Army Reporter information
for 9 INF DIV
3/5 CAV
7/1 CAV
For date 680525
9 INF DIV was a US Army unit
3/5 CAV was a US Army unit
7/1 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
South Vietnam
Location, Saigon
Description: The following is an edited version from
the weekly Vietnam Communiqué column in the 25 May 1968 issue.
Old Reliable infantrymen of the 9th Inf Div, supported by artillery, helicopter
gunships and Air Force tactical airstrikes, killed 213 VC just south of Saigon.
At 4 a.m., a platoon of VC soldiers attacked an ARVN outpost guarding a bridge
leading into Saigon. One company of the 5/60th Inf was immediately deployed to
the outpost to reinforce the ARVN infantrymen while another company moved into a
blocking position on the bridge. The battle continued throughout the morning and
the enemy, unable to fight their way across the bridge, withdrew into a factory
complex. At 2 p.m., the U.S. infantrymen moved towards the complex and
surrounded it. As the fighting continued, gunship crews from the 3/5th Cav, and
Air Force tactical airstrikes and artillery pounded the enemy. After contact
with the enemy was lost, the infantrymen swept the battlefield, counting 213
enemy bodies. One U.S. soldier was killed in the fighting. Seventeen others were
wounded, five of whom were evacuated for further medical treatment. In another
battle soldiers from the 3/39th Inf killed 85 VC 500 yards from the Y Bridge on
the Kinh Dol Canal south of Saigon. Earlier in the day, the soldiers found 20 VC
bodies which were believed to have been killed in a firefight in the same area.
Additionally, the Army Reported carried a multi-page detailed account of this
action. What follows is an edited version of part of that long account entitled
"9th Inf Div Smashes Drive" (Continued from page 1, which was not copied into
this record.)
... artillery supported both contacts. At dawn, U.S. airstrikes raked the area
killing many VC who had taken cover in a nearby factory complex. When the
trapped Communists tried to flee south across open rice paddies, they were
battered by gunships of the 3/5th Cav and 7/1st Air Cav. While Co. A sealed off
the bridge approach, Co. C's tracks roared through the factory rubble from the
west, shutting off the enemy in a cement block building near the center of the
complex. All the while, Huey Cobras and the new OH-6A Cayuse gunships hammered
the VC position with miniguns and rockets. The enemy body count reached 213 as
fighting tapered off by late afternoon. Contact continued into the night, with
ARVN Rangers moving into the east side of the complex to complete the deadly
pincer movement. Early the next morning, elements of the 3/39th Inf were
summoned from Long An Province to guard the southern entrances to the city.
Reaching the Kinh Doi Canal, a major shipping lane bordering the district of
Cholon, the unit received heavy fire from dwellings in the area. A
house-to-house counterattack chased enemy snipers to the roofs in a vain attempt
to halt the battalion. Allied gunships again raked the battleground with
miniguns and rockets. Meanwhile, further south, the 4/39th Inf turned back
another enemy force on its way to Saigon. In all, 115 enemy perished during the
second day of fighting. At about 10 a.m. the following day, elements of the
5/60th Inf ran into heavy contact along the canal, while the 3/39th Inf engaged
the enemy near the bridge. As fighting intensified, the 2/47th Inf rushed in
from Camp Bear Cat, 20 miles away, to assist in parrying the enemy thrust. When
heavy small arms and rocket fire greeted the 2nd Mechanized tracks east of the
bridge, the battalion answered back with 50-cal machineguns, which, together
with gunships and airstrikes, soon forced another enemy withdrawal. The Div's
newest maneuver battalion, the 6/31st Inf, encountered its first significant
contact since arriving in Vietnam in early April. Most of the action flared at
the junction of Highways 15 and 230. At one point during the afternoon, the 31st
Inf forces were pinned down, but they soon overcame the snipers and moved to
secure the bridges north and south of the contact. Toward evening, the enemy had
lost an additional 169 men. Earlier in the day, gunships of the 3/5th Cav
spotted 20 medium-size sampans hidden in a cove along a stream about 1,000 yards
from the contact. They were covered with blue plastic material and contained
packs, webbing and food. The gunships quickly destroyed them. Shortly after,
about 3,000 yards from the battle site, gunships observed two enemy 107mm rocket
positions, mounted and ready to fire. The gunships disposed of the sites and the
two rocket warheads near them. On the fourth day, Div units continuing to sweep
and secure the southern fringes of Saigon, combined to kill 106 enemy in
separate engagements throughout the day. The next day was relatively quiet until
about 7:20 p.m. when the 3/39th Inf exchanged heavy fire with the enemy about
500 yards south of the Y Bridge. Airstrikes and gunships helped the infantrymen
kill 80 VC in the two-hour struggle. At the same time, eight miles south of
Saigon, the 6/31st Inf felled 24 enemy in an hour-long battle punctuated by
airstrikes and gunships
The source for this information was 6805AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Army Reporter information
for 9 INF DIV
D/3/5 CAV
5/60 INF
For date 680525
9 INF DIV was a US Army unit
D/3/5 CAV was a US Army unit
5/60 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
South Vietnam
Location, Saigon
Description: The following is an edited version from
the weekly Vietnam Communiqué column in the 25 May 1968 issue.
