment and documents.

Eleven of the twelve American personnel lost the day of the battle were listed first as missing in action (MIA), then later as killed in action (KIA)/body not recovered. The body of the twelfth American fatality, CMSgt Richard Etchberger, was recovered as he died while protecting three wounded airmen during the rescue. A further 42 soldiers of the Royal Thai Army "volunteers" and of General Vang Pao's Hmong Special Geurrilla Unit were killed during the action.

It was assumed that North Vietnamese soldiers buried the dead Americans or that their remains had been destroyed during air strikes on the base; no claim of POWs was made by the North Vietnamese.

Two days after the fall of Lima Site 85, Captain Donald Elliot Westbrook[5]'s A-1 Skyraider was shot down while searching for possible survivors.

On 18 July 1968 with heavy air support from the CIA and Air Force a few of Vang Pao's Hmong commandos managed to reach the destroyed helipad and TSQ facility, but they were unable to hold the ridgeline. The 148th PAVN Regiment sent Vang Pao's troops reeling with heavy casualties.

For his efforts during the battle, CMSgt Etchberger was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross.[6] In September 2010, Etchberger's sons were present as their father's Air Force Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

The Battle of Lima Site 85 was not declassified until 1983.

[edit] USAF personnel at Phou Pha Thi (Lima Site 85) on 11 March 1968
Rescued: Capt Stanley J. Sliz, SSgt John Daniel, SSgt Bill Husband, SSgt Jack Starling, Sgt Roger Huffman, Howard Freeman (CIA), John Spence (CIA)
KIA during rescue: CMSgt Richard L. Etchberger[7]
MIA later changed to KIA/body not recovered: Lt Col Clarence F. Blanton[8], MSgt James H. Calfee[9], TSgt Melvin A. Holland[10], SSgt Herbert A. Kirk[11], SSgt Henry G. Gish[12], SSgt Willis R. Hall[13], SSgt James W. Davis[14], SSgt David S. Price[15], TSgt Donald K. Springsteadah[16], SSgt Don F. Worley[17]
MIA later changed to KIA/body not recovered later changed to KIA/remains recovered: TSgt Patrick L. Shannon[18]
[edit] Search and recovery of remains at LS-85
Between 1994 and 2004, 11 investigations were conducted by both Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and unilaterally by Lao and Vietnamese investigators on both sides of the border[19].

In 2002 two of the PAVN soldiers who had taken part in the attack told investigators that they threw the bodies of the Americans off the mountain after the attack as they were unable to bury them on the rocky surface[20].

In March 2003, JPAC investigators threw dummies over the edge at those points indicated by the PAVN soldiers while a photographer in a helicopter videotaped their fall. That pointed the investigators to a ledge, 540 feet below. Several mountaineer-qualified JPAC specialists scaled down the cliffs to the ledge where they recovered leather boots in four different sizes, five survival vests, and other fragments of material that indicated the presence of at least four Americans.[21].

On 7 December 2005 the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office announced that the remains of TSgt Patrick L. Shannon had been identified and were being returned to his family[22].

On 14 February 2007 the remains of Captain Donald Westbrook, who had been shot down in 1968 while searching for possible survivors of the Battle of Lima Site 85, were positively identified from remains which had been returned in September 1998