U.S. Army Infantry Soldier in Vietnam:
1st Infantry Division, 16 Infantry Regiment, 1965-66:
Well If you haven’t gathered the unit’s history from the Post WWII, “Occupation Duty” section yet, here’s a refresher.
The 1st Infantry Division was the only American combat force stationed in occupied Germany until 1950, Mor support began to be deployed to Germany as the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, and the “Cold War” enveloped the world. And they held the line against the Soviet / Eastern Block threat to Western Europe. The 1st Division was lucky in that they did not serve in the Korean War (1950-1953).
The 2 Battalion, 16th Infantry was serving as the occupation force in Germany, along with the French and English forces assigned there. Across the fence was the Soviet Union, controlling the entire “Eastern Block”. They held the line until called back stateside, to Fort Riley, Kansas where they were inactivated on 15 February 1957 and relieved from an assignment from the 1st Infantry Division. But the 1st Infantry Division stayed in Germany until 1955, then it was the first division rotated back to the United States in Operation Gyroscope. The division's new home would be at Fort Riley, in Kansas. It was stationed there for ten more years, while it was reorganized as a 'Pantomimic' division but then it was soon reorganized then a third brigade was added to the division, making its structure more like it was in World War II.
It was re-designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, '2nd Battle Group', 16th Infantry. On 1 October 1963, it was re-assigned to the 1st Infantry Division. The unit was activated at Fort Riley, Kansas with new organic elements, on 2 March 1964 as the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry.
After the Infantry Division had been reformed and upgraded, they were called to serve in the Republic of Vietnam in 1965. They were the first divisional unit deployed there, and the 2nd Brigade had the honors in July to lead the way.
Their area of operations was in the III Corps, and their mission was to engage the Viet Cong (VC) and regular North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces in the jungles northwest of Saigon to the Cambodian border and defeat them. There were many battles that occurred, in many enemy controlled hot-spots, and all along the Highway 13 corridor, North-Northwest of Saigon on the road to An Loc.
During the enemy Tet Offensive of 1968, the 1st Infantry Division secured the Tan Son Nhut Airbase the primary hub for air operations within all of Vietnam. They served their Country proudly, and Honorably, and did what was called of them, many being decorated in the process, and many paying the ultimate price for our country, and theirs. When we did pull out of that quagmire, the division came home, and once again the unit was inactivated, on 19 August 1974, at Fort Riley, Kansas.
But it was then again activated on 1 May 1976 at Fort Riley, Kansas only to be once again, only to be activated on 21 September 1976 at Fort Riley, Kansas. Then on 16 December 1979 at Fort Riley, Kansas it was re-activated, Politicians just can't seem to keep us out of war. and the 2-16th Infantry would serve in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. After 115 years of active service to the United States, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment was inactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas on 10 April 1996.
It was been activated and re-designated on 1 October 2005 as the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment. On 16 January 16, 2006, the 2nd Brigade 16th Infantry Regiment was reactivated as was the rest of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, as part of the Army's transformation towards a modular force.
This soldier, Private First Class “TEBEAU” wears the standard Cold War fatigue jacket, without its liner, as was commonly seen in the USA, and with deployment to Vietnam, with the Big Red One’s full-color patch, and name tapes running back to Korean War times. It even carries on it the regimental crest, in pocket-patch form. The helmet has the Vietnam pattern camouflage on it. It does have subdued rank on the sleeves, possibly bought in-country.
Early on the fatigue was standard issuer, and he would have had the matching trousers, They were wet and cold in the winter, and heavy and hot in the summer, and with the jacket and flak-jacket over that and pack-un-bearable at times, and the jacket ditched or left at the base camp, or the sleeves cut off of sewn up-short. Black leather boots were being phased out, and jungle boots came on-seen, in various forms pretty quickly. There were a number of web gear types used during the Vietnam War, and several developed in the 1960s and 70s, but he would have had a form of the post-WWII kit.
