Tet Action with the 3rd Bn, 39th Inf at Ben Tre

   I was a Lieutenant (j.g.) USN assigned to River Section 534 - the first unit to take the MK II PBRs ( River Patrol Boats) - 31 foot fiberglass boats into combat. My tour was from Sep '67 to Sep '68. I was very familiar with Dong Tam, operated sometimes with the MRF in Kien Hoa Province. Our little boats were assigned to seal off the river exits once the "heavies" as we called them went up the canals to disembark the MRF troopers.

   Once I inserted some 9th Division LRRPs in the Mo Cay district off the Ham Luong River. Those young guys captured the head VC finance guy in the eastern Delta without a casualty with good luck and good tradecraft. Those young draftees seemed to be just as good as the highly trained SEALs that my boats inserted on a regular basis.

    I agree with Col. David Hacksworth that the grunts of the 9th Division probably endured the worst combat environs of any U,S. Army division in the twentieth century. The sucking mud, the tides, no cover from rice paddy to rice paddy in 100 degree heat, the fact that the enemy was fighting on home ground for over twenty years, made the job of the 9th terribly tough.

    I vividly remember that late afternoon of February 1, 1968. My boats had done their best to save the MACV compound at Ben Tre for a day and a half. We were near exhaustion and yet preparing for some type of Dunkirk evacuation of the 100 Americans. I and a bunch of river rats on thirty one foot plastic boats were resigned to that mission. The Air Force had done its best (or worst) to save the town that Peter Arnett made infamous to be known as " the town that had to be destroyed to be saved."

    When we saw the Hueys coming in from Dong Tam with the U.S. Army troopers of the 9th Division, we all cheered. The calvary had arrived to save the wagon train. I do know that the troopers suffered terrible casualties from friendly fire ( Air Force bombs). All the stuff I have read about that engagement simply mentions that the 3rd of the 39th secured the town after four days of house to house fighting. Navy friends inside the MACV compound told me that the young soldiers killed ( sixty - seventy or more) were victims primarily of fratricide in the fog of war. I just remember seeing a dozen of their remains unceremoniously being dumped on the river bank by some Vietnamese peasants after the three Viet Cong battalions had been driven out of town.

    I am writing a book that is a personal account. It does name names and kicks asses of a couple of senior officers of the Brown Water Navy. In the book I attempt to name every sailor killed in action, when they were killed and describe how they had died for their country. The Marines at Hue and Khe Sahn probably got too much coverage. I really believe that the 9th Division is unrecognized for their heroics and sacrifices during Tet '68. Some books mention how the Mobile Riverine Force 9th Division grunts secured Ving Long, My Tho, and others. I have never seen in print the words describing the 3rd/39th heroics and sacrifices at Ben Tre on February 1, 1968.

    I really hope that the men of the 9th Division who read this can shed more light on what happened to the 3rd/39th at Ben Tre. Please contact me if you have any additional information.

Wynn Goldsmith

If anyone can provide any information on this action at Ben Tre on February 1, 1968, please contact Mr Wynn Goldsmith at  AHES65A@prodigy.com