| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
50th Anniversary of Attack on Firebase Tomahawk Action of 138th Field Artillery to be Remembered at Vietnam Veterans Day Capitol Event By Nicole Burton/Lisa Aug Frankfort, KY - The action of Bardstown and other Kentucky National Guard members at Firebase Tomahawk in Vietnam 50 years ago will be a highlight of the Vietnam Veterans Day/Vietnam Commemoration event at the State Capitol on Friday, March 29. The Capitol Rotunda ceremony will begin at 1pmET on Friday, March 29, Vietnam Veterans Day. It will feature the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Traveling Wall and music from the 202nd Military Band. After Gov. Matt Bevin delivers the keynote address, BG Thomas R. Ice, who served with the Second Battalion, 138th Field Artillery in Vietnam, will address the importance of the deployment of the 138th Field Artillery to Vietnam. There will also be artifacts from the unit on display. According to Kentucky National Guard history: On April 19, 1968, the 2d Battalion, 138th Field Artillery with units in Louisville, Bardstown, Elizabethtown and Carrollton, Kentucky were ordered to active duty by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Among 24,500 men ordered to active duty in 88 units across the United States were 570 Kentucky Guardsmen and 750 Kentucky Air Guardsmen. The Kentucky men showed much spirit. This was indicated by their disregard for a Department of Defense policy, which disallowed two brothers serving together in a combat zone. The 2d Battalion had numerous pairs of brothers serving in combat, as well as many who had brothers serving with the U.S. Regulars in South Vietnam. Such concern truly brought out the embedded motto of Kentuckians, "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." The evening of June 19, 1969, was a quiet one for Charlie Battery on Tomahawk Hill. There had been few attacks by the enemy in the previous days and fire missions were at a minimum. It was pouring rain. South Vietnamese rainstorms are much different from those in the States. It comes down with such force that one would think a dam had broken. The rain numbs all hearing senses and limits visibility to one foot. The infiltrators are pleased with such climate as it allows them movement, which normally would be checked. Many of the off-duty men of Charlie were watching a James Bond movie or thinking about their loved ones back in Kentucky. Meanwhile, approximately 150 NVA sappers were amassing outside the perimeter of the compound. Twenty-two infantrymen from the 101st Airborne Division were manning the perimeter. At approximately 1:45 a.m. about 75 of the sappers, with satchel charges strapped to their bodies and carrying RPG's, shoulder-firing rocket launchers, proceeded to snake through the barbed concertina wire barricade. Supported by a mortar unit the NVA sappers completely overran the defending infantry, killing and wounding most of them. A Bardstown man shouted the first alarm and the destruction was on. The sappers ... threw satchel charges into the bunkers, killing and wounding many. The wounded as well as the unharmed fought back with every ounce of life to drive the NVA from the firebase. At the same time, other units of the Kentucky Guard at other firebases were shelled by the NVA so that they could provide little or no fire for Charlie Battery. The sappers delivered approximately 150 satchel charges and RPG's. After destroying an ammunition storage area, three howitzers, nine bunkers, the mess hall, dining tent, maintenance building, four ammunition carriers, three 2 1/2-ton trucks, two 3/4-ton trucks, and three jeeps, the sappers were forced to retreat. Cobra gunships zeroed in on the NVA position and forced the surviving NVA sappers to run for their lives. The enemy felled nine Kentucky Guardsmen, but he lost 23 on the battlefield. Senior Commander in Vietnam, General Creighton Abrams, said the 2nd Battalion 138th Field Artillery, was "one of the best trained, and absolutely the best maintained battalion-sized unit in Vietnam." This story was posted on 2019-03-20 13:49:12
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Veterans and Veterans Day:
DAV Service Officer at VFW Post on Mon 4 Mar Assistance For Veterans (PSA) Governor Recognizes Sacrifice of Fort Campbell Soldier Veterans Breakfast at Post 6097, Sat 19 Jan Flags to half-staff Wed in honor of Korean War serviceman Service Officer will visit Mon 3 Dec at VFW Post 6097 Court goes mobile to help homeless veterans Veterans Art Exhibit will tour state Gov. Bevin recognizes the sacrifice of a KY soldier Garlin Conner Honored at State Capitol Ceremony View even more articles in topic Veterans and Veterans Day |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
