USS MULLINNIX DD-944

Battle for Quang Tri City - 1972

BOARD THE DESTROYER MULLINNX, Vietnam - "That guy's got guts," the red-bearded Navy chief said as he focused his binoculars on a lumbering speck. "I'd be out of the SOB and running."

The speck, a North Vietnamese truck or armored vehicle, skittered down the tortured strip of beach like an insect touched by match flame. Explosions crept after it - grayish puffs tinged with reddish sand, blossoms of smoke like lethal shrubbery with a spray of iron thorns.

Click on the picture at left to hear what it must have sounded like from the North Vietnamese' perspective.

The five-inch guns on the Mullinnix hurled away more packets of explosive - first the sharp, deafening slam, then the cloud of pungent fume and the small blizzard of seared cork and pulverized cardboard wadding that showered spectators along the rail.

Three-and-a-half miles offshore, 12 miles from a ruined town called Quang Tri, they were coldly moved by the magnified spectacle of impersonally dealt death.

Sixty enemy soldiers had been moving down the beach in preposterously exposed fashion; 10 were seized up by the blasts, hideously mangled, flung aside. One olive-colored vehicle was a flickering pyre and another swayed away frantically as the explosions grasped for it, finally vanishing behind a sand dune.

A fleet of flimsy sampans was blown away. A coastal fishing village was erased. A laconic voice from the hovering Air Force spotter told it all: "Best shooting I've seen in six weeks. Terrific job. These guys really know how to pound it out."

But there were no cheers, handshakes or satisfied smiles among the youngsters on the Mullinnix, a 3,850-ton destroyer recently called from Norfolk and softer Atlantic Fleet duty to join a procession of warships called The Gunline. Their morale was good, but silent and cohesive - the kind of purposeful spirit common on a smaller ship with small town closeness.

The gunfire mission was little more than trained response. Many had other things to think about. For Ensign Alan Nibbs, who wore khaki cutoffs and a picturesque beard that made him look like Donald Sutherland in M*A*S*H, there was a hasty marriage and a two-day honeymoon - a necessity dictated by sudden orders that took him from the xxxxx Virginia coastline to a bench that has a scrubby xxxx of trees and was clotted by the worst kind of pollution.

Others had trouble erasing images of a leisurely cruise to Vera Cruz, Panama and Curacao - and of sudden and painful good-byes that were made just a few weeks before they passed their second day on a long line of gray vessels that pounded the shore and targets inland.

Some spoke their mind on sharper issues.

"I'm against this war," said Radioman S. C. Neil E. Tapxxxx(?) of Baltimore. "I don't think we're fighting for American freedom here. But if Nixon says this will get us out, fine. If not, well, we've wasted a few more people. We're all part of this ship and that's what keeps us going. We all trained for this job. Now we're doing it."

He had a beard too. Well-trimmed ones are tolerated, along with spirited opinions of dissent - providing they don't lead to demonstrations or sit-ins on the quarterdeck.

The hysteria of gunfire had shaken the exotic nude on the wardroom wall - the one that replaces a more xxxxxx painting of two sailboats, posted for the benefit of wives and sweethearts when the destroyer is back in Norfolk. Cmdr. James R. Cannon, the captain, poured coffee for visitors and explained this paradoxical Age of Aquarius and Zumwalt.

"Well, they're not enthusiastic about being here but they are enthusiastic about going to a new part of the world and being part of this ship. There are no hawks, as such, on board. But if you sit down and ask a man about the war, he might not sound too different from Dr. Spock."

Seaman Apprentice Roger xxxxxx, who is 19 and comes from Hartford, explained he was proud of the efficient way he and the others in the ship's magazine passed ammunition to gunners, who carried on a war he did not believe in.

"I just want to get out", he said, "I wish it would stop, I think we're wrong by being here. I don't think we should be. If they can't fight their own war xxxxx xxxx it's a nice ship. I don't mind being on it. I just don't like being here."

There it is.

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29 June Saigon (UPI) -

[The day the Mullinnix headed back to Vietnam from 11 days at Subic Bay]

task force of more than 20,000 South Vietnamese troops backed by U.S. air and naval bombardments drove through North Vietnamese defenders Thursday to within 5 miles of Quang Tri City.

The 20,000-man task force was joined by 1,000 fresh troops flown in from Saigon aboard American helicopters and landed near the coast. Spearheads of the task force were reported to have advanced up to 7 miles in a three-pronged offensive.

Quang Tri City fell to the Communist spring offensive on May 1 and President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered his troops to recapture all lost territory.

Field reports said the advancing columns have killed at least 350 North Vietnamese soldiers so far in the 2-day drive and that government casualties were 15 dead and 50 wounded.

Communist forces in Quang Tri, said to be remnants of four division battered by constant U.S. air strikes, were estimated Wednesday at about 20,000 men.

Brig. Gen. Bui Thi Lan, commander of the South Vietnam marine division that joined paratroopers and Black Panther commandos in the offensive, said Quang Tri City could be captured within four days if his men were ordered to do so.

With the South Vietnamese offensive pushing into Quang Tri there was no letup in the air war against North Vietnam. U.S. spokesmen said American planes flew 240 sorties Wednesday and hit an air base 30 miles south of the China border.

