Unit History
The First Team Goes Home — The Brigade Stays
The 1st Cavalry Division was the first U.S. Army division to deploy to Vietnam, in 1965, and it would be the last to leave. On 26 March 1971 the division officially ended its combat duties in Vietnam, and through that spring the bulk of the "First Team" redeployed to Fort Hood, Texas. But Vietnamization and the phased American withdrawal still called for a strong U.S. combat presence, so the division did not leave entirely.
On 30 April 1971 the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Separate) — the "Garryowen Task Force" — was organized at Bien Hoa to carry on. It was built from four maneuver battalions, among them 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, alongside the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry; 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry; and 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry — plus F Troop, 9th Cavalry and the 215th Support Battalion. D Company's parent battalion was one of the units that stayed. The brigade's focus shifted from the Tay Ninh / War Zone C border screen of the late 1960s to interdiction in War Zone D and the defense of the Saigon–Long Binh complex. It was now the last U.S. Army ground combat brigade in the country.
This is the hinge of D Company's later story. Every record on this page from 1971 and 1972 — the FSB Fontaine contacts of April 1971, the loss at Núi Bà that October, the Chinook crash of May 1972 — happened after the division had gone home, while these men kept fighting under the Separate brigade. The April 1971 Fontaine actions fell during the stand-down itself, as the division packed up around them. The brigade finally cased its colors on 20 June 1972 and departed for Fort Hood on 29 June 1972 — first in, last out.
The records below are grouped by kind — contacts, incidents, crashes, operations, morale, and memorials — and ordered by year within each. Select a tab to explore.
Engagements and firefights involving D Company.
D Company Losses — Hill 732, November 4, 1965
Hill 732, Chu Pong–Ia Drang area, Pleiku Province, RVN (vicinity LZ Juliet)
D Company at Bong Son — September 19, 1966 (Death of 2LT Derosier; LTC Tackaberry's Distinguished Service Cross)
Near Bong Son, Binh Dinh Province (II Corps), RVN
D Company Losses — Binh Dinh Province, January 28, 1967
Binh Dinh Province, II Corps, RVN — Kim Son Valley; D Co at LZ Minh (BR707760), January 1967
D Company Loss — 2LT Michael E. Bennett, Small Arms Fire, Binh Dinh Province, November 1, 1967
Binh Dinh Province, II Corps, RVN
D Company's Night Ambush at Tam Quan — December 11, 1967 (Death of SP4 Follett and SP4 Paulson)
Binh Dinh Province (II Corps), RVN — D Company ambush position vic BS 926048, on the Bong Son Plain south of Trường Lâm, blocking escape routes into the Cay Giep Mountains
D Company Bunker-Complex Contact — June 4, 1968 (YD324393)
YD324393, I Corps, RVN
D Company Friendly-Fire Casualty — June 4, 1968 (YD324398)
YD324398, I Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — June 5, 1968 (YD325393)
YD325393, I Corps, RVN
D Company Loss — PFC John Wheeler, June 12, 1968 (circumstances unresolved)
Quang Tri Province, I Corps, RVN
D Company Booby Trap and Detention — June 20, 1968 (YD353475)
YD353475, I Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — June 26, 1968 (YD288321)
YD288321, I Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — June 28, 1968 (1st Platoon)
I Corps, RVN (exact grid not given)
D Company Contact — June 30, 1968 (YD288318)
YD288318, I Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — SGT Robert Ross, July 1, 1968 (YD293319)
YD293319, I Corps, RVN
SP4 Raymond Ahern Killed — Rocket Attack on LZ Rita, November 26, 1968
FSB/LZ Rita (XT505795), Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — the Fishhook
D Company Losses — Operation Sheridan Sabre, December 4, 1968
Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — War Zone C (Fishhook area / Saigon River corridor)
D Company Loss — Operation Sheridan Sabre, January 21, 1969
FSB Rita (XT505795), Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — 2nd Brigade Fishhook AO
D Company Losses — Operation Sheridan Sabre, January 28, 1969
Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — War Zone C (Fishhook area / Saigon River corridor); operating base FSB Rita (LZ Rita)
D Company Losses — Operation Sheridan Sabre, February 5, 1969
Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN — a creek crossing in D Company's AO near FSB Saint Barbara (confirmed grid XT275684, 11.4748/106.1651 — see locations/fsb-st-barbara/), nicknamed "Colavita Creek" by the company afterward. The exact grid of the creek crossing itself, relative to that base, is not established.
D Company Losses — Command-Detonated Ambush, Hau Nghia, May 25, 1969
Hau Nghia Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — Tay Ninh Province, July 13, 1969
Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Base Attack — FSB Becky, Tay Ninh Province, August 11-12, 1969
Fire Support Base Becky, War Zone C, Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Sweep West of FSB Becky — Tay Ninh Province, August 16, 1969
West of Fire Support Base Becky, War Zone C, Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Ground Contact — LZ Ike, Tay Ninh Province, ~September 11, 1969
LZ Ike vicinity, Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Loss — PFC Kenneth Frierson, Killed in Action, January 25, 1970
Hau Nghia Province, III Corps, RVN. Exact grid position not established.
D Company Loss — CPL Frank Ware, Tay Ninh Province, March 6, 1970
Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company at the Dog's Head — War Zone C, March 18–19, 1970
Dog's Head area, War Zone C, Tay Ninh Province, III Corps, RVN
D Company Contact — 2/8 Cav Engages Enemy, Binh Tuy Province, September 3, 1970
Binh Tuy Province, III Corps, RVN
Trotter Contact -- Range 3, 2 February 1971
On a trotter (trail), War Zone field, III Corps, RVN
Enemy Contact Near FSB Fontaine
Suối Gia Ui, Long Khanh Province, RVN
Bunker Complex Sweep — High Saddle, Binh Tuy Province
Southeast of FSB Fontaine, high saddle, Binh Tuy Province, RVN
Contact at Nui Ba Mountains — Death of PFC Makowski
Nui Ba Mountains, Binh Tuy Province, RVN