Cannon Corner

The Last Fire Mission
By R.E. Griffin
CannonArtillery.com member since 2005

CannonArtillery.com member R.E. Griffin recalls his memories of being part of B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery – the battery that conducted the first fire mission for the 3/82 unit in Vietnam, provided fire support throughout the mission and fired the last U.S. Field Artillery fire mission during the Vietnam conflict.

It was Aug. 10, 1972 at a fire base near Da Nang in South Vietnam when the last fire mission by a U.S. Artillery unit during the Vietnam Conflict was fired by a 105 mm howitzer from B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery. The mission was fired in support of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, the last U.S. ground combat unit in Vietnam. It was a short mission, fired for its symbolic and historical meaning, as well as its tactical importance. Almost as soon as the last round left the tube, a short ceremony was held to mark the event and B Battery officially stood down, packed up and began the trip, along with the rest of the battalion back to “the world.”

Ironically, it was B Battery that fired the first fire mission for the 3/82nd when it first deployed to Vietnam. That fire mission was fired on Sept. 2, 1966 shortly after the battalion arrived in Vietnam aboard the transport General A.M. Patch with other units of the 196th Infantry Brigade. The 3/82nd was activated the previous year at Fort Devens, Mass. as the direct support artillery for the 196th, a mission it was to continue for most of its time in Vietnam.

At the time of the last mission, both the 3/82nd and the 3/21st Infantry of the 196th Brigade were part of Task Force Gimlet charged with the defense of Da Nang. Both units, along with the rest of the 196th, already participated in a long list of operations since their 1966 arrival in country beginning with Operation Attleboro. That list includes many of the biggest and most important operations of the conflict, including Cedar Falls, Gadsden, Junction City I and II, Oregon, Wheeler/Wallow, Fayette Canyon, Frederick Hill, Tulare Falls, Lam Son 719 and Middlesex Peak.

In addition to supporting all elements of the 196th, the 3/82nd also provided fire support for other elements of the 23rd Infantry Division and fired missions in support for other XXIV Corps units and for both the Republic of Korea’s major units in Vietnam, the Tiger Division and the 2nd Korean Marine Corps Brigade.

Just prior to the final days of its re-deployment the 3/82nd helped defeat the North Vietnamese’s “Easter Offensive” into South Vietnam. While helping defend Da Nang, the Phu Bai Combat Base and other areas of Military Region I, the battalion expended 294,686 rounds during April, May and June.

Currently, B Battery 3/82, the battery and battalion that fired the last artillery fire mission in Vietnam, is serving with a brigade from the 1st Cavalry Division and just finished a tour in Iraq. The unit continues to live up to the 82nd FA Regiment’s slogan – “Can and Will.”



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