Newsletter Archives September 14, 2019 February 21, 2020 JGM77 1101 Views. The 753rd Tank Battalion (Where it all began!) 1st Armored Division Association. Company A Newsletter. Alpha Company, 2d Tank Bn had been the main effort in every company or battalion level operation throughout the entire iteration of ITX.

WHO ARE WE?

Who are we? We are the 'Stand Alone Battalion', aka 'The Bastard Battalion', the former members of a proud and battle tested airborne infantry battalion, separate airborne brigade of the 101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles).

Our battalion was activated April 1, 1967, for the purpose of reinforcing the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. The 3-506th began its Vietnam legacy as a AIRBORNE battalion and ended its tour of duty on May 15, 1971 as an AIRBORNE unit. If you doubt this fact, I invite you to read the Division's May 24, 1971 edition of the 'Screaming Eagle' - Standdown For 3/506. Also, when the Battalion colors were honored by the Commanding General, Major General Thomas N. Tarpley, in a Division-wide ceremony on May 15, he praised the 3-506 by saying, “We are seeing the departure of one of the great airborne battalions of all times. I chose not to look on this as an inactivation, but rather as a rest or sleep of the battalion, until they are needed again.”

The Currahee legacy began in World War II in places such as Normandy, Holland, and Bastogne and continued in a new generation of Currahees, who met their “Rendezvous With Destiny” in the infamous Tet Offensive of 1968, Hill 474, Cambodia, and many battles in between these high points of the Vietnam War.

If you were among the many fine Currahees who were later assigned to the 3-506th and not airborne qualified, take pride in your service. You served in the company of the best this country has to offer. Remember the profound words of Colonel Harry W. O. Kinnard, who wrote this statement in the Division’s last daily bulletin at the end of World War II--”To those of you left to read this last daily bulletin--do not dwell on the disintegration of our great unit, but rather be proud that you are of the ‘old guard’ of the greatest division ever to fight for our country. Carry with you the memory of its greatness wherever you may go, being always assured of respect when you say, ‘I served with the 101st.’”

Similar to the cultural diversity of our great Nation, we were a melting pot of European, African, American Indian, Asian, Australian, Indian, and Polynesian descent--they called us Currahees.

OUR BATTALION NEWSLETTER

The 'Stand Alone Battalion' newsletter is intended to keep our members informed on 3-506th happenings, provide information, and to open windows into our military service with the battalion--Remembering a time and place as Currahees! Members will have an opportunity to see photos and read articles about their battalion, some never seen before or seen again since their tour of duty in Vietnam. For those Currahees that lost all their personal belongings or never had the means to collect and save these things during their tour, this newsletter will fill the void left by that time in their lives.

This first edition will provide readers with the format and subject matter they can expect in subsequent editions. Each monthly edition of the newsletter will contain six sections: Section I - Editorial & Ramblings. Section II - Predeployment--Stories and information related to the days and months leading up to the deployment of the battalion to Vietnam. Section III - Vietnam Diary-- Stories and information related to battalion combat operations in the Vietnam War. Section IV - Post Vietnam--Stories and information related to Currahees after returning from Vietnam. Section V - Real Time--Stories and information related to news of today. Section VI - Publication & Assistance Information.

Be sure to click on any thumbnail photo to view it in a larger mode orblue text, which is a link to another document.

This newsletter will be published monthly, as long as there is enough interest in having it. Members are invited to submit their recollections for inclusion in the newsletter.

THE BOAT PEOPLE

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The USNS Gen. William Weigel

THE GLUE THAT BONDS US

The glue that bonds the men of the 3-506th is said to be something special that many of the other units that served in Vietnam War do not have. That 'something special' includes these elements:

• The battalion was born of the elite 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of WW II.
• Its senior officers and NCOs were hand picked and battle tested paratroopers.
• Its ranks were filled by volunteers from other airborne units.
• During battalion combat training prior to deployment, 1st Brigade Cmdr. Brig. Gen. S. H. Matheson (Easy Co. 506th PIR WW II) personally supervised and monitored the six months of battalion training for combat in Vietnam.
• The men of the new 3-506th formed up together, trained together, deployed together, and entered combat together.
• Gen. William Westmoreland, Cmdr. U.S. Army/Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, picked the 3-506th to conduct the 101st Abn. Div. first combat parachute assault in Vietnam. The combat jump was cancelled just hours before boarding the aircrafts.
• Prior to the infamous 1968 Communist TET Offensive, Gen. Westmoreland chose the 3-506th to become the nucleus of a special Airborne-Airmobile Battalion Task Force--an economy-of-force organization, under the direct control of Lt. Gen. William R. Peers, Commander, I Field Force, Vietnam (I FFV). The 'Stand Alone Battalion' would serve out the rest of its Vietnam tour essentially as a 'fire brigade' to be deployed anywhere in Vietnam on short notice.

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