Army Reporter information
for 178 ASHC
14 CAG
132 ASHC
2/1 INF
For date 681111
178 ASHC was a US Army unit
14 CAG was a US Army unit
132 ASHC was a US Army unit
2/1 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Thua Thien Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Que Son
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Bellyache for Charley Rice crop secured in valley" dated 11 Nov 1968.
A joint operation involving Americal Division troops and Vietnamese civilians from the Que Son District of Quang Nam Province is striking a low blow to the VC in the area. The objective is Charley's stomach. CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the 178th and 132nd ASHCs, 14th CAB have begun shuttling refugees from Que Son District Headquarters to the unsecure regions of the rice-rich Que Son Valley. There, nearly 1,000 Vietnamese labor daily, cutting the rice and stacking it into bundles which are then airlifted in sling nets by the big ships back to the secure vicinity of district headquarters. After touching down in the paddies, the workers are protected from the threat of enemy aggression by infantrymen from the 2/1st Inf, 196th Bde which provides security on the outer perimeter of the harvest area. After the rice has been transported back to the district headquarters, it is flown to a processing plant in Hoi An, where the rice is polished before being transported back to Que Son. As much as 155 tons of rice have been harvested in a week's time. An unexpected dividend has cropped up since the operation began. An officer explained: "After the first few days we noticed there were more people being transported out of the rice fields than had been flown in. Charley must have decided his stomach's cause was far more important than that of the Communists."
The source for this information was 6811AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023