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AVAILABLE

. _', __ ,'., I . - -' . .

ALL MArEt< I~L ON rHIS FlcHI:-

Hit s B££N DEC LA S 5 I FIElJ, -:=,a •• ::::a::::S

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NCLA~IE'EIl

fBllunfqly Ii is turica 1

~ummary

" \ \

. _.. --~ . ~

MARCH,~ 1910 I DlSTR:<!UTlON STATEMBNT 1\

I A";;.cq<td lor public: release! Distribution UnliJr';Qd

-~~ ---

UNC[ASSIFIED ttl II(HEFliWIati! ..

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY u. S. NAVAL FORCES. VIETNAM

FPO SAN FRANCISCO 96&2&

Ser: ,'59

"'-t MO.t£ IKjiji'TL:1'S. 9 IfAY.f97a

FrOll.: Cornrr..ander U. S. Naval Forces, VietnaITl To: Distribution List

Sllhj: lJ. S. Naval Forces, Vietnam Monthly Historical SumrrHry for March 1970

1. The U. S. Naval Furces, Viet;-1am Monthly Historical SUITlmary is for\';,'arded for inforrn.ation and !"etention.

Z. The Civic Action Statistical Summary includes d",ta which applies to the pc ~ioc ~b January through 25 February 1970.

Distri.bution: Cr:--.iCPACFLT (41

(

/'/;t .. .~

'\ ~. -.'",?'-,> . / I, /. '~'- .' _,_ ,\ .

w. O. MoDANIEL Chier or Staff

COM IjSMACV (H, sl. Branch, SJS) COMUSMACV IDoctrine Branch J-343) COMUS:V1ACV (COC, JOD) (;O:V!L;SMACV 113-(2) CNO IOP-OgB9) (3) C;"O IOP-09B91EI CNO IOP-03, 04, 05, 06) (1 ea.) GNO lOP-H) C:'\O 10p-n) GN(J lOps Eva!. Group) OPNAV 10P-bOIV) CINCLANTFLT COMFIRSTFLT COMSECONDFLT COMSIXTHFLT COMSEVENTHFLT CHNAVMAT (Code 04) C01o,!!;EV ENTHF LT (Hi st. Tea"',)

",

Declassified by authority of the ?irector of, N"a~l History on 01. FeiJ./979 In ~ccordanee ~th OPNAV Instructions 5510.1 and 5513.1.

UNC[ASSIFIED

PRES NA VW ARCOL COMPHIBLANT COMCBPAC COMCBLANT COMINEPAC Commandant, Armed Forces Staff College

5750

Commandant, U. S. AlIny War College, (Attn: Library U-393), Carlisle

Barracks, Pa. 17013 COMNAVF ACENGCOM SUPT USNA CHINFO CO NAVPHIBSCOL LCREE~-< CO NAVPHIBSCOL Coronado PHIBTRADET MARIS NSRDC PANFLA NIOrC MARIS Project Manager, Naval Inshore Warfare Project, Wasilington, D. C.

20360 CG Aerospace Studies Institute (Code ASAD), Maxwell AFB Ala. 36112 CHNAVSEC C& GS Col.1,'< 'Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas 66027 CHNA VSEC Air University (Attn: AUL (SE) - 69-1 0), Maxwell AFB Ala.

361 12 USA Special Warfare School (Attn: USN IMC Liaison Officer) Ft. Bragg,

N. C. 28307 USMC Rep., U. S. Army Infantry School, Ft. Benning Ga. 31905

DIA (DIAAP- 4A2 IPentagon) Office of the Senio:r Marine Advisor, Naval Advisory Group, Box 9,

FPO San Francisco 96626 Commander Naval Ship R&D Center, Washington, D. C. 20007

Commander Mine Squadron ELEVEN

0iA VFOR V INA V ADVGRP MACV NOTE 0516 of I Apr 1970

LIST II (A&B) LIST III (Less E) LIST IV (Less D&E) LIST V (A) LIST VI (A 1&2, DI E&H 14)

", .. '\. ~ , . ;,' :;. ;

,.

-. .

COMMANDER

U. S. NAVAL FORCES

VIETNAM

MONTHLY HISTORICAL STJMMAR Y

March 1970

Force Hi.5torian. LCDR Forrest L. Edwards

Assistant Historian LCDR Donald G. Roller

LT Wesley R. Dixon

Field Histori.ans LCDR William Isenburg, Jr.

LTJG Stephen W. Frantz

Hi~torjcal Y COnlan YNC Antonio T. Armas

liisloricallourr..alist J02 Ralph P. Goldrn.an

J03 Robert T. Trueax

I

T able of Contents

List cf Charts, Graphs, and Photographs.

FORE\\ ARD.

OPERATlON SEA LORDS SUMMARY. Gi ant Sling shot Campaign.

Operation Ready Deck . Burder Interdiction Carrlpaign. Search Turn CampaIgn Riverine Strike Group. Breezy Cov~ ;'/iarkct Time Raider Campaign

~c'_val Statistical SUITlITlary .

CO/,ST AL SURV EILLANCE FORCE SUMMARY

Operation Market Time. Fi.rst Coastal Zone. Second Coastal Zone Third Coastal Zone Fourth Coastal L.o!1e

Special Gulf of Thailand Patrol Gulf of Thailand Offshore Patrol UTIlt Area 8/9 Operation Stable Door . Cnit One - Vung 1 au. t>nit Two - CalTI Ranh Eay Unit Th ree - Qui Nhon . !_:nit Four - Nha Tr-~\ng . Sea F'loat/Tran Hung Dao III SF/. L Operations Sei.i Float Missions.

[Uvr:R PATROL FORCE SUMMARY

(Jarne Warden.

GanH' Warden SEAL Operations Game Warden Operations ;n the Rung Sat Special Zone. , CTF Clearwater. Enemy Mining/Harassment/Attacks on Merchant Shipping

:\AV AL ADVISOR Y GROUP SUMMAR Y .

Vietnarnese Navy

i

iii

v

1

3 13 17 23 30 31 35 43-44

47 47 49 55 57 62 64 65 68 68 69 71 72 76 80 83

89

89 89 91 96 98

101

101

First Coastal Zone. Second Coastal Zone Third Coastal Zone Fourth Coastal Zone Third and Fourth Riverine Areas Viethamese Marine Corps VNMC Operational Control Sumr:1ary. V,,0i /Vl\:MC Statistical Sutnmary

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND CIVIC ACTION

SUMMARY USN Civic Action Statistical Surnnlary .

ACCELERATED TURNOVER PROGRAM AND TRAINING.

SUMMARY

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, SAIGON Maintenance and Repair Support. . ..

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, DANANG

THIRD NAVAL CONSTRUCTION BRIGADE

APPENDIX I Glossary of Abbreviations

102 103 103 104 105 I I I liB 120

121

124

127

US 137

141

149

1- 1

APPENDIX II NAVFORV/NAVADVGRP MACV NOTE 0<;440 II oi I Apr 1970 (Subj: COMNAVFORV/CHNAVADVGRP f ask and Advisory Organization)

ii

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.<

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I ().

; !

:

Li st uf Charts. ~.-E_,:£hs. and Ph{)tog~~

, t SC<J.\\:olf on Target. .

Ie) Dctvctions, Inspections, Boardings by Market Tinle Unit:-.;

~ Pi "SV./1 ft·· Boat wi th Ove r - uncle r \V' capon.

ICi Operatic.r.s In the First Coastal Zone.

Ie j Opt'l"ations in the Sccond Coastal Zone

I C' Operations in the Third Coa~;tal Zone.

i C. ~darl<ct Tin1c Raiders Operations in the Third Cua~tal Zone.

I(:i Op(~ratiuns 111 the :~ourth Coastal ZOl.e

I,

Det!:'( tions, In~jpe\tions, Doardings by Stable Door : . 11 i f S

2

1 1

42

45

54

56

60

61

63

74

75

IZ5

IB

- . ~ ., "'" • Q' • . . .

.. , r r ~ ~ • J" , .

Sller:w activity during the month of 'larch remained at the same 10>1

:'cv<': that characterized t."" latter part of February. The enemy Has a-

'-oiI; tr:rinf, to J1'.'lke hie prese-nce felt Nithout r"sorting to large offensive

('."rations. ::is principal tactics ~Iere miniIlg and sapper activities, es-

;'ecially in the I and II Corps, and abduction and assassination efforts

"soo as part of hi::; anti-pacification program to demorHIize the populace.

