Health & Fitness
New Movie Tells the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
A new movie will tell the story of the last major battle in the Vietnam War.
On Saturday, June 30, 2012, I was fortunate enough, as a former 101st Airborne Division veteran of Vietnam, to be invited to The Battle of Ripcord feature film press conference event.
It was hosted by the director of the upcoming film, Shannon C. Lanier. Mr. Lanier had heard about this arguably final major battle in Vietnam and wondered why the story had never been told in its entirety. His decision to create a film has produced what will be the first film about the 101st Airborne Division and the story of the disastrous overrun of FB Ripcord by approximately 30,000 North Vietnamese Army regulars in 1970.
Find out what's happening in Doylestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Battle of Ripcord, an independent movie, is scheduled to be released on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2013. Click on the link for film information and a short video.
I quote from the website: “DARK RONIN Films is honored to bring this gripping true story to the big screen. Follow the men who fought the last major battle of Vietnam. Nearly forgotten back home, fighting for their lives against impossible odds, the heroes of RIPCORD withstood the advancement of more than 30,000 enemy troops. The siege of Ripcord cost the lives of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of those on the opposite side. This is their story.”
Find out what's happening in Doylestownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“This film is proudly supported by members of both the Ripcord Association and the Wounded Warriors Association.”
Members of the 101st were honored at the event and many Ripcord survivors attended. These men, including myself, came from all parts of the country to attend this event in Mount Laurel, NJ.
Shannon Lanier wants this film to be as authentic as possible. Unlike many films about wars in the past, only a few can be in the category of true authenticity and after hearing Shannon’s remarks before a short film clip was shown, it is evident that he will ensure that all that can be done to verify facts and stories will be done to produce a quality and authentic film.
For more information about the association, visit http://www.ripcordassociation.com/
Facebook sites include https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Battle-of-Ripcord/302682746454166
Fire Support Base Ripcord was located in the A-Shau Valley in the northern part of I Corps in South Vietnam. Because of the heroics of the battle, three Congressional Medals of Honor and six Distinguished Service Crosses ultimately were awarded. 248 American soldiers were killed and three were missing in action during the time that the 101st occupied the base.
A history of the battle, as told in its Wikipedia entry and other sources:
Although the movie covers March 12, 1970 - July 23, 1970, the actual battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord was a 23 day battle between the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and the North Vietnamese Army from July 1, 1970 until July 23, 1970.
It was the last major confrontation between United States ground forces and North Vietnam of the Vietnam War. Little was known about the battle until 1985, when the FSB Ripcord Association was founded.
President Nixon secretly began the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam early in 1969. As the only full-strength division remaining in Vietnam in early 1970, the 101st Airborne Division was ordered to conduct the planned offensive Operation Texas Star near the A-Shau Valley. On March 12, 1970, the 3rd Brigade, 101st began rebuilding abandoned Fire Support Base Ripcord which relied, as with most remote bases at the time, on a helicopter lifeline to get supplies in and the personnel out. The firebase was to be used for a planned offensive by the 101st to destroy NVA supply bases in the mountains overlooking the valley. Located on the eastern edge of the valley and taking place at the same time as the Cambodian Incursion, the operation was considered covert.
As the 101st Airborne Division planned the attack on enemy supply bases, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was secretly observing their activities. From March 12 until June 30, the NVA was sporadically attacking the firebase. After weeks of reconnaissance by the NVA, on the morning of July 1, 1970 the North Vietnamese Army launched a mortar attack on the firebase. During the 23-day siege, many were killed, including Colonel Andre Lucas, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and First Lieutenant Bob Kalsu, the only active pro athlete to be killed during the war. Kalsu was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League in 1968. Kalsu was a starting guard in 1968. He played the entire season and was the Bills' team rookie-of-the-year. After his rookie season, he enlisted in the Army to fulfill an ROTC requirement from college and was sent to Vietnam Nov. 15, 1969, as a first lieutenant. On July 21, 1970, the base received word that a damaged helicopter would be coming in for an emergency landing, and that enemy troops would be in close pursuit. He left the bunker to warn the soldiers serving under him when a mortar shell went off 15 feet from him, killing him instantly.
Kalsu left behind a wife and two children – one of whom was born just days after Kalsu's death. A base in Iraq has been named after him, and he is on the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame.
Actor Chuck Norris also had a brother who was also killed in the battle.
Fighting from four hilltops, surrounded, and outnumbered nearly ten to one, U.S. forces brought about heavy losses on eight enemy battalions before an aerial withdrawal under heavy mortar, anti-aircraft, and small arms fire. After the U.S. Army withdrew from the firebase, Air Force B-52 heavy bombers were sent in to carpet bomb the area.
By end of day on July 1, a Chinook ch-47 had been shot down, and there are fifteen wounded. At 10:30 on July 2, another Chinook was shot down.
On July 23, the final day of the battle, from around 6 a.m. until around noon, FSB Ripcord was being evacuated. The Chinooks took out the artillery and heavy equipment first.
Eight Chinooks were hit by fire including mortars and .51-cals atop Hill 805, and AK-47 fire from NVA in the debris at the base of Ripcord. Another two Chinooks were shot down, the latter crashing into the previously destroyed 105mm guns of B/2-319th, preventing their extraction. During the extraction of the infantry, two Cobras attack helicopters and twelve Hueys (UH-1) were hit. There were a total of 22 Chinook sorties and 100 Huey sorties.
The last living man off Ripcord was a Kit Carson Scout. "A Cobra saw him walking around," a door gunner wrote home. "They immediately had a LOH (Light observation helicopter) OH-6A go in to get him. They barely got him off in time. Five minutes after his rescue, several NVA charged up the hill and threw satchel charges into the empty bunkers and operations center. At 12:25, the final extraction began.
The heroics of those who fought on Ripcord have not fully been told. A lot of memories have been suppressed due to many factors, PTSD, the treatment of Vietnam Veterans on their return to the “World” and many other factors. Shannon Lanier and Dark Ronin Films hopes to tell the story of these heroic soldiers and what they faced during the tenuous battle. The Battle of Ripcord is the next step in bring the real and gripping stories to the big screen.
