Firebase Sarge (also known as Firebase Dong Toan or Hill 552) is a former U.S. Army and
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...
(ARVN)
firebase
Firebase was a company that developed backend software. It was founded in San Francisco in 2011 and was incorporated in Delaware.
In 2014, Firebase was bought by Google. Its name continues as a set of backend cloud computing services and ...
in
Quang Tri Province, central
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
History
The base was established on Dong Toan Mountain east of
Highway 9 overlooking the site of the former
Vandegrift Combat Base.
1971
The
2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, part of the
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...
, occupied Sarge during 1971.
On 30 March 1971
Hughes OH-6A Cayuse #67-16433 crashed near the landing pad at Sarge killing an
artillery observer
An artillery observer, artillery spotter, or forward observer (FO) is a soldier responsible for directing artillery and mortar fire support onto a target. An artillery observer usually accompanies a tank or infantry unit. Spotters ensure that ...
.
Following the loss of
Hill 950 in June 1971, the
Army Security Agency (ASA) searched for a replacement site for its Explorer III signals interception system and Sarge and
Con Thien
Con Thien (Vietnamese: Cồn Tiên, meaning the "Hill of Angels") was a military base that started out as a U.S. Army Special Forces camp before transitioning to a United States Marine Corps combat base. It was located near the Vietnamese De ...
were selected, with the units installed by December 1971.
The top-secret Explorer equipment was contained in purpose-built bunkers constructed by the 27th
Combat Engineer
A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...
Battalion and operated by U.S. Army technicians from the 407th Radio Research Detachment, Detachment A, 8th Radio Research Field Station (8th RRFS).
[
At 02:00 on 6 June ]People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...
(PAVN) forces attacked South Vietnamese Marines
Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...
northwest of Sarge losing 83 killed for the loss of two Marines. On 18 June approximately 400 PAVN attacked Sarge, they were forced back by the 200 Marine defenders with U.S. air support with 95 PAVN and 13 Marines killed.
On 15 August the PAVN attacked Sarge again, losing 29 killed for the loss of four Marines. On 19 August Marines killed 11 PAVN in an ambush near Sarge. On 21 August the South Vietnamese withdrew all artillery and most of the Marines from Firebase Sarge, leaving only approximately 200 Marines at the base.
1972
By January 1972 the ARVN 3rd Division had assumed responsibility for the area north of Highway 9.[
During March 1972, then Major Walter E. Boomer, adviser to the 4th VNMC reported to the 3rd Division headquarters that the PAVN appeared to be building up their forces west of Sarge and the 8th RRFS reported that the PAVN had established an artillery headquarters 6 km southwest of Sarge.][
The PAVN launched their ]Easter Offensive
The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive (') by North Vietnam, or the Red Fiery Summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN, t ...
on 30 March 1972 and PAVN artillery fire killed 15 Marines at Sarge that day. A direct hit of the 8th RRFS bunker ignited Thermite demolition charges, incinerating the two U.S. Army operators inside.[ The artillery fire was followed by a ground attack by the PAVN 66th Regiment which by 02:00 on 1 April had succeeded in penetrating the base's defense perimeter. At 03:45 Major Boomer and the 4th VNMC command group abandoned the base and escaped through PAVN lines into the surrounding jungle.][ By 2 April Major Boomer and 8 Vietnamese Marines had made it to the relative safety of Mai Loc Camp.][ 4th VNMC losses were 347 out of an initial strength of 632 Marines.][
]
Current use
The base has reverted to jungle.
References
{{reflist
Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam
Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Buildings and structures in Quảng Trị province