Army Reporter information
for 199 LIB
4/12 INF
For date 680525
199 LIB was a US Army unit
4/12 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 Communique column in the 25 May 1968 issue.
Elements of the 199th LIB, supported by artillery and airstrikes, killed 92 NVA soldiers in a day-long battle. The battle began before midnight when a small lead element of the NVA battalion was fired on by a company outpost of the 4/12th Infantry. An hour later another NVA element of platoon or company-size was hit by an ambush patrol. Army helicopters and Air Force fighters assisted in the action. When the main body of the NVA force moved through the area they ran into a company from the 199th. Taken under fire, the enemy force moved back and tried to flank the Redcatchers. While attempting the flanking movement they ran into the battalion's basecamp. Repulsed by automatic weapons fire and artillery fired point blank by the 2/39th Artillery the enemy again linked up with the remaining force. At this point airstrikes were directed into the enemy positions. A total of 12 secondary explosions resulted from the airstrikes. The initial sweep the next morning revealed 92 enemy bodies. A large number of automatic rifles rocket launchers, ammunition and documents were captured. U.S. losses for the action were two killed and 18 wounded.
The source for this information was 6805AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023