,n T Cor"s, .Ulied operations have pinpointed vr: infiltration routes

'_~t(, nC'lUlated areas and have thUG hampered vr; rice and medical collectio!'l

activities. ','oward the middle of the month, there waS a movement into I

C'e!'DS Gf one battalion of the 4t.h :TVA Regiment from the northern Dl!Z. There

Hac, abo another ttrlidentified :"'A battalion in the area. This activity may

be the build up for a possible coordinated Spring-Surn."1e1:' offensive. This is

in line >lith an increase in activity in the Sea Tiger AC in the enemy's

atte"rJt to naintain pressure. There waS also a concentration of :,VA units

in the :/!Z north of the Cue. Viet (liver.

'I [orcs also "'HI the enemy avoiding large unit contacts and continued

roli.1nce on terrorist and harrassment activities. During the second Heek

of th" "onth, hm"ever, the enemy changed his offensive position by staging

three /,:"."s af'ajn~t the Cam nanh Bay :JAF/AB. Again, the nature of these

,1tt~C"" reflects his capability of harrassment ~Iithollt cormnitting ;,is units.

Sa ifCOI1 and the III Corpo area also saw gradually increasinb

terrorist 'lctivity. This activity reached a high point from 14-20 Harch

Hh~n ten acts were recorded. Al though the er,el1'(Y seemed to be in a standdown

v r.nNFlnEHTr~J PREVIOUS PAGE

15 BLANK iiiiiii ____ ....

period, there 1·las co?ncentrated activity in the Hung Sat Special 70ne,

and recent events in Cambodia kept enemy forces along the border busy.

Snel1'\Y activ.i ty in the Delta and barrier areas of N Corps

,Ii'S "Iso light "ith no significant contacts reported although there "ere

several atte~pts to infiltrate troops and supplies from Cambodia. The

prime attenpt HaS to move the 88th NVA Regiment across the border in tne

~arrier Reef AO, ~ut there was no major movement of this unit reported

during the mon th .

vi

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'.

CONFrOENTIAt

'.,' J " . ~, .~ ~. \

, , '" .

t::c ~~ia.'11, : l:L'1C:-.:hot , ~order Tnterdiction, Search 'l'urn, Breezy Cove,

':Kl "ad;,' ')eo': c"',~xlif:cn~ .cocounted for a tot.al of 115 enemy 1dlled (by

_:riE:r..d~.: .. casualtier:: ~or thi~ T-lericd. 1:ere :1:G:' l:illed a.nd 67

".Tu.I,;clcd. .'. brcc..~~do~.'T1 of cor:-rplete :J;-:;I and J ..• 3:':'·\ I.(.nD~ :;tatistics

cor :,~:cch 1111ei ctati2tic<1l tot.als cO'1l:Juted since the start of oper-

c1tJ.CJ:: .:-~re located at the end of this sec~ion fol101·rlp.g the discus-

~ .. __ .u~. _____ == _____________ ~ _______ __ -_._---_ .. _- - -

1 1 i

~ J .". ... ~ .' ~ ' . . ,. • /. .' .. • f ". .;.' ~. .' .' , , .'> :..> • ~ ~ r. ) • ' .

• . .' .l: ;) • ~ ,. ... / "r - . .. . ... • • • fI; .. ... .. 0 , • ~ •

. .,. ' , "' ~, . ~ ' .. .. .' ... . . . "

'.

Gh.nt Sl:'."t;shot

During :larch, there was an average of 83 U. S. Navy and Viet-

na..,ec" i'aV;," ':>oats b.vailable for daily o,.erations in the Giant Sli!lg-

shot Area cf CT)erations (AO). The boats were used it1 performing

escort duty, na!<ing troop lifts, settinG waterborne guardpost~ CI'rol') ,

operatinG as blocking forces in support of land based units, and in

a variety of sU!lport missions on the Yam Co Tay and Yam Co Dor.g Riv-

ers. During the month, an aver.~ge of 34 l';BGP's were set daily.

The le\el of general activit,y ",hroughout the Giant S1ingshot

AC seemed to be 10uer for the month of :'!arch than the activity noted

in ·January and February. The number of enerrw killed in January was

18Z, "hile 55 of the enerrw wei'e killed dill'ing February. Friendly

casualoj,es for the month of !-larch were four killed and 25 wounded.

In la.te February in an effort to make a larger interdiction

force available for night operations in the Giant Slingshot AO,

CG:JAVFORV proposed that USN/VIm liaison personnel accompany logis-

tics craft uhich were transiting the Yam Co Dong and Yam Co Tay

Rivers for the purpose of coordinating reaction forces Ul lieu of

providing waterborne escor-ts during daylight hours. CTG 194.9

readily Ilelcomed th" proposa:L and indicated. that river pilots could

be made aV:dlable in order to provide personnel riding on board

the transiting crafts who were familiar with the AO a~ river nav-

ilOatian and who could also ac<::. as liaison personnel for requesting

reaction force assets. It was also pointed out that ;n many cases

3

.. 111 ,Ii: (·(Jnt.iJIU;~ !1!"(lvidilW I:::cort.!i ['or day1.1mo t.l'Wlf:it:; ()f I(Jf~i!ltiC'::

II!IUI i I.ioll, :11'11 1lI1:IJ'lnul ('1'.'11'1 .• Tho f~(mnrnl concnpt. of thn lor.it~ti.c:

1'('r':;()III1~1 \!(lilld hoar",I till! convoy ill Lho vi.(~i.nlty of the rcprl'ir fihtr

IIJrnL.:ci itt L!II! V,lm Co liivcr .'lnll wmUd net .'I:; Llln r.ormnunicntor ue-

I.tH!lHI 1111~ I.r':ln::iLi,fW craft and variollli rntr(JJ1inr: lDlit.t: or with the

[)f\V'y (Ip'~r"nt.loll~: CI!Ii1,or':i alcml~ t.ho rout.o.. Tn Lho evont. of nIl at.tack,

rf"::lt'f,iol1 forcp,:. of nrLi 11nry, nir, bontn, fU1d/or troopn would be

1'(Hir,1 in:l \.,·d Lht'lnwh 1.110 1 inl.::ofl pel'~iOnnol embarkorl f(p' tho trnnnit.

(11 11 Ilareil, C"l: 1 ')i,.,) rrovided additional r:u1tirulce for the

1)(·r'.':(JJHJ(~ I a:j!;i.f~llfK.l t.o nc.t. a:. piJotfi Al1d ent..ab]1.!1ht~; n chock point

'.'/':I.mn fol' hOllrl.v prOr~r"~!l rerortll1f': of t.he c:onvoy. r,'"C; 191,.'1

al"" "pe"ifind that. t.h" ri]otn would be ''''''\r:ned counterpartn nH

"""" nn i"""; th]" fo,' trnlninr: pUl'rOBe~ in view of the early I-lay

:;c:llndlllc fot' turoH,vnr of' filnnt Dl:ir.r:nhot opornticnfl to t.he V-iot-

!rt1!rjp.:;C I~nvy.

•

Id' providlrw ltninor. personnel for convoyn trannitL"lg ti,e Vnrn Co

'1','1,'1 and Varn Co ilonr: I(iver~ that all convoy un.i.ts had arrived at their

4

CONFIDENTIAL -~' . )' .'

, r ~ • ... ...

t!1e n~.ll"'!Oer 0: j.I1t~rdicti.Ln force::> Dvailable :;'01' niri~l'- operati0n.rJ has

:li..f'(; bee-:1 ::-nali7.cd. The :1u.-'lbcr of V.PO?' [: E:~:tabl::'~hed each night, has

-. rm the tactical situation, as many a:5 ter.'T..G"s pe,," night over the

-~.::_~ .. t :13.:.f Gf the 710nth 1-Then escort C.Uti8s b·c:---e ;:8rformed for a11

:'.nother ~Jj 2ce of h;::.rd."~rclre in our mili t.ary mventory ·Hhi_ch the

to respect is the St~n50r d8vice. A rallier re-

c<'C1Ly revealed il1 a debl'i,~f Hi th the liIlO 'i'ra eu that the ;;VA con-

sider that sense,," device,; ,'l.l"e one of the most effective ;;eapons be-

en;; us.-,c! in the Giant Sl:mgshot AO. The rall:ier stated t.hat he had

been instructed that if a sensor was discovered d~L~S an infiltra-

tior. atte::l!'t, the infiltrators ,,)ere not to tar:l!,er Hith the sensor

ont 1·:ere tG clearly marJ< the area and quietly clear the area to .q

d ist:u":ce 0f at least 100 meters and move arour~d the !lenGor alway~:

:·c:-.a:ming at least 100 n:eters from t.he sensor. The rallier also

ctp-ted t.hat ""'13m artjllery h;.ts an area ann lOc tr(lops, ceat.s, or

".~Tcraft ar" "!,,ottoo nearby, the ilVA aJ;;ays '_'HS?"ct.- "r.lOser,' are

.LoGnted in the arcn.

