North/South Border (DMZ)TROPIC LIGHTNINGIN VIETNAM1965 - 1971Khe SanhHue• Da Nang•Chu Lai• Dak To• Duk PhoPleikuMang YangPass•An Khe• Qui NhonIa DrangSnuolCam Ranh Bay•Fish HookBATTLEs INsOuTH VIETNAM1 st Cavalry Division(Airmobile) ‘The First Team’Prey VengBen CuiTay NinhParrot’s BeakCu ChiIron Triangle•SaigonBien Hoa4 th Infantry Division ‘Ivy’25 th Infantry Division‘<strong>Tropic</strong> Lightning’11 th Armoured CavalryRegiment ‘Black Horse’Mekong DeltaB2 Front0 KM 500 Miles10050 10013
25TH InfANTRy DIVIsION ‘TROPIC LIGHTNING’1 st Brigade 2 nd Brigade 3 rd Brigade4 th Bn, 9 th Infantry(Manchu)Keep Up the Fire2 nd Bn, 14 th Infantry(Golden Dragons)The Right <strong>of</strong> the Line4 th Bn (Mech), 23 rd Infantry(Tomahawks)We Serve7 th Bn, 11 th Artillery(The Dragon Regiment)On Time3 rd Squadron, 4 th Cavalry(Fourth Cav)Paratus et Fideles(Prepared and Loyal)25 th Aviation Battalion(A Tp - Little Bear)(B Tp - Diamond Head)Lele Makou No Na Puali(We Fly For The Troops)1 st Bn (Mech), 5 th Infantry(Bobcats)I’ll Try, Sir1 st Bn, 27 th Infantry(The Wolfhounds)Nec Aspera Terrent(No Fear on Earth)2 nd Bn, 27 th Infantry(The Wolfhounds)Nec Aspera Terrent(No Fear on Earth)2 nd Bn, 8 th Artillery(Automatic Eighth)Audacieux et Tenace(Daring and Tenacious)Divisional Troops3 rd Bn (155mm/8in),13 th Artillery(The Clan)Without Fear, Favor,or Hope <strong>of</strong> Reward(from 4 th Division)2 nd Bn, 12 th Infantry(<strong>War</strong>riors)Ducti Amore Patriae(Led by Love <strong>of</strong> Country)2 nd Bn (Mech) 22 nd Infantry‘Triple Deuces’(The Regulars)Deeds Not Words3 rd Bn, 22 nd Infantry(The Regulars)Deeds Not Words2 nd Bn, 77 th ArtilleryEn Garde(On Guard)2 nd Bn, 34 th Armor‘Dreadnaughts’(Centurions)The Strong Arm for Victory1 st and 3 rd Squadrons11 th Armored Cavalry(Black Horse)Allons, (Let’s Go)(Temporarily Attached)2 nd Bn, 27 th Infantry Battalion and regiment numbers: Regiments did not fight as units. Individual battalions were assigned to brigades.(The Wolfhounds) Regimental nickname: Commonly used within division. Some battalions and companies had their own nicknames.Nec Aspera Terrent Regimental motto: Where the motto is in Latin, it is translated in brackets afterwards.(No Fear on Earth)the 1 st and 3 rd Squadrons <strong>of</strong> the famous11 th Armored Cavalry Regiment(‘Blackhorse’) were also attached tothe division for some operations.The Iron TriangleThe division’s missions consisted <strong>of</strong>fighting in terrain that was hardly suitedto conventional mechanised operations,and <strong>Tropic</strong> Lightning, and the Army as awhole, had to adapt both equipment andtactics to this environment. Dr RonaldGlasser who treated the division’swounded describes the 25 th InfantryDivision’s assigned area, the well-known‘Iron Triangle’, and its role:The headquarters for the 25 thDivision lay forty miles northwest <strong>of</strong>Saigon, in the foothills <strong>of</strong> the centralhighlands. The Army had placed itastride one <strong>of</strong> the major infiltrationroutes from Cambodia; part <strong>of</strong> theprotective arc <strong>of</strong>fered up to Saigonby the 9 th Division in the Delta,the 25 th , based on Cu Chi, and theAmerical and the 1 st Division farthernorth. During the dry season, theland the 25 th worked reached fromimpenetrable jungle, triple canopied,in the west to rice paddies in the southand north. During the monsoons, thejungle became wet and the paddiesimpassable, but it was dry now;the jungle was burning <strong>of</strong>f and thepaddies were rock-hard.After arriving at Cu Chi, the Division hadto contend with the vast and still activetunnel complex <strong>of</strong> Cu Chi, literally inits own back yard. The tunnels had beentargeted by US and Australian forcesduring Operation CRIMP in 1966, anddespite much <strong>of</strong> the complex beingdestroyed, the tunnels had remainedan active and important resource forthe enemy. The tunnel complexes inthe Iron Triangle proved especiallychallenging to the division’s mechanisedunits. As one soldier put it:They’ve had twenty years <strong>of</strong> makingtunnels-all over the area-all overNam, I guess. Sometimes they godown deep; sometimes they’re nearthe surface. When they get near thesurface like this one, they run themparallel to where they think we mightbe going. All you have to do is puncha hole out <strong>of</strong> the side, lie there withyour RPG, and when a track comes byor a squad, BAMB!Despite the challenges posed by jungle,rugged terrain, paddies, and monsoonsthat turned dirt roads into muddyquagmires, the mechanised, armour, andcavalry forces played a vital role in USstrategy throughout the war. Along withthe UH-1 helicopter, the M113 armouredpersonnel carrier became an iconic image<strong>of</strong> the Vietnam <strong>War</strong>.Operations in VietnamFrom 1966 to 1970, the Division’s mainarea <strong>of</strong> operations was the area north14
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