FSB RIPCORD was a vital link in the
defenses
of the 101st ABN Div in the mountainous Nam Hoa district of Thua Thien province (northern I Corps Zone) in 1970.
Nearly 1000 meters high, Ripcord sat at the northeastern rim of the infamous Ashau Valley, and close to North
Vietnamese
sanctuaries in Laos. Ripcord the 2nd highest mountain of the mile-high Coc Muen mountain
range, dominant terrain along which enemy
infiltration routes to the populated lowlands had to pass. Bravo company went in hot on 1 Apr. Fighting was
vicious in what came to be known as the April Fool's Day assault.
