If you have additional photos of LZ Center, please contact wr9r@aol.com
LZ Center (BT 052 250) looking westward. Photo by Dave Bliss
(C/1-6 Inf 1967-68). The
firebase was the scene of intense combat in May 1968. On the
night of 5 May 1968, an NVA
unit attempted to breach the perimeter at the steepest point (just
to the left center of this photo).
They made it to within 30 meters of the command bunker, but were stopped
when the defenders
threw "cases" of hand grenades down on them. For the story, use
this
link. On the map below,
LZ Center was located on the western end of the ridge (shown
on grid line 25) that runs generally
east and west. The ridge marked the boundary between Quan Thang
Binh and Quan Tien Phuoc.
[Note: this is a composite map from Series L7014
On left, Sheet 6640-3,
Hiep Duc; on right,
Sheet 6640-2, Tam
Ky.]
LZ Center (BT 052 050) looking east northeast out the back end ramp
of a CH-47 helicopter.
Nui Hoac Ridge is just out of view to the extreme right of this photo
provided by Bob Leahy, an
artilleryman from B/3-82 Arty (105mm howitzers) who served at LZ Center
during 1969-70.
LZ West was directly below the chopper when Bob snapped this photo.
LZ Center, looking west southwest down the ridge line toward LZ West
(AT 990 251) in the
distance (obscured by clouds). Photos by Bob Leahy (B/3-82 Arty).
Air strike at BT 035 250, the small hill just off the west end of the LZ Center. LZ West, the headquarters for the 196th Infantry Brigade, is in the distance directly behind the black smoke rising from the air strike. |
The soldiers on the bunker (below right) are located at the far western tip of LZ Center, with a view that oversees the area just to the right of the air strike. . |
![]() |
(Left) Bob Janke's view looking southeast toward an air strike in 1968 near the east end of Nui Hoac Ridge. (Above) An air strike at BT 07 23 on the slope of Nui Hoac Ridge in 1970. An F-4 is visible to the right of the rising smoke. (Leahy photo). |
(Above) Tactical Operations Center TOC at LZ Center Photo provided by 3-21 Inf, the Gimlets. (Right) The artillery Fire Direction Center at LZ Center, looking southeast toward the end of Nui Hoac. |
(Above) Anti-aircraft (or counter mortar radar) installation at LZ Center. (Right) One of the artillery personnel bunkers on the southwestern side of LZ Center in 1968. |
(Above) Shower facilities at LZ Center 1968. (Right) A generator at LZ Center 1968. The bulk of Nui Hoac Ridge rises in the distance eastward from the firebase. |
Use this link for additional photos of LZ Center.
Select additional photos from the index at left or link to the 1st Bn 6th Inf Home Page