Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for 1 INF DIV
6 ARVN CAV
For date 680506
1 INF DIV was a US Army unit
6 ARVN CAV was a Vietnamese Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Bien Hoa Province, III Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Di An
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "236 Reds Slain in Clash with 1st Inf. Near Saigon" by SP5 Ray Belford S&S Staff Correspondent.
Saigon - Troops of the U.S. 1st Inf. Div. killed 236 Communists during a savage day-long battle Saturday 13 miles northeast o 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 Dian. 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 the 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.
The source for this information was 6805pss.avn supplied by Les Hines
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Last updated
02/23/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023