Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Nui Ba Ra Mountain


In February 1970 I flew from Bien Hoa to FSB Buttons for the first time.  As we approached Buttons, there was this mountain just standing there off to the side.  I was told it was Nui Ba Ra Mountain.

What made it odd looking was it was not part of a range of mountains.  It looked all alone, standing there like a pimple that did not belong.

In early April I spent time on top of Nui Ba Ra.  It was cooler up there.  The cooler temperature was an unexpected surprise.  It felt good when compared with the hotter more humid temperatures below.  There was a great view of the countryside  in every direction.

Our platoon had flown up in the afternoon and then spent the night pulling guard on a small outpost at the summit called LZ Thomas.  LZ Thomas was packed with Army communications equipment.  Our night up there was uneventful.

It was not until I was long out of the Army when I learned that Nui Ba Ra was an ancient volcano that was formed millions of year ago.  It is 2,300 feet high.  There are similar volcanoes in other parts of Vietnam.  A sister mountain, Nui Ba Den, is sixty miles away.  I never had to the chance to go there.

Today, Nui Ba Ra is a destination for the Vietnamese people.  They have a tram that takes visitors to the top from Song Be to enjoy the mountain in the same way I did so long ago.  I wonder if there any remnants of LZ Thomas still up there?  Maybe someday I will get the chance to find out.    

6 comments:

  1. Great pic. I was a Chinook Flight Engineer with the 205th ASH Co Geronimos and one of our regular missions was to resupply the comm unit on top. We also called it Gia Ray mountain after the ville at the base. I visited many times between May 69 and Nov 70 during my tour. We also found a crashed WWII Japanese Zero on the side of the mountain and took a wing with the red meat ball back to our company compound in Phu Loi. There were also rumors of other crashed aircraft on the mountain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was in 1st Cav. If I remember correctly,we took over Buttons from The Big Red One. I was 11B and also pulled guard duty on the mountain a few times

    ReplyDelete
  3. As a warrant officer UH-1 pilot, I landed there several times....also used it to not run out of gas....whole area had fog over it...used mountain as known point and let down onto fuel bladders...tower count see us....did some wild things when I was young and dumb. The mountain was nice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm staying at the base of Núi Bà Rá. We made a short doco about it online and i have other recent pics if you'd be interested i can send them to you

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was with B Brty 6th of 27th Field Arty. Metro Sec. Sept 69 - Sept 70

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was an infantryman with D/2/12, 1st Air Cavalry, there on Christmas 1969, spectacular view!!

    ReplyDelete