:H_rohlil3h+,s of operatbnai activity Kith'r. the Ciant !"lu-.f,shot

.~ (j·,l;~i.nG the ~onth of ;·;arch are included in The foJ1CldJ1g r,R.rr~tivc

de:;cr lptions.

5 _ ... ·_··c;lT

(,n 9 ,'larch, !'Bi/, 5 865 and 869 were transitting north on "':.he

V'l.m Co Dong River when they were hailed by tHO local youths and

,;ere shown the location of a VC weapons cache at XT 45'( 048, ap-

proximntely se""''' kilometers north of Tra Cu. The cache contained

12 82mm mortar rounds, three 61mm mortars, and one claymore mine.

There was no contact with enemy forces.

C:n 10 11arch, a helicopter carrying eo SEAL team went down at xs

520 790, approximately ten kilometars from Ben Luc. v:ithin five

minutes, another helicopter, piloted by LCDR Cleveland, landed and,

picked up six passengers and crewmen of the downed :lelo. A second

rescue helicopter followed on and picked up the remaining two crew-

members. All personnel were returlled to Ben Luc without injury. A

SEAL team was ret.urned to the scene and inserted by helicopter to

guard the downed aircr"ft. The downed helicopter was lifted out

and retlU"ned tc Ben Luc within three hours after losmg power and

gOlllg down.

:..ate in the evening rf: 9 '1arch, PBR 708, under Boat Captam EI~2

:'~'ers, and ?OR 7 7)1, under Boat Captain EN2 Girouard, were In "'BGP

at r.:: 335 1;1.0, approxi!r..:>.tely five kilometers frolT, Tuyen Nhon. The

'J:1~ts, 'nder ?atrol Officer BMC Smock, sighted seven VC crawlmg

to',;ar-:l ::'3:< 708. The VC were in the process of disconnecting a

cl.e.pore rUne which had been placed and was being controlled from

the ?3i'.. The boats took the VC under firo and received AK-47 re-

turn fire. Artillery and air assistance was requested, but, due to

other \mits being in contact, no assistance was immediately available.

6

"~ •

".

CONFIDENTIAL

. ~ . • • -.:! • •

Tho DB!'!' s th,m COml'1€nCOO to ""ort;:>-:- the area and suppressed the enemy

fire. Shortly after :'lidnight, PER I S inserted troops from F'SB Gettys-

barr,. The troop s>1eep located '1IUltiple trails and a staging area of

~ l~rge size enemy force.

'_71 1 ~ :larch, a PER of RIVDIV 511, while in l':BG? at viS 945 984,

ter. kilometers from Hoc Hoa, received a grenade on the boat. The

fOI"laro gunner threw the grenade oVtJrboaro. The two PER I s in the

:,BGo then broke ,JBGP and received autanatic weapons fire. Air as-

siDtnnce was requested, but on arrival, the Seawolves were 'unable

to conduct. an air strike due to low visibility and fog •. The boats

reset the v,ilG? in the same location with no further incident.

In the morning of 15 Harch, PBR 866 under Boat Captain EN1

Parker, "BR 869 under Boat Captain EN'.' Giranl., and 7-5 under Boat

Captain G:1G1 Bishop were transitting at XT 456 046 ,.,hen they were

hailed by ct:ildren from Hiep Hoa. The children said that they knew

the location of a cache and would point it out. The boats returned

to Tra Cu to embark their Commandjng Officer, LCDR B~ennan, and to

get lJ. S. Army ground support elements. The boats then proceeded

to xs 472 996, approx~~tely two kilometers from Tra Cu, utilizing

a U. S. Army un5.t for protection and Seawolves fer cover. The cache

was found in a 55 gallon oil drum. In the oil drum were seven 105mrn

prOjectiles that were rigged with a booby trap device, 21 Chicom

grenades in a wooden box. The cache wa~ in poor, but usable condit~on.

This was the fourth ca~he turned in by these children. S~lce

their lives may be in danger because they have cooperated with the

U. S.lV!l Navy, they were brought to the District Chief 50 steps could

be taken to prctect them. 7

Un 17 l'larch, PBR's 7h2 and 777 of RIVDIV 551, with Boat Captains

'l!'11 Hinds and T"11 Fallon embarked, Here in V.'BGP at xs 337 843, ap-

proximately six kilometers northeast of Tuyen Nhon on the Industrial

Canal, sighted approxi'Tlately 20 VC in single file approaching their

position. ,ihen the VC were within about 100 meters, PER 772 opened

fire, Air and artillery assistance was immediately requested. The

units began re""i-,,'_-g AK-h7 return fire. At 2205H, the units observed

a large secondary expl,,~ion. Black Ponies arrived and placed strikes

in the contact a~ea from 2209H to 2218H. FSB Gettyburg fired artil-

lery into the area from 2223H to 2315H. At 2325H, troops from FSB

Gettysburg we~e inse~ted fer a sweep, and another sweep was conducted

by RIVDIV 551 personnel at first light. The sweeps produced the

follOWing items captured in action: one anti-tank grenade, 28 as­

sorted hand g~enades, eight B-ho rocket warheads with boosters, two

boxes of fuses, seven packages of C-4 totaling 20 pounds, two rolls

of time fuses, three AK-47 clips, 315 in.iividual rounds of AK-47

ammunition, seven gas masks, assorted medicines, 52 battle dressings,

three pounds of documents, 100 pounds of rice and other food stuffs,

15 pounds of clothing, 55 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 30 non-electrical

blasting caps, ho green plastic bags used for floating supplies across

waten1ays, and two zero-time booby trap grenades.

'll,n Robert D. Hinds suffered a minor shrapnel wound to the right

arm in this encounter, Seven VC were known to have been wounded.

On ~ 8 March, Vietnanese units HQ 5144 .. cd HQ ~ 147, with embarked

advisors EN3 Prokup and Bl11 Herrea, were in vo'BGP at XT 247 353, approximately

8 UOIfllJEITUl

-

"

"J ,r, t ~.nr, c lD~;e b',r the 'hoa t~ . A ccncus~' j Gn grenade "'1,1.:' dropped -rTi th

c.f ",'Cl":tlJ1icatiol',C; ann nroe;ressive flooding. HQ 5147 !,roceeded to

·If'--L-t. in thp. E'V'1c'.lat.io:1 ryf the ~trj.cken boat and provided fire sup-

,'cet. '!G 511'), Has flo<YJpd u!' to the main cleck at the tine of the

eV.'lC'lJ. tion •

,:3 "re;""" suffered ~ lacceration on the back of the head. Five

J:etra:Tle.'3e sa:']ors Here ['..]50 injured - none seriously.

,""r::y i" the morni.nrc of 20 !';arch, one of th2 mortar pits of

Arlvp.r.~',d T~ctical Support 3a~e (ATSB) Ben Keo reported sighti.ng

cvi=ers ill the >:ater. ~he base we"t to General Quarters. A>1

the boat~ available cOr:t.""1enced d concussion granade barrage arotmd

che arlI'1i. Tr.e b,n'rage y killed one sHimmer. A second

swi.1"l"1er W::tS ::een '.ll1der ann was fired upon but escaped.

"ersonne] of the base then c ucted a thorough search of the

are., >:i th rr'lnpling equipment. \.d~e attachE>d to an inflated

; a tf!:" ~"1 t,he day ~ .q US:'J EGD Team destroyed the Mine which 'h~~S

':E'c', of dec,'":"o:ri.llg the Mine, U. S. Army Tug Boat ST-l ;iCi2 reported

d1ccoverinr "- second mine down stream approximately 200 meters and

~cr():~ the river. The discovery was made ~hen a crewm.m spotted

" niece of nylon line floa t.ing on the surface. The crewman had

"icked up UIf' Ii"" ""d aUer'l"tcd to nun lhe line an bo:trd. The line

parT,(,;] "hi \(' th" crmmtiUl >1M' tryinr to rf)trieve the line but not be-

f";'8 Lf)e rrcvM.O'\ CaW chat the!"" HnC, ~ ",ine "ttached to the 1 inc. "

1-'-: ·"'-:n"-~. '1 he . '-:('ond mine did not detonat.e and is on th~~ bottom of

t.\.-h ..... river b1 .. t i." considc!'cd. to be harmlc!';B after the concussion

