Vietnam War Pacific Stars and Stripes

Pacific Stars and Stripes information

For date 680327

Primary service involved, US Army
South Vietnam
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Copters Smash 160 VC Sampans." Saigon (AP) - American helicopter gunships wiped out a flotilla of more than 160 Viet Cong sampans resupplying enemy troops in the Mekong Delta near the Cambodian border, the U.S. Command reported Monday. U.S. officials said the volume of arms, munitions and food smuggling, presumably coming from Cambodia along many rivers and canals, has increased considerably in recent days. In the last three days, U.S. gunships and fighter-bombers have smashed 245 sampans laden with arms and food in the canals and rivers of the Mekong Delta. The U.S. officials said the large numbers of enemy sampans wiped out recently were part of a new allied effort to stop the traffic. "We are getting out with more people and finding more things," a spokesman for the U.S. Military Command said. Numerous secondary explosions have been noted during attacks on the sampans, indicating they are carrying munitions and fuel for the most part. In the latest catch, headquarters said 114 of the enemy sampans were destroyed and another 50 damaged as Army helicopter gunships blasted them with machineguns and rockets. The gunship pilots spotted the flotilla Sunday in an enemy base camp while supporting South Vietnamese civilian irregulars and their American Special Forces advisers fighting the Viet Cong 116 miles west-southwest of Saigon. Headquarters said 20 Viet Cong troops were killed and 43 huts destroyed in the enemy's base camp. Elsewhere, North Vietnamese gunners shot down two U.S. Marine helicopters near Khe Sanh, but eased up in their shelling of the combat base. One of the Marine helicopters, a gunship was downed by North Vietnamese fire while attacking an enemy platoon in bunker complexes two miles northwest of the fortress. The helicopter crashed and burned. The four crewmen, all of whom suffered burns, were rescued and returned to the medical aid station at Khe Sanh. A Marine patrol first took on the dug-in enemy troops, then called for gunship and artillery support. Thirty-one North Vietnamese troops and five Marines were killed. A larger troop and cargo carrying helicopter was shot down five miles southwest of Camp Carroll, the artillery base to the east that supports Khe Sanh. North Vietnamese gunners zeroed in on the big CH46 as it was making an approach to the landing zone. It was able to land, but sustained moderate damage. There were no injuries reported. Enemy artillery .........

The source for this information was 6803pss.avn supplied by Les Hines

Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org

Return to panel index

Return to Helicopter Pilot KIA index

Return to VHPA Home Page

Last updated 02/23/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023