Operation Kentucky Jumper was a joint U.S. Army and

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...

(ARVN) military operation during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

designed to seek out and destroy

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...

(PAVN) and

Vietcong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

(VC) units, interdict their base areas and infiltration routes and to support the Accelerated Pacification Program southwest of

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

, Thừa Thiên Province.

Operation

The operation commenced on 1 March 1969 centered in an area south-southwest of Huế. On 12 March at approximately 17:00, troops from the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division air assaulted into an area 12 miles southwest of Huế and immediately made contact receiving small arms, automatic weapons and

Rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

(RPG) fire from an estimated PAVN company. The infantry returned fire killing 12 PAVN and capturing one individual and two crew-served weapons in a bunker complex. U.S. losses were two killed and two wounded KIA. On 5 May at approximately 16:30, a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne while sweeping an area approximately west-southwest of Huế found several graves which contained the bodies of 12 PAVN/VC soldiers killed by small arms fire and airstrikes within the preceding 24 hours. At 01:50 on 19 June the PAVN 4th Regiment attacked

Firebase Tomahawk Firebase Tomahawk (also known as Tomahawk Hill or Hill 132) was a U.S. Army firebase located in the Phú Lộc District southeast of Huế in central Vietnam. History Tomahawk was constructed in 1969 by the units of the 101st Airborne Division n ...

west-northwest of Phú Lộc District which was occupied by the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 138th Artillery. The troops defended with unit weapons, point-blank artillery fire and by helicopter gunships and an AC-47 ''Spooky'' gunship of the

14th Special Operations Wing 014 may refer to: * Argus As 014 * 014 Construction Unit * Divi Divi Air Flight 014 * Pirna 014 * Tyrrell 014 The Tyrrell 014 was a Formula One car, designed for Tyrrell Racing by Maurice Philippe for use in the season. The cars were powered by ...

. Approximately ten PAVN penetrated the outer perimeter, but in the close fighting were either killed or driven out. The PAVN withdrew at 06:00 and ten PAVN dead were counted and one suspect detained. U.S. losses were 13 killed (including nine Kentucky Army National Guardsmen from the 138th Artillery).

Aftermath

The operation resulted in 317 PAVN/VC killed and 55 crew-served and 254 individual weapons captured. U.S. casualties were 61 killed and 409 wounded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:KentuckyJumper, Operation 1969 in Vietnam Kentucky Jumper Kentucky Jumper Kentucky Jumper Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1969 History of Thừa Thiên Huế province