1 Infantry Division, 26 Infantry Regiment, “Blue Spader’s Troop”:
1st Infantry Division, “The Black Lions”, 1st Battalion (Red One Patch):
Note: prior 1st Cavalry “Battle Patch”, and CIB, from a prior tour.
1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Division (Red One), PFC, RVN:
1st Infantry Division, 2nd BN. (Green Two) Private:
1st INF. DIV., 2nd.BN. (White Two):
This troop has had a prior tour serving with the 11th Armored Cavalry, and he has the CIB as well, possibly from a different time than with the Cavalry., so infantry units would grab up fellows returning to Vietnam for their units right from the airport because knowledge saves lives, old dogs don’t like new tricks-but they know a lot of the old ones to look out for. Funny to think he still wears no rank, Battlefield ranks can come fast, but not always. and any number of reasons got stuck, possibly even wounds, or just wanting to stick with his buddies.
1st Infantry Division, 26th Inf. Rgt. HQ. Leaving RVN with the Big Red One, “Khaki” Summer Dress uniform:
EDITING >>>> At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States Army was sorely pressed to meet its overseas commitments in Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. As a result, in 1901 Congress authorized five additional Regular Army infantry regiments: the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th Infantry.
EDITING >>>>The 26th Infantry began its life overseas in the Philippines and spent its first 20 years of service on deployments to the Southwest Pacific, the Mexican and Indian frontier, and Europe. It earned its first battle streamer during the Philippine-American War within two years of its forming as a unit. EDITING......At Soissons alone, the regimental commander, executive officer, two of three battalion commanders, and the regimental sergeant major were killed in action; sixty-two officers were killed or wounded; and of the 3,100 Blue Spaders that started the attack, over 1,500 had been killed or wounded. But the battle was won, and this turned the tide for the Allies at a crucial period during the summer of 1918.
By the war's end, the soldiers had earned seven battle streamers and two foreign awards. Following brief occupation duty in Germany, the regiment returned to the United States and served as a part of the smaller peacetime Army.
EDITING >>>> After returning to the same location for another tour of duty (a habit the Blue Spaders would keep for the entire century), the regiment fought off Mexican bandits and settled disputes in the Indian Territory, until it was selected as one of only four Regular Army infantry regiments deemed fit for immediate combat to form the first American Expeditionary Division in June 1917. This expeditionary division would later be renamed the First Division and thus began the regiment's long association with the "Big Red One".
EDITING >>>> As part of the first American soldiers to arrive in France, the regiment immediately left for the front. Along with its sister regiments of the division, it earned more campaign streamers than any other regiments during World War I. However, they came at a terrible cost. Over 900 Blue Spaders lost their lives in a six-month period.
EDITING >>> In 1941, the regiment once again stood with its sister regiments and prepared for war in Europe. The regiment was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division for the duration of World War II. *102 Infantry Division Patch. * = Now a different designation.
EDITING >>> In World War II, the 26th Infantry led America's first-ever amphibious assault in North Africa, fought at the Kasserine Pass, assaulted Sicily at the Amphibious Battle of Gela, invaded Normandy, conquered the first German city of the war at Aachen, vaulted the Rhine and attacked all the way to Czechoslovakia by war's end.
EDITING >>> The regiment, commanded by Colonel John F. R. Seitz, conducted three amphibious assaults and earned seven battle streamers, a Presidential Unit Citation, and five foreign awards. The Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) pinned on above his special ribbons bar, then that is a pin-on item, but with khaki-cloth backing, on it are the American Campaign Ribbon, over the WWII Victory Ribbon, Occupational Duty, and National Defense Service Medal, oddly maybe, there is not campaign ribbon (from where you fought), perhaps some paperwork has been overlooked...
EDITING >>> Beginning another occupation of Germany, the Blue Spaders bore the United States national colors at the Allied Victory in Europe parade and served as guards at Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Thus began a lengthy stay in Germany, first as conquerors and later as friends and allies. Called again to serve in the United States after a re-organization of the army, the unit was redesignated 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, and had a very short stay in the United States. [when?]