,-r"n;,rl", f., \1",1 to \1l:\ke the 11ine explode. At ?107001!, the body of

Lhe :;ceLm! "t:i:1l1lcr flocttcd to the surface near the scene of the

:n trc ,'lft0.rnoon of ~'O ':arch, thref:: b()y~ from Iliep Hoa once

:",.,in hailed 'lJ:' unit" and reported thnt they knew the location of

a cae l ".. ',he trOD"''' tonk the boy" te the cache site, recovered the

carhe, and rctnrncJ to '; r;:l eu. The r:ache consisted of 3 ix new base-

b"ll C:~, r:rcn"dcc, si,x bcob:r trapped 10<)mm artillery rOlmdc, and six

dcctric"l de ten:t turc. Th i" was the sixth cache turned in by the

. '1': '1 1~: '~"rch t.hroufh ~ ~" ~'~,'lrch, SNl Deam, who bil-ls himself

t,(.ill" ~. 1 !'c 'ia! t -"1 Lnf,:..;hot. 'ba:-c:.. lie entcrtawc.J the personnel

Vi: U: r~.:l;·: r' and h:rrnotic :-;ho,,·,';-,. "T enkokai I s 11 perfo)"Ma.nces were very

'II j ":arch, the youth" fro", !lief' 1i0a once ngain hailoo paSslllf,

r1'l t.r un i tc.. ; he boyc. turned ov.;r two AK-lt7 m.'lr:t7, ines, three 60mm

"10ri .. 'lr' rr,'md;;, twe O~1l1!T1 mort:1r rOlD1d:-;, anrl eir:ht r1ackeral can booby

]()

) {\ I '.J f I

i'U!;"'~""1 .• ' it ! '~'. ',' . . -

t.r:11'::. I" thn fo.l1 C/W1Il~ day, t.1I" ::am.' hoy:: hailed pa'-ninr. hoatl1 aIld

i"f"rmed t.1I"m th,,1. :: lx VI: "'vi c!'o!;::nd th" 1'1 ver and were proceod info

I.., the weeL

III 11 :1nrch, '~1!(':: were t.ran" LtliIlI; when hailed by the three

.y{nll-t l '· fr()111 :1:Lf!il 110.'1. Tile Loy::; cla.imed that their live~ had been

threat.p.ncd hy the Vi;. lha boys had been told they would be killed

by the VC w'c thin three daye. The youth,; were taken into protective

cu::tcdy :md then de] 1 vered t.o the protection of the District Chief.

The flictd ct r:hlef assured r:TG 194.9 that cufficient. Regional Forces

:url :'clice were available to insure the protection of the Y'lUths.

The youthc have thun far' led friendly forces to seven caches

and hnve provided friendly forces wH.h infC'l'matioll on at least one

ri vcr crocsinlC by VC forces.

'.

lZ CONfIDENTIAL

"

Cperation Ready Deck

"ceration Tran Hung Dao V/ileady Deck, ,.;hile strictly under V;'lN

c?p.riltional control hag continued to carry the SF-A I .) designator

1'G 191t.6. In order to clarify the Situation, the present SF.A LORDS

link "ith CTG 194.6 was stated to be primarily :.dministrative in

nature. ~he chain of operational control is from CNO, VNlJ, to Com-

mander III Riverine Area to Commander Tran Hung Dao V/Ready Deck.

~t the end of the month, the departure of all of the RPG 51 assets

from the area Signalled the planned arrival and break in operations

for all 0:' Hffi 52 and the departure of River Division 593 scheduled

to be completed by the first part of April.

As of 31 !-!arch, the following units were committed to Operation

Tran Hung Dao V/Ready Deck.

Number of Units Desi!j!!aticn Type of Unit Assj.f[!ed

TG 194.6 (,','haler) Whaler 1

TU 194.6.1 (RIVDIV 593) PER 10

RPG 52 PER 8

HAG ;;4 RAC 18

CpElrating on the Saigon and Thi Tinh Rivers within an area ap­

proximately 43 Miles in length that extends from four miles south

of Phu Cuang (XT 810 780) upstream to Tri Tam (XT 480 460), the Tran

Hung Dao V forces conducted WBGP's, river patrol,~, search and destroy

o;.erations, troop support, PSYOPS missions and ACTOV t~aining in con-

junctictl with the ground units, the 1st Infantry Division, USA, the

5th ARVN D~visicn, and local RF's/PF's, that have adjacent AD's. 13

The nirht n3r.~ "'hich has successfully interdicted numerous

cner.:{ rr:ovements across the rivers and streams in the past months

detected almost il neglir,ible number in ~"arch. The few incidents

thilt. did occur anpeared to reflect the enelT\Y I s increased efforts

to ri.d the:'1selves of the tenacious allied river crnft by employing

a"buch techniques on transiting units or by initiating a fire fight

,·-ith the toss of " crenade at the boats poshioned in a 1-,'BGP,

The extremely low level of enemy activity that was experienced

i~ the AC throughout the month was concomitant with intelligence

rcpo,.~,s that indicated that ?'larch wo.s to be a period of reorganiza-

tion a'1d training a:i part of the enemy's forthcoming spring campaign

.-hich >las considered to have begun on the evening of 31 !-larch - 1

April when there 1oIas, a marked increase in the nu.'1!ber of enemy en-

ga"ements throughout the 3rcl CT7.. ,!hat action that did occur dur-

ing the month was pri!narily concentrated in the frec,uently active

"rea six miles northwest of Phu Cuong (vicinity XT 720 220).

The following narrative includes examples of the '!lore signif-

ica'1t incident.s that occurred in the Tran Hung Dao V/Ready Deck AO.

thile transiting south on the Saigon River 20 miles northwest

of ?tnt Cuong (XT 526 362) on the afterno',m of 12 1,larch, RrJDIV 593

"31{'s 761, 756, and 8L2, under the command 0f LTJG Hunter, were am­

bush~ by four B-Lo rockets and heavy automatic weapons fire from

a"proximately 10 to 15 enemy soMler,.. positioned alOl'lg the west bank

of the river. The PBrl's returned the fire, cleared t.he ('~ea, and

14

'.

, , , "

,'iO ~, - - • ,- • J

"

:-:, l !~"d fo:' :l:-ti~leyy and ~,clo assi:-:tance i'~o:n the :-:5'th Infa.-rtry

';'lee Ar--ry ~ ani C hfllos arrived on the ccene a ,d

eVa C '.C; ~ed tht! wo\ll1ded, l,T JG Hun tel', ilT J Tho,"!,s on, anr, B~1C Rhea

c.'.: :'.0 fatally ,wln1ded G;.,c;sr; Jacaruso to C'l Chi. Artillery was

~l:,c,,:: in the area, ""d an AI'"", LEFT expended all its ordna,.,ce be­

:'::" .',,"artb,g the area. :'ollowing the ail' stri1<es and artiller'J

::~'~,c, the ?3R's ber,an th~ir long transit to Phu Cuong.

:a~er ~" the Clonth, on Z8 ilarch, ?BR's 842 and 756 of RIVDIV

5~3, :· .. ::'t~ ~T ~·7c ClUilher in charge were guided by a Hoi Chanh on a

se;;,,,or alOd desb'oy nissior. alang a small stream six miles north-

.... !est of ?hu ".>long eXT 7'-'2 222). Foll!" large btmkers and one firine;

:::GS~ tic;') Here destroyed, and small amounts of food, !'Orsonal clo'th­

inc:, 'H,d ecuipnent '·:ere captured. Two of the bunkers displayed ex­

t,.e"e~y fresh food that indicated thay had been used withi..'l the ore-

V=-O\l3 hour 0

·.h'1t evenwg, LLJG Doug:lerty with FBR's 756 and 842 WaS posi­

tioned ._, a ',.'BG? on the Saigon HiveI' in close proximity to the des­

tr'J.yed bunkers (XT 718 ,'17). Remaining poised for action, the U. S.

c!lilors took three VC under fire as they approached >rithin five feet

<.01' the boats. Ab the tmits broke the \','BGP, a grenaua WaS thrown at

one of the :,m' ~, but :::t failed to detonate. nm of the VC had been

:,nled alr10st in<1tantly at the point blank range, aIv! tho third "'as

probably killed. The I'BH I S reconned the area by fire b~fore a USA

; ;;;,'; placed a strike with unknmm results.

15

.. .", " ,. • '" ,. ?' . , ~ , . - .

-,

Tn another enc"V rren"de toss:ing :incident, HIS Luong, 1;l;K, the

':C;'! "d'ricor, r::1 '-;oceri, and blo vm; PBP's ,Iere silently '-latching

the _~ ,'lir,on '1.i ver ,md c01mt.rysicle from their I-.l3GP 1 S miles northwest ,0

of -''1,1 Cuong (XT 610 JV) 0 A lone hand grenade bounced off one of

the -" :-: "Bee's and detonated 0 The two boats ~roke their positions

,,"~d took the sus:oe,-, ted enemy locations lmder fire 0 Iletmn enemy fire

>:a, received, and the area \-laS comrletely saturated d=:ing four fir-

inc runs that effectivel,)' silenced the enemy 0 ?:inal assesmcr.t of

~he enei"l0r casualties '-laS unknmm.

uur:ing the early mOl't1:ing hours of 31 Harch, epe Hoai, Vtl,!, the

us:: advisor C)~CS Land, and b'lO vl~N ?ER I SHere enroutt:: to Phu Cuong

Hhen they Here 2J11bushed by one B-ho and heavy auto:natic weapons fire

only four miles from their desi illation (XT 7h'l 18S). The PBR IS re-

tu,"'ned the fire and called in a !JSA LHFT ",hicn expended all its

ordnance "ith lmlmo;.n results. The a:c-ea "as cover<ld by USA Hand I

artillery fire "'hen 1;he 1Il?T departed the area. One VNN was ser-

iously ,lOunded in the brief confrontation.

