52nd Ranger Battalion (South Vietnam)

52nd Ranger Battalion

Soldiers of the ARVN 52nd Ranger Battalion (left) and a U.S. Army advisor (right) in Dong Xoai.
Active 1964–1975
Allegiance  South Vietnam
Branch Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Role Rangers

The 52nd Ranger Battalion was a ranger battalion of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. To form the battalion, the 347th, 348th, 351st and 352nd independent ranger companies amalgamated in early 1964, at My Tho. Its commanding officer was Captain Vong Si Dau.

On 11 November 1965, the battalion was augmented to the US 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and conducted an air assault to relief a US element of the 11th ACR that had been ambushed by the VC 275th Regiment near Kim Hai hamlet, in the village of Phuoc Hoa on Route 15, in Phuoc Tuy Province and received a United States Presidential Unit Citation.[1][2][3]

The battalion ceased to exist after the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rowe 1987, pp. 62–63.
  2. ↑ McNeill 1993, p. 222.
  3. ↑ Lyndon B. Johnson: "Presidential Unit Citation Awarded to the 52d Ranger Battalion, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and Attached Units.," November 18, 1966. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28040.

In addition to the first PUC, the unit was awarded a Valorous Unit Citation by the US for its actions at Suoi Long, Vietnam 27 June 1968 and processed for a second Presidential Unit Citation for the same action.

The 52d BDQ was significantly engaged during Tet 1968, securing Xuan Loc, clearing Ba Ria and participating in the subsequent clearance of Cholon and Bien Hoa.<Personal participation.

References

  • McNeill, Ian (1993). To Long Tan: The Australian Army and the Vietnam War 1950–1966. The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975. Volume Two. St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 1863732829. 
  • Rowe, John (1987). Vietnam: The Australian Experience. North Sydney: Time–Life Books Australia. ISBN 0-949118-07-9. 

External links

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