Alpha Battery
1/77th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Calvary Division
Time Line
(December 1967- May 1968)

 
This information was provided to me by Jan Ward the wife of Les Ward.  She gathered this information from letters that he sent to her 
while he was in Vietnam. 
Thank you Jan for sharing this information with me in 1993 
and to Les for writing faithfully to your wife while you were 
in Vietnam. 
Thank you Les for coming home and sharing the memories 
that you have of my father with me.
December 1967~  1st Cavalry Division Base Camp- An Khe
9 January 1968-17 Jan 1968  LZ Pony(1)- Kim Son Valley (Map-Includes LZ Tom & Uplift) 
17 Jan 1968  LZ Uplift(2)- Near the South China Sea.
Left LZ Uplift by choppers and met up with the rest of the battery at the air strip called Phu Cat 
17-20 Feb 1968  LZ Evans- New LZ that they built from scratch
25 Feb- 03 Mar 1968  Left LZ Evans to LZ Jane- Operation Jeb Stuart
24-29 Feb 1968  Few miles outside of Hue at LZ Jane(3) ,during TET-68 Attack
(LZ Jane was the command post for the Battle of Hue)
3 Apr 1968  Helped the Marines in Khe Sanh during Operation Pegasus
LZ Tom (Photo)(3)  (Map)(2) 
11 Apr 1968 LZ Wharton
16 April- 05 May 1968 LZ Peanuts (Photo)(3)  (Map)~ My Father was KIA 05 May 68
06 May 1968   LZ Jane

 
 
LZ Pony- "The division's supporting howitzers were concentrated on two large landing zones in the Crow's Foot, LZ's Pony and Bird, which could fire supporting artillery anywhere in the Kim Son Valley. They were obviously prime targets for enemy action..."

Operation Jeb Stuart (22Jan68 - 31Mar68)- "Operation JEB STUART, which encompassed the division's hard-fought Tet-68 response, had lasted only forty two days when it was cut short to enable the 1st Cavalary Division to relieve the beleaguered Marines at Khe Sanh. During this short time, the division lost 276 killed in action, 18 missing, and 1,498 wounded in I Corps Tactical Zone. The division received 5,345 replacements from 22 January until the end of March alone.

Operation Pegasus (1Apr68 - 15Apr68)- was procedding so successfully that schedules were accelerated. The 1st cavalry Division blasted open seven new landing zones in five days, each bringing the allies closer to Khe Sanh and driving more enemy soldiers from their defenses. Operation PEGASUS formally terminated on 14 April, 1968.

Battle of Hue was (31Jan68-25Feb68)
 
 

From the book...ANATOMY OF A DIVISION and VIETNAM ORDER OF BATTLE.
by Shelby L. Stanton copyright 1987 published by Presidio Press, Novato, CA

 

(1)  Map provided courtesy of Dan Gillotti - 15th Historian: Big Guns Website: 7th Battalion, 15th Artillery in Vietnam
(2)  Photo Courtesy of 1st Bn 69th Armor
(3)  Photo Courtesy of Ron Weiss: A Battery, 1/77th Field Artillery Battery Commander (1968)
77th FA History
77th FA Association
77th FA-Today

GREAT VietNam Map


The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Panel Number 55E~ Date range on this panel 5/5/68 - 5/6/68
Provided by the
Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA)~Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association (VHCMA)
Killed in Action

LZs, FSBs and Features Sorted by Name
Vietnam Veterans Home Page Map Room (Vietnam Veterans Home Page)
 

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