ambush of the 173rd airborne

[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. Because their heavily armored tanks required so much maintenance, the 173rd incorporated much of 4th ID's area of operation into their own. A and D companies of 1st Bn., 12th Inf. He was arrested May 30 at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza. [3][24], On 26 March 1963, the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) was assigned to the Regular Army and activated on Okinawa. The platoon was surrounded and wiped out with 22 killed and one missing. 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. 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. All told, the 1st Brigade lost 86 KIA during Dak To, with the 3rd Bn., 8th Inf., accounting for 46 KIA and 3rd Bn., 12th Inf., sacrificing 24 KIA. The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers"[1]) is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. [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. Rick Holmes of C company, 2nd battalion, 503rd infantry, 173rd airborne brigade, sits down on January 3, 1966, in Vietnam. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Ex-Soldier Gets 45 Years Behind Bars for Plotting 'Jihadist Attack' on These contacts prompted division commander Major General William R. Peers to request reinforcement and, as a result, on 17 June, two battalions of Brigadier General John R. Deane's 173rd Airborne Brigade were moved into the Dak To area to begin sweeping the jungle-covered mountains in Operation Greeley. On 8 November 1965, the 173rd took part in Operation Hump, just north of Bin Ha on the outskirts of Saigon,[35] the capital of South Vietnam. The Army did not immediately respond Friday to comment about when Melzer was discharged from the service. [102] The 173rd IBCT(A) officially relieved the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division on 6 June 2007.[102]. Nearly surrounded, Lozada jumped from his covered position and fired his M-60 from the hip, providing further cover for fellow soldiers when he was mortally wounded. Official websites use .gov The 173rd Airborne Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in March 2005 under the command of Colonel Kevin Owens, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army Photo by Visual Information Specialist Davide Dalla Massara) Read more Image Jumping in July, 173rd Airborne at Aviano Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. [7] The 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry colors were moved to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina to serve under the 82nd Airborne Division. US Army soldier gets 45 years for neo-Nazi plot to ambush his own However, in the long run the operation appeared no more successful than Fairfax's efforts to clean up Gia Dinh Province around Saigon prior to the Tet Offensive. [63] For its combined actions during operations around Dak To, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. He said Melzer's fellow paratroopers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were left feeling angry as . While her case was underway, she ran for Secretary of State of Colorado, and lost the GOP primary. Piano Sign Up, {{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}, Neo-Nazi soldier who planned to ambush army unit jailed for attempted murder, Critics call for FEC investigation of Rupert Murdoch leak of Biden ads to Jared Kushner, Election denier Tina Peters found guilty and could be going to jail, violating the terms of a protective order, Trans kids could be legally kidnapped by parents under proposed Florida law: report. Vietnam War: The Early Years through rare photographs, 1965-1967 [3][25] As the Pacific quick-reaction force, they were the first brigade to be sent to South Vietnam two years later when hostilities escalated there. In the days leading up to the fight for Hill 875, 4th ID units sought out the enemy south of Dak To. was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which . NAME AND TYPE OF OPERATION: Unnamed ambush patrol on Route 19, RVN. was inserted into a landing zone on Hill 823 and wound up losing 20 KIA, 154 WIA and two MIA. parade field at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza Italy, to help uncase the colors of the most valorous,. [97] The Turkish forces were eventually released. U.S. aircraft hit enemy positions as close as 50 meters to the perimeter as GIs dug in for an NVA night attack. 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 [. Short Range Ambush Platoon - 50th Infantry Regiment The Vietnamese then unleashed B-40 rockets and 57mm recoilless rifle fire on the Americans. The 3rd Brigade went off jump status on 1 April 1974, the same date on which the Airmobile Badge (Air Assault Badge as of 4 October 1974) was introduced. At that time, he consumed propaganda from several extremist groups. In September 2014, about 200 soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Regiment, 173rd BDE participated in the Rapid Trident exercise near Lviv in western Ukraine. 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. Though they were severely bloodied, the paratroopers inflicted even heavier losses on the NVA. 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. He was arrested by the FBI on June 10, 2022 after investigators claimed he gave sensitive military information to the Order of Nine Angles, a British neo-Nazi Satanist group with pro-Jihadi views that encourages extreme violence in an effort to destabilize society and attempts to overthrow what it views as Jewish control of global culture and economics. [96] These operations, though successful, would have been more effective if the 4th Infantry Division's four heavy brigades were able to enter Iraq through Turkey as originally planned. At the same time that Hello Dollyopened at NhaTrang airbase, a company of 173rd Airborne had walked into an ambush in Viet Cong base zone, known as the Iron Triangle. [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. Reproduced from VFW Magazine, March 2006 issue, article by Tim Dyhouse. Todays sentence holds Mr. Melzer accountable for an egregious and shameful act of betrayal against his own military unit and his country, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Departments National Security Division. 