Attack on USS Westchester County information
for MRF 9 INF
USS WESTCHESTER
For date 681101
MRF 9 INF was a US Army unit
USS WESTCHESTER was a US Navy unit
Primary service involved, US Navy
Dinh Tuong Province, IV Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Dong Tam
Description: A VC demolitions team detonates two mines on the hull of the USS Westchester County, LST 1167, as she lies at anchor in the My Tho River about 40 miles upstream from Vung Tau with other ships of the Mobile Riverine Group Alpha. At this time, the Wesco was home to the 3/34th Artillery and had more than 10,00 rounds of 105mm and 155mm ammo plus vast quantities of other explosives on its tank deck. There were five Army helicopters on the main deck, two were wrecked beyond repair. The LST was beached, a cofferdam built around it, the mangled steel replaced, and on the 14th it was refloated to sail to Japan for repairs. The 18 KIAs represented the U.S. Navy's greatest single-incident combat lost of life during the War. Casualties: US 23 KIA (5 from the 9th Division), 2 Vietnamese, 27 WIA.
The source for this information was Chron P:82; Vietnam Mag Aug 98
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023