Firebase Delta

Firebase Delta
Coordinates 14°31′44″N 107°47′46″E / 14.529°N 107.796°E / 14.529; 107.796 (Firebase Delta)
Type Army Base
Site history
Built 1967
In use 1967-72
Battles/wars
Vietnam War
Battle of Kontum
Garrison information
Occupants Vietnamese Rangers

Firebase Delta is a former Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of Kontum in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

History

The base was established approximately 25 km northwest of Kontum.[1]

At the start of the Easter Offensive the base was defended by one company of ARVN Airborne and one of Rangers. On 31 March 1972 a CH-47 of the 180th Assault Support Helicopter Company on a resupply mission to the base was shot down, the crew survived and made it to the base.[2] On the morning of 3 April as U.S. forces were attempting to evacuate the CH-47 crew the base came under attack by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 52nd Regiment, the assault was repulsed using intensive tactical air strikes and the PAVN suffered 353 killed.[2]:86

On 21 April the PAVN launched an assault by 3 tanks supported by infantry and by the evening had succeeded in overrunning the base.[3]

Current use

The base has reverted to jungle.

References

  1. Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. pp. 5–142. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  2. 1 2 McKenna, Thomas (2011). Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky. p. 85. ISBN 9780813134017.
  3. "U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Command History 1972, Annex K. Kontum, 1973. MACV" (PDF). p. K-6. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
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