Americal Daily News Sheets information
for 23 INF DIV
123 AVN
F/8 CAV

For date 681229


23 INF DIV was a US Army unit
123 AVN was a US Army unit
F/8 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Chu Lai
Description: The following is an edited version from the Americal Daily News Sheets Vol. 2 No. 255 Saturday December 30. CHU LAI (AMERICAL IO) - Americal Division forces reported killing 21 VC, detaining 10 VC suspects and capturing one weapon and almost six tons of rice in moderate action in southern I Corps yesterday. Units of the 11th Inf. Bde. killed nine VC and detained seven VC suspects, but the day's body count was overshadowed by several discoveries of enemy materiel and weaponry. The Volunteer Informant Program, VIP, continued to prove its worth as 20 Vietnamese children turned over 120 Chicom hand grenades and one 155mm round to an 11th Bde. loudspeaker team north of Duc Pho in the morning. The children promised to return with more spoils today. Cos. B and D of the 4-21 Inf. spent much of the day raiding enemy base camps, destroying huts, and rounding up supplies, including 7500 pounds of rice. D Co. hit two base camps near a stream 23 miles west of Duc Pho. In the first, 13 huts were destroyed, many with sleeping quarters for 20 people and one divided into a classroom-mess hall. Near the camp, a rack designed to hold seven weapons was confiscated along with 7000 pounds of rice and documents and signs. Another 18 huts were located later in the same area, and a dozen M-79 rounds and an NVA entrenching tool were found. The huts were destroyed. In operations near a stream two miles further west, B Co. found eight huts, three on stilts, and trip flares, foxholes, and 500 pounds of rice. Among the day's detainees was a VC suspect who presented an identification card but was tripped up by a recon element of the 1-20 Inf. which discovered he couldn't speak Vietnamese. Near a position of Co. A, 4-3 Inf., a VC female attempted to rotate a claymore mine towards the Americans. She was killed when the mine exploded as she turned it. Nearby, the "Old Guard" soldiers found the bodies of two VC killed during a firefight the night before when a small arms and artillery battle had erupted. Also recovered were several grenades while three VC suspects were held. The value of cavalry and air support was obvious in the 196th Inf. Bde. area where gunships, artillery and ground troops combined to kill five VC and capture one AK-47 rifle and 1850 pounds of rice. "Blue Ghost" gunships of the 8th Cav. killed two VC 15 miles west of Tam Ky and nine miles further west, an aerial observer working with the 4-31 Inf spotted six VC in the open and directed 3-82 Arty. fire to kill one. The 3-82 also answered a call from Co. C, 2-1 Inf. after a large group of VC were spotted in a ravine 18 miles southwest of Hoi An. One VC was killed by small arms fire and the gathering routed. Infantrymen of Co. D, 4-31 Inf. accounted for the other VC kill when they trapped an enemy soldier fleeing a hut five miles from the battle area in the ravine. Rice caches were seized by F Trp., 17th Cav. working with the 4-31 Inf., and a patrol from Tiger Base, A 2-1 Inf. observation post. F Trp. gathered 1300 pounds of rice from an area in and around hooches 26 miles west of Tam Ky. The OP patrol, moving 22 miles northwest of Tam Ky, found two crocks containing 200 pounds of rice apiece and then discovered cans holding 150 more pounds in a rice paddy area. Seven VC were killed, four by gunships just after daybreak, and three VC suspects were detained in a day of light action in the 198th Inf. Bde. area. Gunships of the 176th AHC, working with the 1-6 and 5-46 Inf., killed two VC each in contacts northwest of Binh Son. Later, A/5-46 Inf., surprised five VC and killed two in a brief firefight nine miles west of Binh Son. No Americal Division soldiers were killed, and five were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment, according to an initial report.

The source for this information was NEWS6812.AML & AVN supplied by Les Hines


Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org


Return to panel index

Return to Helicopter Pilot KIA index

Return to VHPA Home Page

Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association

Last updated 01/02/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023