..

16

, '

Border Interdiction

,'OJ' the !last fe~1 r:1onths, the Border Interdiction Ca1lI!'aign has

inc'.,"j~i the one rational activity of beth the Tra11 Eung Dao I AD and

cr:e ?2rri.2J' fleef AG under the Cperati,onal Task :Jesignator TG 194.4.

," 15 ::arch, ,ran Hung Dao I became a combinec:\ oper~ with LCDR

Ci,,-,,,,., Tn:, assu:n:ing the operational title Commander, Tran Hung Dao

~ :lnd :.CD~ ,1. 3. llishop, US::. assuming the operational title Deputy

('o:'01'.onder, 1raI. Hung Dao I. CO=1der, Tran Hung DaD I assUMed the

tao', designators eTC 212.4(T.JN)/CTG 194.8(USB), and the Deputy Com-

r18I1der, Tr:m :,ung Dao I assumed the task designators C'I'U 212.4.0/

C':'~} 19k.5.0. !,CDR? T. Souval, USN, assumed the duties as Senior

AdV'isOT' to eTG 212.4 along Hith his other duties as Commander, Bor-

del' bterdiction Group with the task designator CTG 194.4. Task Group

19)~.L '·;-iJ.7. con LiTP..:..e operations in the Barrier Reef AC.

During the :nO'"1~'1, the combined forces continued to maintain

the pressure on the enemy in his many attempts to infiltrate troops

and su"plies into the Republic of Vietnam by ;Jay of Cambodia. The

"ater level of the Vinh Te Canal continued to drop and forced sus-

"e!lsion of' routine PER. operations to the ~rest of H/S grid line VS 970

by 1 9 : !arch •

During the mCL1;h, the enemy suffered 33 confirmed killed in

,otteM"ting to infiltrate the area. The U. S. Navy sui'ferec' only t~,o

};ounder", ir, action during the mO:1th il: this a'C'ea of operations.

17

r' I ' o • . ,

:> '\

f- j J . "

lurin(, the month, C':G 19h.h/19J~.8 had a daily avoJ'age of 95

b"'~ts available and set an average of 43 lJ3GP's daily in the Tran

'iung uao T area of o!?(lratians. In the Barrier Reef All, CTG 19/'./' had

o c1aily averar,e of TI boats available for operations and set a daily

~n 3 Earch, "CF 37 of CDSDIV 11, ,.lith LTJG Scattergood on

:,card, suffered an unden'later explosion under the stem of the

boat near the canal locks located at VS 6'::;6 636 on the Vinh Te

Canal. OCt' 37 irunediately commenced H and I fire on both banks.

There Has no return fire. PCF 3'1 then cleared the area to the west,

and bm !nore explooicns were felt by the crew. PCF 37 suffered only

slight damage to the starboard propellor and shaft. Apparently, the

enemy had planted booby trapped grbnade~ in the shallow water nea~

the lock.

On 7 ::arch, Vy ?houc Tay Special Forces Company requested PER

support for CillG units in heavy contact 12 kilometers south of Ap

Bac at XS 170 609. PER I s '773 and 778 of RIVDIV 551 under Patrol Cf-

He,'r ~T SMelley scra'11bled and provide:! a blocking force aleng the

Tong Joc loc Canal until 171511 when the boats \.;ere released and re-

tu.-ned to r:y Phouc Tay. One hour later, a CillG unit reported heavy

cC!'Jtact., and the PER I S were again scramblfKl. to provide support. Gn

arrival on statiDrl, the boats came under B-/'O rocket and heavy auto­

:'".atic weapons fire from both banks at xs 168 609. The PER's immedi-

A.tely returned fire and placed 60mm mortar fire into the area. Black

nonies were requested but on arrival overhead were unable to conduct

18 i"'M'il~,ny.t~ ~n\ IJ. u\lnr U 11111\\

. .

"

. . . . , _ , • " .,. rr-

" " : I :; 1 ~; ~I tll!.1 .'

.·1.I·i!\C:~ (lue t() r.round tro()p:> JnCNinr. into t,hc area. J l' ~~rnel,]r.y received

" ,:] i,~ht "ll1·aime1. \lOem" durinr: thi;; enconntnr.

(ll 7 ;,L.rch, dur'.nl'. a du.f.fleb"f~irr.plru1t I~is~ion, two VC 1"rom the

';r);' :In \;ere "<lpture<i. 'Ihey revealed that du1"1"elbap, directed artillery

ha:: been respon~ible 1"01 ""veral kills in the Barrier Hee1" AO. They

"tatoo that the VC CanI'Jt 1ll1derstand how the artillery happen" to be

fired at them 1"or no apparent reason in the middle 01" the night.

The usj.nr, of du.f1"lebag "ensors and artillery is believed to be

a very important contributing 1"actor in the reported 10>1 morale 01"

VC in this area.

Another report by DtLfflebag operating personnel states that the

combined use 01" sensors and the Army radar has proven again to be ex­

tremely ef1"ective. Almost every activation in the Vinh Gia At; has

~een con1"irmed by the radar at that location.

Enemy activity has de1"initely been on the upswing. In the

Vinh Cia Au, the VC/IWA mission is to cross the canal while in the

ila Tien AGj More emphasis has been placed on attacl<ing the boats,

not only at night but in the late a1"ternoon.

un 17 !larch, the utern sentry on USS IHEDELL SCUHTY (1ST 839),

anchored at ws 40 85 in Kian Phong Province; sighted an object 1"loating

in the ~Iater near the ship. The sentry fired a short burst at the

c,bject. The object exploded with a bright 1"lash. There was no dam­

ace to th" ship nor ,bjury to personnel.

19

Tn the eu,!"J;" '1:"trt of ~'::lrch, :--0 ;)trike AS3ault 80ats (~!l'!J3IS)

i:CH me <lll,l hn;, cvo)vccl, in il ten month period, from the dra\Olinr,

board to !,reduction to ill-country delivery. The STAB's unit had

"o"1e Minor r;rm;inG nains r,etting organized and trained i'or operation

or. the TJelta water;rays. IJy 8 ITarch, cm 194.4 laconic'l.lly reported

that the "S1.',B's a!'e out of Gas." His comment was quite true but

Has !,rimarily th,e result of intensive usage of the boats for training

and ~econdarily that the su!'port functions had not yet become totally

operative and had not yet developed usage data in order to properly

s~!nn~rt the boats.

en 16 rMch, Stabrcn 20 units, STAB's 709 and 716, in coordin-

ation 'Hith 7-27 arid A-15, assisted llILO Gao Lanh in recovering an

~s cache in reaction to an agent's report. The boats recovered

the cache from underHater in ehe middle of PhlloC Xuyen village, Kien

''hong 7rovince at ~:s e60 777. The cache consisted of one B-40 rocket

and launcher, one Chico", light machine gun, type 56, and one Chicom

light machine gun, type 58. The agent reported that an unlmOlm size

:,-vA eleMent had cached the "eapons after crossing the canal at that

location ir, the night of 10 llarch.

On 16 Varch, at the request of the Dong Tien District Chief,

cea>:olves 93 and 95 placed an airstrike at \-is 481 870 approximately

six kilometers northeast of An Long. The Seawolves had four sec on-

dary explosions Wld had ene B-40 fired at them. CTE 194.4.5.1 co-

aminated with the Ciong Tien District Chief and requested that a

COMf In~M-IU\lL 20

"

".

;

,,', 'i':·.··~ :' ~~ ..

~J.'"'..c': ';ony strike be !flade in tl~e :';XI'lC a!'::'n. i3lack ?onier; 103 and 11L

pere diverted. to the area. ~"O:':"J.OHinr: the ::p.B,Folf atrikc, Done Tien

iJist.rlc.t 97:: ~l? COMpany !'loved from their ,-: L:;ht ;>(lsltion to the area

0: "tile SeaFolf contact, At ;:'030!I, the troops observed 50 vc approxi-

Ck"'.t.c::'y )iOO I'!eter~ north of thei,. positioo. At ~'0!10l!, Black Ponies

lc';) and 11/; Fere briefed on the contact area and infor:-1ed that there

>:ere no lJ. S. forces on the ground to die'ect the airstri1(e. 1he

Dlac1: :'onie~': flo1:n by LCD', !iardie =d l.T.iG b:'l.ily, agreed to attempt.

to ,·,ork "ith the ill" COl'lpany throue:h Aspirant Tin ,:ho spoke fair i':ng-

li5h.