U.S. combat casualties fell last week to the lowest level in more than 3 months. Two men were killed and 22 wounded, the U.S. command reported Thursday. A spokesman said the number of Americans missing in action, however, rose by 21 last week to a total of 1,630. "Most of our missing have been pilots," he said.

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30 June Saigon (UPI) - outh Vietnamese paratroopers flown into battle Friday by U.S. helicopters battled to within a mile of Quang Tri City, front dispatches reported. The dispatches said they destroyed eight North Vietnamese tanks in heavy fighting in the suburbs.

President Nguyen Van Thieu visited a forward command post at Hai Lang, only six miles from Quang Tri, and reliable but unofficial sources said he ordered his men to capture Quang Tri City Friday night.. However he told newsmen capture of the city itself was 'not important'.

The Two battalions of paratroopers were landed by American helicopters only 3 miles from the provincial capital after B52s had dropped tons of bombs on the heavily-dug-in Communists. The troops pushed forward tow miles by foot to La Vang, a suburb only a mile southwest of Quang Tri, the front dispatches said.

There was heavy air support for the advancing South Vietnamese, part of a 20,000-man task force which drove into Quang Tri Province three days ago under orders in capture it within a three-month period. The province fell to the Communist spring offensive on May 1.

In an informal conference at Phu Bai, five miles south of Hue, before flying to the front, Thieu told newsmen in English: "You have put too much responsibility on the city of Quang Tri. The city of Quang Tri is not important as the province of Quang Tri and the four North Vietnamese army division there."

"Our troops have been given the order to destroy the 4 NVA divisions and to capture all of the province of Quang Tri. Then we will not have any problems taking the city of Quang Tri."

Thieu, who also visited U.S. 7th Fleet warships bombarding Communist positions in the province, said, "things have gone very well for our men here and I am very confident for the coming days."

While South Vietnamese troops drove northward in their efforts to recapture the province, only one to fall in the spring offensive, other North Vietnamese and Viet Cong units developed a new threat to Hue.

Allied officers said a company of government infantrymen abandoned Artillery Base Checkmate 12 miles southwest of Hue early Friday after a night of intense Communist infantry and artillery attacks.

U.S. fighters and bombers hit the base and the surrounding area Friday in hopes of trapping that attacking force estimated at one battalion (400 to 600 men).

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2 July Saigon (UPI) - ore than 25 miles north of Hue, torrential rains bogged down a 20,000-man South Vietnamese push to recapture Quang Tri from the North Vietnamese.

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5 July Saigon (UPI) - 1,200-man South Vietnamese force moved into Quang Tri city Wednesday, set up a command post and fanned out through the ruined city's business and residential districts. However government spokesmen said they would not list the city as recaptured until government troops controlled the walled citadel in the center of the town.

Military sources said the troops met only light resistance but no attempt was made to storm the citadel, the possible Communist headquarters.

A 20,000-man South Vietnamese task force moved north into Quang Tri province more than one week ago. SO fare, fighting has been relatively light and allied officers said they do not know where the estimated 48,000 Communists who took the province May 1 are hiding.

The provincial capital has been leveled by bomb in attacks since the Communists captured the province.

While the lead elements moved into the city with little resistance South Vietnamese marines seven miles southeast of Quang Tri city met with a heavy North Vietnamese counterattack from a battalion supported b y 15 tanks. The marines reported no tanks knocked out but said 48 communists were killed with government casualties placed at nine dead and 16 wounded.

Two miles southeast of Quang Tri city at sundown Tuesday, a battalion of about 500 Communists attacked government troops in and assault led by 18 tanks and at about the same time, another battalion attacked seven miles east of the city. No casualty reports were available on either skirmish.

Tuesday, U.S. warplanes flying path clearing missions for the paratroop advance accidentally bombed a government position, killing 10 solider and wounding 30 others. The U.S. Command said the incident, the first of its kind since the government thrust into the province began, occurred 5 miles southeast of the city. The command had few other details.

In the air war over North Vietnam, the U.S. Command said Wednesday U.S. jet fighter-bombers flew 320 mission Tuesday, hitting three major military targets within 4 miles of Hanoi and blasting a big military air base and rail yard further from the capital city.

The command said U.S. Air Force F4 Phantom fighter-bombers using laser-guided 'smart' bombs hit the Quynh Loi supply depot 3 miles south of Hanoi. The Hanoi military vehicle depot four miles south of the city and the Hanoi vehicle repair facility.

Spokesmen said the 320 raids were the most over the north in 8 days. Communist gunner slammed 5 rockets into Hue early Wednesday. The attack was the fourth in as many days on Hue. 10 miles west of Hue Tuesday, South Vietnamese troops backed by artillery and allied air strikes fought off a North Vietnamese attack and reported killing 67 Communists.

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14 July Saigon (AP) - n the ground war, more heavy fighting was reported Friday on South Vietnam's northern front, where 20,000 Saigon troops are on a drive to retake Quang Tri Province, which fell to the North Vietnamese May 1.