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. [128], Illinois Route 173, which runs for 66 miles along the Illinois/Wisconsin border was designated the "173rd Airborne Brigade Highway" in 2008. During the day, the company lost 8 men killed and 21 wounded. The 173rd Airborne Brigade fielded the 1st, 2nd and 4th battalions of the 503rd Inf. The plan eliminated regiments but reintroduced brigades to the Army's structure, allowing three brigades to a division. The brigade returned most recently from a deployment stretching from late 2013 to late 2014. He then eliminated nine enemy soldiers who were assaulting his position. But they certainly did no more than the many other non-elites did, like 4th Division grunts, the artillery and others.. Former Army soldier who plotted 'jihadi attack' on fellow service In October 2019, Melzer and his unit were deployed to Italy as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. [91] Over the next 96 hours, the wing landed in the remaining 1,200 soldiers of the brigade as well as their vehicles. A second base was opened in Vicenza called Del Din and is the current headquarters of the 173rd. O9A espouses neo-Nazi, antisemitic and Satanic beliefs and promotes extreme violence to accelerate and cause the demise of Western civilization. Its "glorification of violence and mysticism has found a renewed international audience," he said. [5], After Vietnam, the Army retained the 173rd Airborne Brigade as a quick deploying contingency brigade. it would be another war . In order to form a more lethal unit: the merging of the National Guard verso bottom right in pencil "Ambush of 173rd airborne / Iron Triangle 9/1965" in pencil on stamp "2/2k8" Signed in pencil on verso lower right: "Tim Page 8/25" Circular stamp on verso lower right: "chromacolour.com.au * / ARCHIVAL / ILFOCHROME / CLASSIC" Cataloguing data may change with further research. On the afternoon of 21 November, both battalions moved out to take the crest. Headquarters, 173rd Airborne Brigade. [64], The intense fighting during the Battle of Dak To took a heavy human toll on the 173rd. Prosecutors said Melzer was involved with the group starting in 2017 and joined the U.S. Army the next year specifically to help O9A "infiltrate its ranks," according to a Justice Department statement Friday. Satanist Soldier Who Plotted To Slaughter Companions Sentenced To 45 The brigade returned to its home station in Europe in November 2010. For example, after describing the units weaponry during the deployment and providing information consistent with the briefings he had received Melzer described to his co-conspirators how an attack would essentially cripple the units fire-teams.. Ambush by VC Foiled, March 1970 Ambush by VC Foiled from Vol. The enormous amounts of ordnance expended by both forces had turned the once-lush tropical jungle into a scarred and torn landscape.. 173rd Airborne Brigade in Kirkuk, Iraq (#152) - Any Soldier In an interview with FBI agents, he admitted being a traitor against the U.S. and confessed that he planned to cause the mass casualties of U.S. service members. The LRS detachment and 5th Group ODA conducted many combined and individual operations to ensure the stability of the region. As the father of four young boys, I know that childhood is as special as it is short. Melzer also wrote that he was expecting results and was willing to die to further the agenda of the Order of the Nine Angles. The 173rd participated in the initial invasion of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and had four tours in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 200506, 200708, 200910, and 201213. In command for five months, I had been assured that I would be leading the company for one year, which suited me fine. "He is not the unrepentant monster the prosecutors and the Court portrayed him to be," defense attorney Jonathan Marvinny said by email. Soldier charged with plotting 'mass casualty' attack on his own unit", "Army soldier charged with giving classified info to satanic neo-Nazi group", "Press Release - Statement regarding incident in Cheshnegirovo", "Big and Rich talk about inspiration behind their '8 November', "Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0886", "Medal of Honor Recipients Vietnam (A-L)", "Medal of Honor Recipients Vietnam (M-Z)", "Readout of the President's call with Specialist Salvatore Giunta", "Former sergeant to receive Medal of Honor for Afghanistan actions. Web. Div., charging up the south slope. Every objective was taken. Step 2 - Use PayPal with the highest . According to court documents, Melzer is a member of O9A. While there, he consumed extremists propaganda from O9A and the Islamic State. The weather, however, during the Nov. 1-23 continuous battles was excellent, according to F. Clifton Berry, Jr., in The Illustrated History of Sky Soldiers, The Vietnam War, with dry conditions and daily high and low temperatures between 91 and 55 degrees. 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. B Company counted 21 KIA and 17 WIA after the firefight. The 173rd Airborne paratroopers trained the Ukrainians on how to better defend themselves against Russian and rebel artillery and rockets. To further the attack plan, Melzer and his co-conspirators passed these messages to a purported member of al Qaeda. First Military Choice. And vets of that proud unit feel the sting. Cataloguing data may change with further research. A search of the battlefield revealed only 15 dead North Vietnamese. A U.S. soldier wears an Army Airborne patch during military drills in Kazlu Ruda, Lithuania, on March 1, 2022. prosecutors alleged that Melzer intended to spark a jihadist terror attack on his own unit. If you served in 173rd Airborne Brigade, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. Supporting the Veterans, Soldiers and Friends of the 4th Infantry Division Since 1919. Address: 18458 East Orkney Street, Azusa CA 91702-0219. . Five times troopers tried to hold him back, yet Watters persisted in aiding and carrying the wounded back to safety. 