At 205011, communications ~lere established between the Black

?onies a:xl the ground troops. At 2045H, Black Ponies rolled in em

the strike zeme. 'this may have been the first time that RF troops

directed Black :'orlies in a close fire support rnissiem without any

U. S. advisor assistrulce. The troops marked the target area with

tracers as the Black Ponies put in the strike. At 20SSH, the troops

reported that the VC were shooting at the aircraft. At 2110H, the

JJ.ac:: "anie5 completed ':.he strike.

':'he troops, ~mo had been receiving light machine gun and auto-

:1atic t:eapon::: fire throughout the engagement suppressed the enerrw

fire at 2111H. The troops then requested illu.'ninatiem for a slreep

of the area. At 211S11, the Black Ponies departed for home base due

to " 10H fuel state.

During the early morning hours of 29 lrarch, VC/NVA 1ll1its la1ll1ched

well coordinated sbrultaneous attacks against friendly positions at Chi

lang, Ba Xoai, Kien Luong cement plant, Tri Ton, and outposts within ,-

the Seven rlountains. CTG 194.8 immediately responded with Sea.wlves from

HAL J Dets J and S and Black Ponies from VAL-4.

As night turned into day, U. S. Army helo assets were brought to

the scene, and continuous strikes were placed throughout the day. All

1rtdications are that the enemy "as well routed.

As a result of the effective initial enemy strikes, all the land

based helo refueling and rearming facilities in the combat area were

rendered useless. Both YRBM-20 and YRBM-16 quickly commenced to sup­

port the continuous airborne avalanche.

During the periods 290200 - 0430H and 290730-1700H, both YRBH' s

weL'e called upon to conduct upwards of 150 individual rearming/refuel­

ing evolutions on aircraft r-ang1r'g from armed UH-6 LOH through UH-1 B

Sea,lOlves to heavily laden AH-1G Cobras.

Easter S1ll1day WaS a day of rest for some, but for the officers and

men of the YRB?1's, it was a tiring day of si.lent but critical support.

22

GOlf tDENHkl

".

Search ':,'urn

q 3.id 75, which was committed to Operation 5earch Turn on 23

Febrllary rnaking it a cornbined USN!VNN operation named Operation

Searcb Turn/Tran Hung Dao VI, conducted interdiction operations on

the Raeh Gia - Ha Tien Cai,al utilizing daylight patrols and night

WEGP's. In Vlew of the irnrninant movement d NVA units through

the Search 1 urn AO, C', li 194.3 considered RAID 7'5 a particularly

desireable asset. In addition to operations on the Rach Gia - Ha

Tien Canal, RAID 75 also set patrols and WEGP's on the Kien Lyinh

Quynh CanaL In addition to their primary mission of interdiction,

the RAID assisted local Province j roops in coordinating and p .... oviding

transportation for them across the Kien Lyinh Quynh in a 'sweep type

op.:! rat on.

Activity in the Search " urn AO rose during the month of March

"ith 26 hostile fire incidents being recorded as cornpared to Feb-

ruary's 17. Search Turn units accounted for e!lerny losses of 40

kll!5 and 27 probable kills, a rise frorn the previous month's 16

and J 3 respectively. Enerny craft loss totals were down, however,

from F<"bruary'. seven destroyed and 12 darnaged to Gne destroyed

and (Jne damaged in March. " here were. however, four enemy

craft captured this month, a rise of three over last month. While

23 ' ..

~ :'"

• I

:l "1':',1 CI1Cr1), lesses rose in J\.larch, friendly losses remained at February's

level. There "ere t",.o USN and one friendly killed in F'ebru;lr)~ there ~.

\-\ere three fricndlies killed in March's operations. February also

sa\\ three t'S0: and tv.'O VNN wounded while March's total rose to

SIX L~SN ar.d 16 fricndlies wounded.

At the end of the month, Search Turn assets included two UH-

IB's and 64 water craft ",hich included 37 PBR's, 14 ATC's, four

ASPB's, three Boston Whalers, one Monitor, one Zippo, one LSSC,

Oi;e B WH, and one MSSC.

Toward the end of March, the Gulf of Thailand weather and

sea conditions deteriorated to the point where there was an average

of less than three hours daily when LST support could be accomp-

lished. Thus on 27 March, the USS HUN1 ERDON COUN, Y (LST

838) was given order to depart the vicinity of Rach Gia and proceed

to the vicinity of Long Xuyen on the Bassac Rive!' where it arrived

on 30 March ready to resume support for CTG 194.3.

The following incirlent narrative is typical of March's activity

in the Search Turn AO.

During a day patrol (vic We< 005 345) on 6 March, PER's of

RIVOIV 573. under Patrol Officer EMC Walker and [oat Captains

ROJ Waters and ROI Thompson, were checking water traffic when

they were stopped by a sampan occupied by two men and one woman

"ho said that VC tax collectors upstrealTI had taken their lTIoney

and raped their woman. Pr-oceeding upstream, the unit encountered

a group of 20 people dressed in a mixture of khaki, caITLouflagcd,

and black pajamas. The people were armed and indicated that they

were RD cadre protecting the populace. The units ch~cked with an

outpost two kiloITIeters downstream and det~rTllined that a bandit

group had been robbing and rClping local populace along th~ H ri on

Canal on both sides of the Kien Giang Province boundary. 1 he units

returned and observed men escaping with M-16 rifles. '1 he ren1.ainder

were taken aboard. 1he apparent leader of the group was dr~ssed

in a very old, ragged RO uniforlTI. He stated that the group's pur-

pose was to protect fishermen and that their home was an undeter

mined outpost at the base of Seven Mountains,. ~ he people were

taken to the Sector NILO for interrogation. In all, there were 25

people detained and seven rifles, two grenades, and six bandoliers

of amrnunition captured.

On the previous day, a patrol in the same area had captured

aye flag and banner which warned that black pajalTIa clad local

25

forcE's \J,;ere an enenl'Y of the VC and would be killed. his banner

111ight have been in reference to this group or could have been a

rOUE:e tn discredit RD cadre or PSDF. Intelligence r2ceived on

tl March \\as that 200 ve had be2n in the same g"2neral area for

t,ht' prevlc)1Js thr~e ni!2-hts.

At (Jf)loH on 12 March, PER's of RIVDIV 553 observed 11 vel

:;'VA a~)pr()aching their position on the Tri Ton Canal 20 ITliles

'''.r~n .. \eq of Rach Gia. (WS 010 380) fronl the east. [.oth craft

()peneo fl rR v. hen the enemy was 250 meters out and caught theyn

In a \l,. ,the ring "50 caliber cross fire. They received AI W, R/1-",

and rlflf' ;.:renadcs in return. Seav,,·'olves v,Iere requested on ~cr<."1n1.ble

Tv. ", a~',:: aL 00; 9H Black Ponies \\ ere also requested. -::;, he 5eawolves

\\ e r 0;:' :-;';.'1.tl():i a:1d pt:tting in a strike at 0035H, and the Black Pon-

;e~ ?l"~ ,;l t~cii ::-;trlke at 0046!--J: dnd left the area at OllOH. ! '-"'0

}~()'~r~ late-r. one VC/-:\VA v,as sighted in the contact area and taken

uncler f,re. At '.HOOH, two PBRs "ere dispatched to the contact

area :' d..::~;st :n the S\l"eep and to provide cover. At 0630, a s\ve~'p

r!:\"eajpC '"~;ree "Jodies and two distinct heavy blood trails. here

'.\ e;- c :";:f~;-;dly casualties 'hhile the eneITl~/ suffered three "k,illed

~:( ~'".r. :''V.'', ?rnoaoly killed. I"lle: unit.t ,-\-ere also responsible for

.. a:):' ,,;:- . :.l:' AK-4i, five AK-4i rnagazi:1E=s, one kilo of docnn1enls,

'.f::: :-<:~CJ~ CJf r:ce, and two Chicorn grenaces.

