Americal Daily News Sheets information
for 23 INF DIV
123 AVN
III MAF

For date 690104


23 INF DIV was a US Army unit
123 AVN was a US Army unit
III MAF was a US Marine Corps 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. 3. No. 5 Sunday January 5. CHU LAI (AMERICAL IO) - Americal Division forces struck hard at enemy rice supplies for the second consecutive day as the body count dipped to 10 VC killed in southern I Corps yesterday. Units of the 196th Inf. Bde. captured almost nine tons of rice in the Tam ky area to bring the Division's two-day total to slightly under 19 tons of rice discovered. Elements of the 3-21 Inf. killed two VC and found eight tons of rice, while C/1-46 Inf. engaged six VC and killed four to account for most of the action in the 196th Inf. Bde. area. Starting at 1430 hours, A/3-21 Inf. spent a busy afternoon corralling rice. The first platoon found and destroyed two tons of rice 18 miles northwest of Tam Ky and, 30 minutes later, the second and third platoons located six tons of rice under the floors of several huts a mile further northwest. That rice was bagged and evacuated. A recon element of the 2-1 Inf. found two rice caches of 700 and 600 pounds each in hootches 20 miles northwest of Tam Ky. The two kills by the 3-21 Inf. were credited to Cos. A and C in operations from 17-19 miles northwest of Tam Ky. Both VC were killed by small arms fire. C/1-46 Inf. surprised six VC in a hootch area eight miles southwest of Hoi An and scattered them in all directions. Accurate small arms fire killed two VC outright, and Co. C later found two more bodies during a thorough search of the area. One lay by a trail, and the other was in a fresh, shallow grave. Two companies of the 1-20 Inf. killed three VC, and 40 VC suspects were detained in light action in the rain-swept 11th Inf. Bde. area of southern Quang Ngai Province. In three incidents near hootches and a stream 11-12 miles north of Duc Pho, D/1-20 Inf., led by 2LT Robert E. Maxwell (Troy, NY), killed two evading VC and detained two VC suspect. Later, Co. D detained three more VC suspects near hootches a mile north of Duc Pho. B/1-20 Inf. killed one VC and detained two VC suspects in three actions by the Song Tra Cau two miles northwest of Duc Pho. C/4-3 Inf. detained 29 VC suspects in three encounters by a trail and stream five miles south of Duc Pho. Ten of the suspects were apprehended without ID cards in an area where sniper fire had been reported earlier. For the first time in three days the 198th Inf. Bde. recorded a kill as "Aero Scouts" of the 123d Avn. Bn., flying for the 5-46 Inf., killed a VC seven miles southwest of Binh Son in mid-afternoon. In civic action work, the 5-46 Inf. treated 83 Vietnamese patients in two MEDCAPs, while the 1-6 Inf. treated 95 patients at Ky Chanh and 25 at K-4. Two Americal Division soldiers were killed, and four were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment according to an initial report. **** The III Marine Amphibious Force working together with our Vietnamese Allies and Free World Forces, met and defeated the enemy at every turn and denied him a single victory in 1968. We further demoralized the enemy by constantly seeking him out and destroying him and his equipment wherever found. He gambled on many occasions, such as THE TET OFFENSIVE and he paid with the sacrifice of just over 120,000 of his troops in I Corps. I am very proud of the accomplishments of the men of the III Marine Amphibious Force during the year. They proved capable of any task and determined to carry them out. I think 1968 went a long way toward convincing the enemy he is not going to achieve a military victory in I Corps. I personally look upon the coming year with confidence and enthusiasm, and I look on 1968 with pride in all personnel of the III Marine Amphibious Force. LTG CUSHMAN ****

The source for this information was NEWS6901.AML & AVN supplied by Les Hines


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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023