Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for 2 BDE 1 INF
11 ARVN REG
For date 680506
2 BDE 1 INF was a US Army unit
11 ARVN REG was a Vietnamese Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Bien Hoa Province, III Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Di An
Description: 6May68-236 Reds Slain in Clash with 1st Inf. Near Saigon By SP5 RAY BELFORD
SAIGON, (S&S) Troops of the U.S. 1st Inf. Div. killed 236 Communists during a savage day-long battle Saturday 13 miles northeast of Saigon. U.S. casualties were seven killed and 27 wounded. A U.S. spokesman said the battle began shortly before 10 a.m. when a company from the division's 2nd Brigade was fired on while sweeping an area near the division's base camp at Di An. The Communists reportedly used small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Their fire was met with a heavy salvo of automatic weapons and rifle-grenade fire from the U.S. infantrymen on the ground and by rocket and machine-gun fire from helicopter gunships. Shortly after the battle broke out a troop of armored personnel carriers and tanks linked up with the infantrymen as they continued to press the Red force. Artillery crashed down on the enemy positions while U.S. jets bombed and strafed the Communists. Meanwhile, South Vietnamese cavalry and infantrymen mauled a Viet Cong battalion in the Mekong Delta Friday, 28 miles southwest of Saigon. Elements of the ARVN 6th Cav., 11th Inf. Regt. and five Popular Forces companies encircled the 263rd VC Bn, which had been threatening the Dinh Thuong capital. The ARVN cordon left the Reds open to U.S. helicopter gunships and tactical air strikes. The cavalry charged in with armored personnel carriers and routed the enemy, killing a major portion of the 194 Reds that fell during the battle. ARVN casualties were light.
Comments: SP5 Belford, Ray; S&S writer; ;
The source for this information was 6805PSS.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023