Qualla: Camp Enari

Camp Enari: Introduction

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jensre, CC BY-SA 3.0. Two men gave this place its names, and neither lived long enough to see it finished. The camp was named for 1st Lieutenant Mark Enari, killed on 2 December 1966 and the first soldier of the 4th Infantry Division to be awarded the Silver Star in Vietnam — awarded posthumously, which is how most such things are decided. The airstrip cut along its edge was named Hensel Airfield for Warrant Officer Ernest Hensel, a Huey gunship pilot with the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, killed on 17 February 1967. Ten weeks separated their deaths. For the four years that followed, the base carried both names, and nobody who arrived there afterwards had met either man.

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Image: Jensre | CC BY-SA 3.0

Camp Enari: Below Dragon Mountain

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jbags12, CC BY-SA 3.0. The base sat about twelve kilometres from Pleiku along Highway 14, in the shadow of Núi Hàm Rồng — Dragon Mountain — a dormant volcanic cone rising to 1,028 metres with a crater rim for a summit. The mountain gave the camp its unofficial name, Dragon Mountain Base Camp, and gave ...

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Image: Jbags12 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Camp Enari: The Ivy Division Arrives

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jbags12, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 4th Infantry Division — the Ivy Division, from the Roman numeral IV — came ashore in Vietnam in 1966, its 2nd Brigade landing on 2 August and the division proper arriving on 25 September. Camp Enari became its home. The division held the base from September 1966 to February 1...

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Image: Jbags12 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Camp Enari: Handing It Over

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jbags12, CC BY-SA 3.0. American withdrawal reached Camp Enari before it reached most places. On 15 April 1970 the base was turned over to South Vietnamese control, two months after the 4th Infantry Division had moved out; the division itself sailed for Fort Carson, Colorado, on 8 December 1970, with on...

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Image: Jbags12 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Camp Enari: What Grows There Now

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jbags12, CC BY-SA 3.0. Nothing is left. The perimeter, the bunkers, the airstrip, the water points and the endless rows of tents and hardstands have all gone back into the ground, and the land below Dragon Mountain is farmland, light industry and housing. Coffee and pepper grow on soil that was once gr...

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Image: Jbags12 | CC BY-SA 3.0