Infantrymen of the 9th Inf Div, supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and
Air Force tactical airstrikes, killed 213 VC just south of Saigon. At 4 AM, a
platoon of VC soldiers attacked an ARVN outpost guarding a bridge leading into
Saigon. One company of the 5/60th Inf was immediately deployed to the outpost to
reinforce the ARVN infantrymen while another company moved into a blocking
position on the bridge. The battle continued throughout the morning and the
enemy, unable to fight their way across the bridge, withdrew into a factory
complex. At 2 PM, the U.S. infantrymen moved towards the complex and surrounded
it. As the fighting continued, gunship crews from the 3/5th Cavalry, and Air
Force tactical airstrikes and artillery pounded the enemy. After contact with
the enemy was lost, the infantrymen swept the battlefield, counting 213 enemy
bodies. One U.S. soldier was killed in the fighting. Seventeen others were
wounded, five of whom were evacuated for further medical treatment. In another
battle soldiers from the Division's 3/39th Inf killed 85 VC 500 yards from the Y
Bridge on the Kinh Dol Canal south of Saigon. Earlier in the day, the soldiers
found 20 VC bodies which were believed to have been killed in a firefight in the
same area
The source for this information was 6805AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Army Reporter information
for 9 INF DIV
D/3/5 CAV
7/1 CAV
From date 680525 to 680529
9 INF DIV was a US Army unit
D/3/5 CAV was a US Army unit
7/1 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
South Vietnam
Location, Saigon
Description: The following is an edited version of an
article titled "9th Inf Div Smashes Drive" from the 25 May 1968 issue. As was
the publication's custom, this article provides added details to material that
appeared in the 'Vietnam Communiqué' column. (Continued from page 1, which was
not copied.)
.... artillery supported both contacts. At dawn, U.S. airstrikes raked the area
killing many VC who had taken cover in a nearby factory complex. When the
trapped Communists tried to flee south across open rice paddies, they were
battered by gunships of the 3/5th Cav and the 7/1st Air Cav. While Co. A sealed
off the bridge approach, Co. C's tracks roared through the factory rubble from
the west, shutting off the enemy in a cement block building near the center of
the complex. All the while, Huey Cobras and the new OH-6A Cayuse gunships
hammered the VC position with miniguns and rockets. The enemy body count reached
213 as fighting tapered off by late afternoon. Contact continued into the night,
with ARVN Rangers moving into the east side of the complex to complete the
deadly pincer movement. Early the next morning, elements of the 3/39th Inf were
summoned from Long An Province to guard the southern entrances to the city.
Reaching the Kinh Doi Canal, a major shipping lane bordering the district of
Cholon, the unit received heavy fire from dwellings in the area. A
house-to-house counterattack chased enemy snipers to the roofs in a vain attempt
to halt the battalion. Allied gunships again raked the battleground with
miniguns and rockets. Meanwhile, further south, the 4/39th Inf turned back
another enemy force on its way to Saigon. In all, 115 enemy perished during the
second day of fighting. At about 10 AM the following day, elements of the 5/60th
Inf ran into heavy contact along the canal, while the 3/39th Inf engaged the
enemy near the bridge. As fighting intensified, the 2/47th Inf rushed in from
Camp Bear Cat, 20 miles away, to assist in parrying the enemy thrust. When heavy
small arms and rocket fire greeted the 2nd Mechanized tracks east of the bridge,
the battalion answered back with .50-cal. machineguns, which, together with
gunships and airstrikes, soon forced another enemy withdrawal. The division's
newest maneuver battalion, the 6/31st Inf, encountered its first significant
contact since arriving in Vietnam in early April. Most of the action flared at
the junction of Highways 15 and 230. At one point during the afternoon, the 31st
Inf forces were pinned down, but they soon overcame the snipers and moved to
secure the bridges north and south of the contact. Toward evening, the enemy had
lost an additional 169 men. Earlier in the day, gunships of D/3/5th Cav spotted
20 medium-size sampans hidden in a cove along a stream about 1,000 yards from
the contact. They were covered with blue plastic material and contained packs,
webbing and food. The gunships quickly destroyed them. Shortly after, about
3,000 yards from the battle site, gunships observed two enemy 107mm rocket
positions, mounted and ready to fire. The gunships disposed of the sites and the
two rocket warheads near them. On the fourth day, division units continuing to
sweep and secure the southern fringes of Saigon, combined to kill 106 enemy in
separate engagements throughout the day. The next day was relatively quiet until
about 7:20 PM when the 3/39th Inf exchanged heavy fire with the enemy about 500
yards south of the Y Bridge. Airstrikes and gunships helped the infantrymen kill
80 VC in the two-hour struggle. At the same time, eight miles south of Saigon,
the 6/31st Inf felled 24 enemy in an hour-long battle punctuated by airstrikes
and gunships.
The source for this information was 6805AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Webmaster Note: This information was taken with permission from the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association website. (http://www.vhpa.org)
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