Army Reporter information
for 71 AHC
For date 680120
71 AHC was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Tam Ky
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Infantry Bde's Find Largest In I Corps" dated 20 Jan 1968.
Elements of 196th LIB, Americal Div uncovered one of the largest weapons and ammunition caches ever found in I Corps area recently 17 miles west of Tam Ky. A/3/21st Inf captured 140 weapons and destroyed tons of enemy ammunition in the brigade's largest discovery since it has been in Vietnam. The weapons found by the battalion increased the total number of weapons captured by the "Chargers" to 253 in Operation Wheeler/Wallowa. This discovery came as a result of information from a former 2nd NVA Div NCO who turned himself in. The Hoi Chanh's information was the second of the kind which aided the brigade in finding enemy weapons caches. Earlier in Dec, he led a company of the 4/31st Inf to a cache of nine weapons. After that incident, the former enemy was taken to the aid station and treated for malaria. While in the station he said he remembered where more weapons were hidden and he was ready to take the Americans to their location. CPT Paul N. Yurrchak, commander of Co. A. received word of the Hoi Chanh's knowledge and alerted his men that the cache was in their AO. The former enemy, along with an interpreter and 2LT George A Kidney, first platoon leader, boarded a helicopter to make an aerial reconnaissance of the area. After he spotted terrain familiar to him, they made an air assault into the area with an 18-man force. Upon landing, the force spotted two VC 50 yards away fleeing from them. They were engaged and killed. The Hoi Chanh led the unit to a village a short distance away and discovered 15 weapons piled in a heap in thick underbrush. The weapons apparently were being used as a stockpile for parts. Leaving four men to guard the weapons, the search party pushed on Within a short distance the element came upon two huts approximately 100 yards apart. Weapons were discovered in one hut, an ammunition stockpile in the other. The captured weapons were taken by 71st AHC helicopters to the battalion's base camp. Some of the weapons included: 60 rifles, five shotguns, 20 light machine guns, five heavy machine guns, 25 sub-machineguns, two 57mm recoilless rifles, eight 60mm mortars, three 81mm mortars, four pistols, two M79s, two M60 machineguns, one 50-cal machine guns and three light anti-tank weapons.
The source for this information was 6801AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023