3d Brigade Reconnaissance in Force — Song Re Valley, August 1967

3d Brigade Reconnaissance in Force — Song Re Valley, August 1967

Context page — operation level. Built from the 1st Cavalry Division ORLL (AD0387543) and the B Company, 2/8 Cav veterans' memoir (eagerarms.com). It frames the first major reconnaissance in force into the Song Re Valley — the operation that placed D Company, 2/8 Cavalry in Quang Ngai Province in August 1967.

What it was

The Song Re Valley in southern Quang Ngai Province was a known Viet Cong stronghold — a narrow mountain corridor that had not been systematically cleared. Reconnaissance aircraft flying the valley had already taken heavy antiaircraft fire before any ground operation opened. In late July 1967, as the 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division returned from Operation Greely (a temporary tasking to Kontum Province under 4th Infantry Division OPCON), the brigade was assigned to conduct the first major reconnaissance in force into the Song Re.

The operation carried no formal name. The 1st Cavalry Division's quarterly Operational Report — Lessons Learned (ORLL, period ending 31 October 1967) records it only as the "3d Bde Reconnaissance in Force into the SONG RE Valley (1 Aug – 19 Aug 67)."

For 2/8 Cavalry, the timing was pointed: LTC John Stannard had assumed command from LTC Jack Dashiell just weeks earlier in July, during the battalion's special duty month at Camp Radcliff (An Khe). The Song Re push was Stannard's first major combat operation as battalion commander.

How it unfolded

The 3d Brigade moved north on 1 August. Two days later, on 3 August, 2/8 Cav air assaulted into the area north of the Song Re River — a preparatory move before committing into the valley itself.

The main assault came on 9 August, precisely sequenced:

• 0737 hours — B Company air assaulted into LZ Lou (BS400425) to secure the position as the battalion command post and artillery firebase. C Battery, 2/19th Artillery (105mm, Towed) began moving in immediately.
• ~0900 hours — C Battery was operational on LZ Lou.
• 0935 hours — Under C Battery's preparatory fires, A Company air assaulted into LZ Pat (BS330477, Hill 450). The LZ was hot: an estimated two to three enemy companies opened with automatic weapons, mortars, and 57mm recoilless rifles. A Company pulled back; 46 TAC AIR sorties were called before the position was secured. Eleven soldiers were killed, 27 wounded, and three aircraft shot down at LZ Pat.

The operation continued through mid-August. On 13 August, 2/12 Cavalry moved to landing zones north of 2/8 Cav, broadening the operation's reach. By 17 August, D Company had staged at LZ Jane (BS362596) in the valley.

The extraction — 18–19 August

On 18 August, the ORLL records that redeployment was initiated. The route was not a direct return to the Pershing AO: the battalion was airlifted from the combat area — D Company from LZ Tom (BS347482) as its pickup zone — to LZ Moberly (BS558321), a Special Forces CIDG camp at Ba To Airfield in the lower Song Re Valley, south of the main combat area. The battalion spent the night at Moberly.

On the morning of 19 August, the battalion was airlifted by Caribou (CV-2 / DHC-4 STOL transport) from Moberly's airstrip to LZ English at Bong Son, Binh Dinh Province — and from there back into the Pershing AO. The firebase gazetteer records C Battery, 1/77th Artillery at LZ Moberly on 19 August, confirming artillery elements departed on the same morning.

Results

The 3d Brigade reconnaissance in force concluded with:

• 42 enemy KIA, 2 POW, 242 detainees
• US: 7 KIA, 34 WIA (brigade-wide)

The valley was documented — its defenses, its approach routes, its antiaircraft threat. The Song Re would see further operations in later years.

Help us complete the record

If you served with D Company, 2/8 Cavalry during the Song Re Valley operation in August 1967, please reach us through the contribute form.