L6 COIFIUENTI A L

The next day, units of BIVDIV 553 were again engaged in action

in approximately the same area while establishing a WE GP on the

Tri Top Canal ZO miles northwest of Rach Gia (WS 008 380) when

PDR's 8131 and 8132 uncovered ZI, 60 pOllnd sacks of rice which were

camouflaged and cached ZO feet horn the Tri -; on Canal bank. 'I he

WECP was set, but there was no action throughout the night. At

0700H on the 20th, SEAL elements were inserted in the cache area

and cleared the PBR's about 3,000 lTIeters to the south. At 0857H,

the units observed 19 ve in a spread out line cOlTIing from the di-

rection of Seven Mountains. They were observed to be in blue or

black uniforms, and sjx of theITl were seen to be carrying or pushing

a large object. At 0900H, " Shotgun aircraft was requested for

visual reconnaissance. At 0909H, Sector clearance to fir::: was ob-

tained. Sixteen minutes later, the elleITlY turned parallel to the

canal and reached apparent CPA at about Z, 500 lTIet"rs. Fifteen

minutes later, the VC were observed evading into cover upon hear-

mg the aircraft. At 0946H, the PBR's opened fire, and at lDZ5H,

Seawolves arrived on station and coordinated a strike with the Shot­

gun aircraft. One detainee was picked up north of the original con-

tar:t area and delivered to Kien ~on. The man was determined to

be a PF from the Tri 10n District who had wandered one kilometer

south of the Pr',vince border while fishing. At 1410H, a report was

received from the Z 1 st AR VI" Divi sian that one company of V C was

'. " - " . l!r~ ~ " , '" .~ .

,i "

in the contact area. At approximately 1430H, the 21st ARVN In-

serted an Air Cavalry package to sweep the area. '1 here wel'e

" r.egat ive results. EncITlY casualties in this action included fiv "!

ve: kIlled and 1,260 pounds of rice captured.

In the early evening of 19 Mar-::h, CTU 194.3.3 Sea"wolves 86

and 81, piloted by LCDR Thomas and Ll JG McNaull respectively,

were on a Scramble Three for 90 ve observed by :=hotgun 38 in

Kien Giang Province 12 lTliles northwest. of Rach Gia (VS 970 200).

W,th clearance from CTG 194.3 and the Kien Giang PSA, the air-

craft placed rocket and machine gun fire into the area. ~:-he result

of this action was six VC killed (BC) and nine VC wounded with no

friendly casualties suffered.

In reaction to intelligence gained from MI 525 that a VC medical

statlOr, was located along the Rach Thong Lua Canal, SEAL Team

One, Det GOLF, DELTA Platoon, BRAVO Squad, under :_T Hetzer,

one LD\'I\', one KCS, and one interpreter were inserted by saITlpan on

21 March northetist of Rach Gia (WS 145 OG5). They proceeded

approxinately 75 ITleters up the canal wh(.n they observed four men

carrying weapons 25 meters in front of their position on the north

bank, T"~e saITlpan was pulled into the tree line, and the LDNN

jumped f"om the craft to the tree line. There was itntnediate move-

rnent frocl the target area which was taken under A/W fire. ~j he

28

·f

LDNN \.\-as woundf;o:d and was extracted by iv1S~:C for urn to R'lch

Cia airstrip for dustoff v...-here he \.\'as pronounced on arrival

by a naval doctor.

,

29

. ,.... -. " . ,. .'., ~ ~ ..

"

Hi verme Str:'.ke, Groul;

JurL:-.f, ':arch, all :l!,C formerly assigned to eTG 194.7 (Riverine "

St"i:,c ~rm18 I rccnmed out-chopped to othc:c operational commanders

,:i th t'oe exception of thoee craft undergoing overhaul or al t.eration.

:iurmr; the "lOtlth, USS sPlImx (ARL-24) completed installing two

J.5 :nch baz.ookas on e'lch of eif;ht ASPB! s. Current plans are to m-

.:.;t,aJ..:i b:\zool-:as 0!1 fonrtc'3n more boats.

~ he b2.zoobl instalbtion is expected to increase the e,'fecth-,~

fireoC1,:er en each boat. As of thb "!!,j,i:,ing, no report has beeY! re-

cei ved describinG the effectiveness of the neH ".5 inCil b2.zooka instal-

L1.ticn in a conbat situation.

30

. " ~ • 'f

; .; ~ \.

Breezy Cove

~'he level of enemy activity in the Breezy Cove AO decreased

during the month of l'iarch. There is nothing concrete on Hhich to

base any reason for this reduction of acUYity. Events occurring

in Ca:nbodia may have been a contributing factor.

~emy kills dropped tc the lowest level in the past four months

"ith cnly 11; kills being reported during the month of ]'.larch. All the

':ills repcrted lTere attributed directly to U. s. l';avy units. Eight

u. s. :ravy personnel ,rere "lOI.D1ded during the month's actien. The

"..ajority of those 'lOunded "ere not serious in nature and Here re-

tu.'"I1ed to duty Hithout further complications.

The total number of boats assigned to the Breezy Cove operation

during the m~,1th averaged :'1 en a daily basis. HO>1ever, there .,ere

several casualties to th'_ boats "ith the total number of boats avail-

able for use dropping to a low of only ten boats on 17 :'larch. The

nUJ1ber c-f l·iBGP' s set on a daily basis fl'~ctuated "idely due tc the

Hide variety of casualties. On 19 Harch, only ten boats Here avail-

able due to all PEIl' s assisting in Gulf of Thailand patrols, and no

',-3G?'s "ere set. The daily average of ,JBGP's was, however, six per

day.

Significant actions occurring during the month of Harch are

described in the following paragraphs.

31

GOKfiDllHAl , . .. ~ - .

I • ~ " I •

• ~ , • t '!"

} ~~'.~ '''' . , ~ " !, •. ~ t I; ",

Cn 3 ::arch, '''1;'s h9 and 1313 of RIVDIV 57Z under Patrol Officer

Ci;r: :'oore were in 1;'3G' on the north bank of the Song Gng Doc at VQ

C5~ 999. At 20210[, the boat.s detected movement near t.heir position.

.\ "linute later. three VC jumr.ed in f"ont of PJ3[l 138 and took the boat

under fire ,·:it.h s"",ll arms. 1he fOri-lard gunner of PH" 138 :immediately

onened fire l:iUing all three of the enemy. The boats broke l-iBGP and

"""de a firillt; run and received moderate automatic \1eapons retUI'!1 fire.

';'he boats br·oke hBG" and made a firing run and received mcderate au-

'oomatic l,eapons return fire. The boat.s made a second firing run and

recieved no return fire. Friendly casualties t.otaled fot'r USN wounded.

All "lOunds ,.,ere slight. Enemy casualties were three VC killed (BC).

~n 21 : 'arch , 3lac!, "onies, operating in the vicinity of t.he

ilreezy Cove AC, ~laced strikes in a wooded area at ,ITt 179 389 to

'. ,1 188 384 ,·,here 150 VC had been reported along a canal bank. Enemy

c~sual ties reported frOM this strike were: 25 VC killed iBC), 30 VC

lwlmded, t"o structures destroyed, one sampan destroyed, and six fires

started. (ilote: 'iills from this operation are not included in the

statistical summary).

On 23 Harch, Seawolf 66, piloted by LCDR Beck, was on routine

patrol along t.l"le Song Ong Doc ~lhen at 17341!, an explosion was heard

in t.h,~ engine ccr.npartment. I.C!JR Beck experienced a pmler f,dlure a'1d

irnediately put t;'e hel~.copter into auto rotation. The SeaHolf landed

at ' . .'R 080 105 tdthout injury to the cre~'l or further da:nage to the

helico!'ter. 7he accomparr::ting helicopter, Seauolf' 63, piloted by

,-7,m i oile, remained overhead and requested Black Pony assistance

32

nDlfl0EMTUl

"

\

..

"

~ I

for ~ecurity. THO .\.):~J'~ Dne 't're, ,1.nd G!1e ;ionitor _Jere scra:rnbled from

:d '·o"G LnG Doc to assist. An I,:S~C with ::;EAI 's enbarked depart"d the

:'T~D at 1 %~:: to ,)rovid" additional ground security. Dustofi' 66, on a

,-outine missj.on, diverted to the area artd extracted the creH of Seal'Tolf

66 at 180101.',11 units "em standing by providing security and support

l!!-len, ,q t 18501:, a Chinook helicopter arrived and lifted the do,med air­

cre,ft out safely at 190GH. All units then resumed their normal patrols.

"he eLtire operation, from ti:e tine of the accident to the successful

completion of the rescue mission, Has only one hour <L'1d 24 miP.utes.

en 31 :larch, :'Bi;'s 1115 and 136 of "HIlIV 57Z 1'lere in night IllGP

at VQ 860 999. At 204oH, the boats sighted a man ~ the beach and

heard heavy movement in th"" area. The uoats took the area under fire

and broke ;'llG? receiving small arms fire from an estimated five firirig

positions. As t!-le lead boat broke 1','BGP, a satchel charge exploded close

aboard the port bOH of the boat knocking the bat, gurmer unconscious.

