Chinese Bandit Recon LRRP Team 1st Bn (ABN) 8th Cav

Chinese Bandit Parachute Jumps and Patrolling at Pleiku, S. Vietnam in December 1965 by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 After the Battle of Ia Drang where the Chinese Bandits would be awarded their first Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism, the entire Chinese Bandit Recon Platoon was relocated to Lake Pleiku where patrolling was conducted on the margin of the tea plantations and in support of other Jumping Mustang search and destroy missions in the Kontum area while operating with the 1st Bn 9th Cav. Aerial and ground reconnaissance efforts had confirmed that the NVA were withdrawing towards Cambodia and only small enemy units were believed to be operating in the area; however the local American and South Vietnamese units remained concerned that another large NVA attack would occur during Christmas or New Years Day. Our patrolling confirmed that no large NVA units were mobilizing in or near the area. A parachute proficiency jump was scheduled for D...

Raindrops and tracking the NVA during Operation Crazy Horse, May 22-23, 1966 by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 and War Eagle 13 The patrol moved north to the location where we encountered abandoned NVA bunkers that contained the body of one NVA soldier that was discovered in one of the deeper excavations. While evaluating the bunker complex, an American rifle squad consisting of 8 men approached from the north “team carrying” one of their men (believed to be a SP/4 Parks) in a poncho litter. The man was semi-conscious and the poncho was filled to his armpits in a mixture of his blood and rain. I called for medivac and had some of the patrol members bring in the UH-1. The man was evacuated to the sound of rifle and machine gun fire from the surrounding hills when the aircraft was on approach and during departure. The UH-1 was not damaged and I was informed many years later that Parks had survived. We resumed our search of the bunkers and located another ...

Night Movement and Tracking Techniques along the Northern Border of Cambodia by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13…Spring 1966 DOD/MACV directed Long-Range Reconnaissance Operations The Chinese Bandits had been performing extended patrolling operations since their arrival in Vietnam in the fall of 1965 and our SOP’s, including mission preparations, had become routine as our teamwork constantly improved. Warning and operations orders were routinely given, however only some priority pre-insertion rehearsals, refresher training and other preparations were performed and were primarily focused on suspected enemy and indigenous population location reports, area studies, route navigation and night movement techniques. The tentative routes had been planned for night-only movement that would take place primarily along the ridgeline border of Cambodia or Laos and Vietnam with several routes extending eastward into small valleys and the adjacent hilltops. Contrary to policy, the routes ...

SPRING 1966 LONG RANGE RECONNAISSANCE PATROL (LRRP) by RANGER Jerry Conners (Chinese Bandit 13) A Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol was formed from members of the 1stBn (ABN) 8th Cav Recon platoon and attached to division headquartersin the spring of 1966 as directed by the Department of Defense whereseven LRRP teams from the US Army Special Forces, US Marine Corps,Navy and other Army units were established to conduct simultaneouspatrols within the Republic of Vietnam.The Chinese Bandit six man team members were SSG Robert Grimes(Acting Platoon Leader of the Recon Platoon), SGT Jerry Conners,Keijo Hyvonen, Frank Bishop, Louis Tyler, and Terry Stevens. Thefirst long range patrol was conducted along a 75 mile route adjacentto the Cambodian and Laotian borders for a period of twelve days andwas performed while the other DOD directed teams performed LRRPpatrols in other portions of Vietnam. The major objective of thepatrol was to locate North Vietnamese positions that had beenreporte...

Combat/Reconnaissance Patrol of the Recon 1st Bn (ABN) 8th Cav during Operation Nathan Hale June 23, 1966 On July 19, 1966 the 2d Bn (ABN) 327th Inf, 101st Airborne Division conducted air assaults northwest of Tuy Hoa in the vicinity of Trung Luong Valley and encountered heavy resistance and casualties from battles with the 66th, 95th and 18th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army 302d Division. B and C Companies of the 1st Bn (ABN) 8th Cav, 1st Cav Division were inserted to reinforce the 2/327 Inf on June 20. B Co 1/8th Cav linked up with B Co 2/327 Inf in the morning on June 21 in the vicinity of LZ Eagle. The two airborne battalions experienced continuous attacks, including hand-to-hand combat, and inflicted heavy losses on the two NVA attacking battalions. One wounded NVA company commander was captured from the area in front of the rifle companies and reported his unit had been annihilated and the other NVA units had begun to withdraw on the evening of June 22d. On June 22, R...

The Chinese Bandit Recon LRRP Team 1st Bn (ABN) 8th Cav 1965-66 was awarded TWO Presidential Unit Citations for extraordinary heroism for their participation in the Battles of the Ia Drang (Pleiku November 1965) and Nathan Hale (Trung Luong June 1966); conducted the historic FIRST NIGHT combat rappel lead by RANGER Lawson; and performed DOD/MACV directed long range reconnaissance (LRRP) operations lead by 101st RECONDO Grimes along the northern Cambodia and Southern Laos borders in the spring of 1966..."Laying Down FIRST Tracks in the Central Highlands…Chinese Bandits Border Scouts Penetrate Deeper"...and where others FEARED to tread!  RANGER Jerry Conners ( http://www.blogger.com/jconners_98@yahoo.com ) RANGER Jerry Conners, Captain (jconners_98@yahoo.com) 775-847-0214 (Ranger Class 502), Master Parachutist (Honor Graduate of 101st ABN Jumpmaster Class), Special Forces Weapons Expert (1964-65 SF MOI, Weapons & Branch), 101st RECONDO (Brand Number 1919),...