2023 Stars and Stripes. Melzer, 22, was arrested last spring in Italy, where he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and pleaded not guilty in September to eight charges, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals . Sebastian Junger On The Thrill And Hell Of 'War' - NPR.org [82] A few days later, the 173rd and 10th Special Forces Group departed for northern Iraq. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe.[3]. [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. Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Attempting [60] This time the Americans gained the crest, but the PAVN had already abandoned their positions, leaving only a few dozen charred bodies and weapons. [121], In May 2021, as part of the NATO training exercise Swift Response 2021, soldiers of the brigade were simulating seizing and securing the decommissioned Cheshnegirovo airfield in Bulgaria. [94] As Task Force Bayonet, the brigade included the: 503rd Infantry; 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry; 173rd Combat Support Company; 74th Infantry Detachment (LRS); Battery D, 319th Field Artillery; 501st Forward Support Company; and the attached 1st Battalion, 63rd Armor of the 1st Infantry Division from Rose Barracks, Germany; 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson, Colorado; and Company B, 110th Military Intelligence Battalion of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, New York. War Zone 'C' ambush of the 173rd Airborne during the - reddit Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison For Attempting [32] The brigade was put under the command of IIField Force, Vietnam. Army paratroopers assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade conduct a combined arms exercise in Germany. A former member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on Friday for plotting with a white supremacist group to attack his fellow soldiers, officials . Upon learning the importance and sensitivity of his upcoming deployment, Melzer immediately began passing that information to members of O9A. In an instant, he leaped on the device, shielding the blast with his body. [66] The company commander, Captain Robert Helmick, was awarded the DSC. [95] The unit then took part in Operation Peninsula Strike, quelling Ba'ath party resistance and other insurgent groups. .] [139], Sixteen soldiers have been awarded the Medal of Honor for service with the 173rd IBCT(A) and its subordinate units. [5] Under Williamson, the unit trained extensively, making mass parachute jumps. [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". [15] The troop entered combat in 1944 and fought in three European campaigns; central Europe, the Rhineland and Ardennes-Alsace operations. Department of The Army In the 1987 movie Lethal Weapon, the patch worn by Danny Glover's fictional character Roger Murtaugh during a retrospective of his time in Vietnam was that of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Melzers proposed attack evolved as he gathered and distributed additional sensitive information about the deployment. Vietnamization, as later conceived in 1969, was not an objective, and, in fact, the entire effort represented a return to the old strategy of pacification, with American combat operations now tied much closer to the overall task of local security. Privacy Policy. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Artillery from A Bty., 3rd Bn., 319th Artillery Regt., and air strikes started ravaging the hilltop. John Barnes of C Company earned a posthumous Medal of Honor when he saved the lives of several wounded men by throwing himself on a grenade. The unit fought in the Iron Triangle, a VC stronghold north of Saigon,[35][39] seeing many engagements with VC forces during that time. A former U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday after he plotted to ambush his unit and illegally shared classified information with a violent transnational extremist organization, of which he was a member. Carlos Lozada, after receiving orders to retreat back up the hill, provided covering fire, at times walking backward up the hill spraying M-60 machine-gun fire into the brush on either side of the trail. Melzer joined the U.S. Army in approximately 2018 and infiltrated its ranks as part of an insight role to further his goals as an O9A adherent. [112], In February 2015, 750 soldiers from the brigade and from units of the Hungarian Armed Forces, namely 24th Bornemissza Gergely Reconnaissance Battalion, 34th Bercsnyi Lszl Special Operations Battalion, and the 25/88th Light Mixed Battalion participated in the exercise "Warlord Rock 2015". 501FSC, 173rd Abn Bde. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Far too often, the part played by Ivy Division GIs at Dak To is glossed over. On Veterans Day, Task Force Black (170 men of the 1st Bn., 503rd Inf.) In order to successfully accomplish this mission, the battalion . 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.. By unlawfully disclosing his units location, strength, and armaments to other O9A members and jihadists in furtherance of this ambush, Melzer traitorously sought to attack the very soldiers he was entrusted to protect. The following year, he deployed to Italy with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. [37] Late in August 1966, the 173rd received another infantry battalion, the 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.