The patrol cleared the a'Cea to the .,-est. See."olves Here requested

and placed a strike in the ambush area at 2015H. )O'riendly casualties

1,:ere evacuated by Dustoff helicopter. There "ere tHO USN Hounded, both

,!ith possible skull fractures. Enemy casualties were one VC killed •

33

MARKET TIME RAIDER CAMPAIGN

Market Time Raiders continued to conduct SEA LORDS mis-

sions along the rivers and canals of the IU and IV Corps Tactical

Zones during March. There were 69 rrlissions conducted which

resulted in 41 hostile fire incidents, 25 friendly initiated, seven

enemy initiated, and nine unilateraL Enemy losses for the month

were 25 craft and 72 structures destroyed, two craft acd 62 st.ruct-

ures heavily damaged. There were 21 enemy killed, one wounded,

a!1d nine captured during the SEA LORDS rnissions.

There were no U. S. personnel or material casualties during·

the month, although there were five friendly woun"::ed and one killed

during the operations.

The following craft and personnel participated in SEA LORD

mis[:;ions during March: USN - PCFts, WPB's, River Assault

Clart, SEAL Team Detachment Golf, CHARLIE Platoon, OV-IO's;

V~: ?CF's, 1.:-;I1.'s, RF/PF's, LDNN's, Coastal Group 36 junks

and pe .... sunnel, and Kit Carson Scouts.

The PT CAUTION (USCG WPB), LTJG Andrews command-

lng, conducted a SEA LORDS mission on the morning of 4 Ma.rch

ahout 23 miles east of Den Tre (XR 828 123). The targets were

35 PREVIOUS PAGE

IS BLANK CO.FIDEM flU

I' ..

I ' '. ' . ,

VC supply routes and structures, with many well-used trails sur-

.' rounding the area. The WPB destroyed six bu,.,J-:ers, two struc-

tures and one sampan, and damaged six bur;kers and one structure.

Enemy casualties were unknown.

On the afternoon of 8 March, the USCG WPB' s PT MARONE

and PT PARTRIDGE entered a canal off the Co Chien River about

20 miles southeast of Tra Vinh (XR 730 719) taking targets of oppor-

tunity under fire. Durong the transit of the canal both units played

Psyops tapes to people along the canal banks. The WPB's destroyed

four bunkers, two struc.tures, and five sampans. and damaged two

structures, two salnpans, and four bunkers. They also ignited two

large fires. There was one VC wounded and no friendly casualties.

The PT CAUTION, PT PARTRIDGE, and PT WE.LCOME con-

ducted a SEA LORDS mission on the afternoon of 10 March about

15 miles southeast of Tra Vinh (XR 733874). The WPB's entered

a canal and took targets along both banks under destructive fire.

Several VC were sighted durin~ the canal transit and taken under

fire. There were several s.!condi:.'.ry fires and explosions which in-

dicated enemy storage areas. An evaluation of the area indicated

heavy enemy activity. Upon exiting the "anal, bunker complexes .. , were taken under M-79 fire and then OV-IO'5 from VAL-4 placed

IOIFJDEITJAl

'. 1.-_ r I . . ,.. 't "t • \ ·.~.;)'t~~

strikes in the area. There \\ ere no friendly casual! ies and [our

" VC were killed and one VC wounded. The WPB's destroyed 21

slructures and one saITlpan and heavily dan"laged 30 structures and

scv(:ral hunkers.

On the night of 10 March, SEAL Team, Detachment GOLF,

CHARLIE Platoon atten1pted to establish a waterborne guard post

1I1 the vicinity of a known VC crossing point about 14 miles east

of ;;"" Trang (XR 340 545). The SEAL's, while proceeding north

up the 13assac River, encountered a sampan movIng toward their

skimmer. The sampan was illurninated and hailed; however,

two .nale occupants attempted to swiITl ashore and were killed

and their saITlpan destroyed. The n1isslon was then aborted due to

1)("'inL~ cornproITlised.

The USCG WPB's PT PARTRIDGE and PT CAUTION and a

Coastal Group 31) skllnrner conducted a ~'~A LORDS tnission on

tht! afternoon of 17 March about 2.2 nlil('s southeat5t of Tra Vinh

(XI1. h'l8 G40). As the Ilnits entered a calla I, two VC wer(' sighted

and taken under firC'. Proceeding. on, 15 VC \\ere sighted. \\-·hu

appcrtrcd to be setting lip an ambush, and were taken \lndt~r fire.

Sn1al.l arrns fire was received and OV _lOIs were called 111, pJaced

strikes in the area, and suppressed the fjre. All units then exited

the canal without further incident. Two sampans and one bunker

37 ___ ~n' r I. ' \ ' , ~ ~,

I 11I'l"t' \I .. ,'r{' no f,-iendJy ("a~lIall ies, and enemy casualties wp.n~ lIine

:,EAL Tea'll ONE, Detachments DELTA and CaLF, and LDNN's,

()pt~raling Oil ::)EAL intelligence, were inserled at 2330H, 17 March,

by LSSC abollt LO miles southwest of Tra Vinh (XR 276 (68) to con­

dlld a night reconnaissance patrol. The SEAL's patrolled to the

tarr(eted hootch and established a perimeter. The structure was

entered and small arms fire was received, wounding one LDNN

who died en route to the Third Surgical Hospital, Binh Thuy. Small

arms fire was received and suppresged from the south bank of the

stream and light automatic weapon cross fire was received from

three positions. The SEAL's withdrew by sampan southwest down

the canal and were extracted by LSSC. There were seven VC

killed and one VC detained. Three of the VC killed were ident-

ified as a deputy ~e(:retary at Long Phu, a security section chief

at Tan Thanh village, and an area chief at Koko hamlet. One

LDNN was slightly wounded and returned to duty.

In a SEA LORDS mission on the afternoon of 19 March, the

PT CYPRESS and PCF 21 inserted 140 Regional Force/Popular

Force (RF/PF) troops at two locations about 30 miles southwest

of Tra Vinh (XR 291 416). The troops then swept taward each

38

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, ,: ~ : , ~ ,;

" ; :

other while the naval units established a blocking force and stood

by £01' support. The troops made contact with the enemy and called

for 81rnm support. Helicopter gunships were called in and placr.d

~trikes in the area. The area swept by the troops contained nUrrl-

erOliS bunkers} mines, and several rice caches. The troops were

extracted at 1800 w.thout further incident. There were two VC

killed and two Popular Force men killed. There were four sarrl-

pans, ten bunkers, and two mines destroyed and an undetermined

number of bunkers damaged during the operation.

SEAL Tearrl ONE, Detachrrlent GOLF was inserted by LSSC

about 20 miles southwest of Tra Vinh (XR 271 646) on the rrlo~ning

of 20 Marcr.. They cOrrlrrlenced patrolling north toward their ob-

jective, a VC facility, when eight anned VC were' sighted and

were taken under fire. Immediately automatic weapons fire was

received from four location~. VAL-4, OV-IO's were called In

and placed several strikes in the area, The SEAL's destroyed

one bunker and one structure and killed four VC. There were

probably m0re enemy killed by the air strikes. There were no

friendly casualties.

In a SEA LORDS mission on 24 March, the PT WELCOME

(USCG WPB), LTJG Wyche comrrlanding, fired a gunfire support

39 COIFlD£NTlAl

n1ission on numerous new structures about seven miles northwest

of Tra Vinh (XS 405 069). Seven VC were spotted atteITlptir.g to ,

evade into the treeline and were taken under fire. The WPB des-

troyed five structures and damaged two structures. There were

no friendly casualties and four VC were probably killed.

PCF's 21 and 103 picked up 36 Kit Carson Scouts (KCS) at

IBOOH on 2S March and inserted theITl along a canal about 12 miles

east of Tra Vinh (XR 770890). The KCS proceeded to sweep the

area where a VC company was susFected to be located. The Swift

boats conducted H and I fire during the mission with unknown re-

sults. The KCS made contact with the eneITlY and OV -lO's were

called in and placed strikes in the area and crew light fire on

three occasions. Extracti,')n was made withcJu: further incident.

There were no friendly casualties, and two VC were killed and

three VC were captured. GDA by the Swift boats and OV-lO's

was unknown.

The PT BANKS (USCG WPB), LT Lashley comITlanding, and

PCF 48 inserted 80 Regional Force troops about 20 kilometers

east of Tra Vinh (XS 696 047) on 31 Marr.h, after prep fire of

the beach. The area was the scene of recent enemy activity and

, . contained many booby traps, bunkers, and VC sYITlpathizers. The

troops made contact with the enemy during their sweep. The

40

nOMf1DENTUI