EDITING ......In February 1963 2nd Battle Group, 26th Infantry was activated (with assets of the 1st Battle Group, 5th Infantry) & assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas. 2nd Battle Group, 26th Infantry participated in Operation Long Thrust VII, reinforcing the U.S. Berlin Brigade summer & autumn of 1963 before redeploying to Ft. Riley where it was inactivated in January 1964.
The soldier’s Shirt, a Khaki - winter shirt, seems appropriate, for operations in Germany, but I cannot tell you the official name... probably Shirt, Winter, Khaki! right, I don't know, but it would seem the thing to have on for office or behind-the-desk work, perhaps something outside on the base, on a decent day. The uniform depicts I think the times of 1945 to 1946-48.
26 Infantry Regiment Prisoner Guard: EDITING:..............Note here the helmet does carry the 26th infantry regiments DUI, and had a picture with an insignia on the front- but it won’t load onto site.
Note: the photo shows a troop from the 1st division, specifically the 26th Infantry Regiment, and may be sewed to the shirt, but were generally at this time, generally used pocket hanger patches.
2nd Leutnant, State-Side 1 ID, Class A Uniform:
4th INF. DIV. (Airborne/Ranger), Colonel, 1968-69 on his second tour:
4th Infantry, Corporal Simmons:
5th Infantry Div. RVN Fatigue:
When it was the time for the 1st Infantry Division to deploy to Vietnam after our government (LBJ) decided we needed to go there, so, in 1965 they needed more personnel, battalions of them were required so two infantry battalions, from the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division were relieved and then assigned to 1st Infantry Division. Then in September 1965, the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division itself was moved, (Without its Personnel) to Fort Carson in Colorado, where they re-formed. The rest of the various elements and people became the basis of the 196th Infantry Brigade.
By 1968 the division was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, as a mechanized formation. 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division deployed to Vietnam in response to the 1968 Tet Offensive, relieving a Marine Corps unit.
The Brigade was made of three battalions, 1 each of infantry, mechanized infantry, and armor, and they stayed there from July 1968 until 1971 they were operating on the DMZ De-Militarized Zone, a line on the map, that split Vietnam into the Communist-North and totally corrupted South, but there was a lot more to it than that, along the top edge of Quang Tri Province, where American Marines and Army Soldiers tried to keep the line true, and often used Naval Air, and US-Air Force, also supported by SVAF, because the whole area was contested, and infiltrated, covered by local forces, and the hardened NVA forces came down from the North.
The Border was a “Hot” place to be, there were enormous amounts of supplies completely bypassing the DMZ, as they could just go right around the American Forces there using Laos and Cambodia. And they did but they couldn’t have the Americans sit the comfortable-so they were constantly in battle, and patrol after patrol ambushed.
The Combat units consisted of the 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry; the 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry (Mechanized); 1st Battalion, 77th Armor; A Troop, 4th Squadron, 12th Cavalry; and 5th Battalion, 4th Artillery, A Co. 7th Engineer BN. But then on 22 August 1971, the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was inactivated at Fort Carson.
9th INF. Riverine Force:
9 INF. DIV. Taskforce 117 Trooper:
*9 INF. DIV., Air Boat:
*Re-shoot / This is all I have in the file. All of these Vietnam Soldier Uniforms here, had stories once, after the third time I had to rebuild the site, I also lost many of the pictures, and all the stories, I’ll replace them here at some point or hope to anyways.
E CO. 75 Ranger, 9 INF. DIV. ‘Recondo’ ERDL / Jacket:
9th Infantry Division, Khaki-Dress, This Sergeant is going home:
25th Division / Leg, Specalist:
3 BT. 25 INF. DIV. 1966:
“NEW” Specialist, 25th Infantry Division with the subdued insignia:
25th Infantryman late in the war:
