Army Reporter information
for 9 INF DIV
MRF 9 INF
1 BDE 9 INF
3/5 CAV

For date 681005


9 INF DIV was a US Army unit
MRF 9 INF was a US Army unit
1 BDE 9 INF was a US Army unit
3/5 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Kien Hoa Province, IV Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Ben Tre
Description: The following is an edited version from the weekly Vietnam Communique column in the 5 Oct 1968 issue. In a week of light action the 9th Inf Div reported killing 109 enemy. Elements of the MRF encountered scattered contacts as they conducted airmobile operations in Kien Hoa Province. Soldiers of the 4/47th Inf were pursuing an enemy force which ad been spotted in the rice paddies nine miles SE of Ben Tre by gunship crews of the 3/5th Cav. Three times during the day Old Reliable infantry went into hot LZs but each time the enemy withdrew after a brief fight. By the end of the day, the ground troops had killed 122 enemy soldiers while gunship crews reported 14 more killed in the hit-and-run fighting. Reacting to intelligence reports and helicopter sightings, a reconnaissance element of the 1st Brigade was airlifted into the Plain of Reeds, five miles east of Moc Hoa. In a half-day of pursuing the enemy in the open, the 2/39th Inf killed 10 VC. Air elements of the 3/17th Air Cav reported killing five. Combining with an ARVN battalion, riflemen of the MRF's 4/47th Inf were air and water-assaulted into an area seven miles north of Long Toan. This marks the first time U.S. forces have penetrated the swampy, heavily vegetated area, thought to be a major VC supply, rest and training area.

The source for this information was 6810AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines


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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023