The Saigon command said its troops had not entered the Quang Tri City limits, but reported a series of battles ranging from two to 3 ½ miles northeast of the provincial capital.

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18 July Saigon (UPI) - wo underwater explosions rocked the destroyer USS Warrington Monday off North Vietnam, the U.S. Command said Tuesday.

One crewman was slightly injured, the command said. He was given first aid and returned to duty.

The Warrington left the scene, about 20 miles offshore from the North Vietnamese panhandle, under its own power. But after its engine room began to flood, it was taken under tow, though the flooding was brought under control. The destroyer was enroute Tuesday to Subic Bay in the Philippines for repairs.

Other naval ships joined with U.S. Air Force B52 bombers and allied tactical aircraft and helicopters Tuesday to bombard North Vietnamese reinforcements trying to reach Quang Tri City. Military spokesmen said the B52s pounded Communist staging areas within 3 miles of the city Monday night.

A U.S. Command spokesman said 42 B52s dropped more than 1,000 tons of explosives on suspected Communist positions 3 to 14 miles west, north and south of the embattled city.

About 2,500 North Vietnamese troops were spotted last week in northwestern Quang Tri Province, and an estimated 15,000 Communist soldiers are believed to have been pulled from the battlefields in Laos to North Vietnam. Allied officers expressed fears the fresh troops may be thrown in the battle for Quang Tri.

Radio Hanoi, monitored in Saigon, said 2 U.S. jets were shot down Tuesday over North Vietnam. The report, which brings to 3,749 the number of U.S. warplanes Hanoi claims to have shot down since 1964, did not mention the fate of the crews. The U.S. Command said 996 planes have been shot down over the North during the same period.

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20 July Complied from News Wires - n fighting in South Vietnam, Communist gunners Wednesday shot down a U.S. jet-fighter-bomber, and two U.S. helicopter supporting the South Vietnamese drive to recapture Quang Tri City Four Americans were wounded.

In Quang Tri, meanwhile, South Vietnamese paratroopers advanced to within 50 yards of the Citadel despite a counterattack by North Vietnamese infantry and tanks. But informants said there would be no attempt to storm the walled fortress until more government troops reach forward positions and more North Vietnamese tanks are knocked out.

American casualties in the Vietnam war last week included eight killed in action, five dead from non-hostile causes, 14 missing or captured and 26 wounded, the U.S. Command announced in its weekly summary Thursday.

South Vietnamese losses were put at 837 killed, compared to 661 for the previous week, and 2,367 wounded, compared to 2,585. The number of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong killed dropped from 3,320 to 2,871.

North and South Vietnam, for opposing reasons, Thursday observed the 18th anniversary of the partition of Vietnam.

The South Vietnamese call it a national day of shame.

The North vowed to fight "until final victory for total liberation of South Vietnam" and reunification of the country.

July 20 is the only modern anniversary commemorated by both North and South Vietnam. In 1954 the Geneva accords were signed dividing North and South Vietnam at the 17th Parallel.
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The AP article on the right is from the USS Warrington website. __________

Late July Compiled from News Wires: Saigon - outh Vietnamese troops made major advances on two fronts Monday, fighting their way to the walls of Quang Tri Citadel in the northern counteroffensive and recapturing a second district town on the central coast.

In the air war, American jets bombed the southern sector of Hanoi on Sunday for the second successive day, setting a battery plant on fire and triggering a dozen explosions, the U.S. Command reported. Pilots said smoke rose 4,000 feet over the North Vietnamese capital.

AP correspondent Dennis Neeld reported from Quang Tri that government paratroopers pushed through a hail of North Vietnamese artillery on the approaches to the Citadel, then encountered withering fire through two breaches in the 40-foot walls of the 19th century fortress.

Meanwhile, in Binh Dinh Province, on the central coast, more than 1,000 South Vietnamese rangers moving on foot and by helicopter recaptured the district town of Tam Quan, AP photographer Neal Ulevich reported. He said the North Vietnamese put up only light resistance.

As the South Vietnamese force moved in, at least 2,000 civilians emerged cautiously from underground bunkers. The troops rounded them up for processing.

Other war-related reports: From Washington - Pentagon sources report that fresh supplies of motor fuel apparently have started flowing into North Vietnam through a new pipeline from South China.

In addition, U.S. reconnaissance planes recently located a new petroleum storage depot tying into the pipeline.

From Phnom Pehn - Cambodian and South Vietnamese forces reentered Kompong forces since April, after Allied fighter planes bombarded the Hwy. 1 market town late Sunday night, field reports said.

From Vientiane, Laos - Civilians in North Vietnam show high moral and good humor despite renewed U.S. bombings.

Two Americans who visited there, John A. Sullivan and Dr. George A. Perera, staff members of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker service organization, said they sought the safety of bomb shelters 34 times during their seven-day trip to North Vietnam to deliver surgical equipment.

From Saigon - Four more newsmen have been killed in Vietnam, bringing the death toll to sic in the four-month-old North Vietnamese offensive.

They are: Gerard Hebert, Canadian photographer; Terence Khoo and Sam Kai-Faye, Singapore TV cameramen, and Tran Van Nghia, South Vietnamese Army photographer.

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