Americal Daily News Sheets information
for 23 INF DIV
174 AHC
F/8 CAV
For date 690110
23 INF DIV was a US Army unit
174 AHC 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. 3. No. 11 Saturday January 11, 1969
CHU LAI (AMERICAL IO) - Americal Division forces, routing the enemy in 20 contacts throughout the southern I Corps, registered their highest body count of the new year as they killed 36 VC, found three VC bodies, detained 14 VC suspects, and captured six individual weapons yesterday.
Not since Dec. 31, when the body count reached 41, have Americal troops killed as many VC. Significantly, just as on Dec. 31, no Americal Division soldiers were reported killed yesterday.
B/3-21 Inf. was most productive unit in the Division, encountering VC and their supplies four times and accounting for seven kills, three more than it recorded Thursday, as the 196th Inf. Bde. killed 13 VC and captured four weapons.
Led by CPT Robert Wahl (Columbus, GA), Co. B spotted seven VC while patrolling 11 miles west of Tam Ky at 0930 hours. Fire support directed from the 3-82 Arty. killed four VC outright, and Co. B then moved in to kill two of the remaining VC with M-60 fire. Meanwhile, a half mile away, another Co. B element engaged and killed one VC trying to flee the area. Fifteen minutes earlier, Co. B had uncovered a weapons and ammunition cache in the same area. Captured were a 12-gauge shotgun, a U.S. .45 caliber submachinegun, one BAR, and M-1 carbine, a 57mm recoilless rifle round, nine 81mm mortar rounds, and three bangalore torpedoes. Cos. C and D added to the 3-21's body count by killing three VC in as many incidents 12-14 miles west of Tam Ky.
"Blue Ghosts" gunships of F Trp., 8th Cav. killed the other three VC in three? encounters 22 miles northwest of Tam Ky and 22 and 23 miles northwest of Tam Ky(?).
An Americal Long Range Patrol made the effective contact as units of the 11th Inf. Bde. killed 13 VC, found three VC bodies, wounded one VC, and detained seven VC suspects.
A LRP team operating near the Song Ve 12 miles south of Quang Ngai City spotted a VC platoon moving in the low lands and called in the 6-11 Arty. to kill six.
Co. B, 1-20 INf., patrolling near Highway 515 five miles northwest of Duc Pho, found the bodies of three VC killed by artillery several days ago. In nearby village, Co. B detained seven VC suspects.
Also along Highway 515, a recon element of the 1-20 Inf. engaged three VC and killed two in a firefight. Co D, 1-20 Inf. received sniper fire from an estimated 12 VC and returned fire to kill one 10 miles south of Quang Ngai City.
C/4-3 Inf. was harassed by snipers about noon four miles south of Duc Pho below Highway 1 and wounded one VC while detaining another. Two hours later, the "Old Guard" troops returned to the sniper's lair and killed two VC.
A "Shark" gunship of the 174th AHC further discouraged VC sniping by killing one VC eight miles west of Quang Ngai City after a Chinook had received ground fire from the area.
B/3-1 Inf. got the other VC kill in the same area while serving as a blocking force.
In a delayed report, Co. B?, 1-2? Inf. received a large amount of enemy ammunition Thursday from Vietnamese civilians taking advantage of the Voluntary Informant Program (VIP). At 1645 hours five miles northwest of Duc Pho Co. B was presented with: 140 Chicom hand grenades, 223 unknown-type hand grenades, 67 M-26 hand grenades, three 4.2 mortar rounds, three 175mm rounds, one Chicom mine, two B-40 rocket rounds, one 81mm mortar round, 11 40mm rounds, and one VC booby trap.
Two companies accounted for 10 VC dead and two weapons captured in a second consecutive busy day for the 198th Inf. Bde.
At 1215 hours, B/1-52 Inf. located the bodies of five VC killed by air strikes 11 miles southwest of Tam Ky. An hour earlier, Co. B had received small arms fire from seven VC and returned it to kill one in the same area.
Elements of C/5-46 Inf., led by 1LT James J. Frazier (Decatur, IL), killed four VC in two incidents near Binh Son. At 1700 hours, Co. C engaged and killed one VC fleeing an enemy minefield and, at 1805, killed three VC in a firefight and captured two AK-47 rifles, seven magazines, and 12 hand grenades.
Other units of the 5-46 Inf. captured 1000 pounds of corn and detained seven VC suspects in the Chu Lai area. The 5-46 medical team treated 350 Vietnamese in a MEDCAP at Dong Binh One.
With no Americal Division deaths reported, yesterday became the fifth such day in the past six. Nine soldiers were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment, according to an initial report.
The source for this information was NEWS6901.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
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Date posted on this site:
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