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December, 1968, the 9th Infantry Division marked the end of two years in
Vietnam and, more important, in the Mekong Delta.
When the Old Reliables arrived from Ft. Riley, Kansas, in 1966,
there were no precedents for protracted operations in a water-filled land
barely five feet above sea level. They moved into the trackless, inundated
wastes south of Saigon, pursuing the VC and learning as they fought.
Since those first tentative forays and contacts, the Division
has gained a reputation among friend and foe alike as a cohesive, determined,
hard fighting outfit.
In two years, the Old Reliables have killed more than 12,500
enemy and captured almost 4,500 small arms and 650 crew-served weapons.
On the civic action front, the Division has conducted almost
5,000 MEDCAPS, treating more than 550,000 Vietnamese patients. In addition,
Division troops helped repair or construct some 60 schools, 50 dispensaries
and 65 playgrounds.
Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) planes have dropped over 200
million leaflets and logged over 3,000 hours disseminating information by
loudspeaker to both friends and enemies.
The most significant achievements include decisive victories
over many Main Force Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units, formation
of a Mobile Riverine Force, discovery of the largest enemy weapons cache
of the Vietnam War, suppression of the VC terror campaign during Tet, 1968,
and of a follow-up attempt to invade Saigon in May. |
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Reliables first action
The Division’s first significant contact with the
Viet Cong came on Jan. 20, 1967 when 1st and 3d Brigade units, combined with
the 3d Squadron, 5th Cavalry, cut down 14 enemy during Operation COLBY.
A concerted effort at conquering the Delta came one month later
as the 3d Battalion, 34th Artillery, mounted 105mm howitzers on floating
barges and began fire support from river anchorages.
In March, the 1st Brigade and 3d/5th joined JUNCTION
CITY, the largest operation of the war. During this multi-division operation,
the Old Reliables encountered their first important battle. In the predawn
hours of March 20, A Troop, 3d/5th was attacked by elements of the 273d VC
Regiment near Bau Bang, about 34 miles north of Saigon. A furious six-hour
battle left 230 enemy dead, while friendly losses were four killed and 67
wounded.
Deeper in the Mekong Delta, elements of the 2d Brigade collided
with a force from the 514th VC Battalion on May 2. Quick-reacting troops
of the 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry and 3d Battalion, 47th Infantry, encircled
the enemy in the Ap Bac, then called in gunships and air strikes. A sweep
of the battlefield near Dong Tam produced 195 enemy dead.
Two weeks later the 3d and 4th Battalions, 47th Infantry, combined
with elements of the 7th ARVN Division to kill 113 VC in the Cam Son Secret
Zone, 20 miles west of Dong Tam. |
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Water-borne force
Emphasized during this Delta fighting was the need for
a mobile strike force capable of navigating the Mekong Delta waterways. In
June, the solution came with the formation of the Mobile Riverine Force,
composed of two 2d Brigade battalions and Naval Task Force 117. Operating
from a fleet of 100 vessels, including two large self-propelled barracks
ships, the MRF initiated extensive combat operations throughout the sprawling
Delta.
In its first major contact, June 19-22, the first MRF since
Civil War times netted 256 kills at the Rach Nui Canal west of Rach Kien.
In early August, a joint American and Vietnamese strike force
returned to the Cam Son Secret Zone during Operation CORONADO II. After eight
days, Allies from the 2d Brigade, Naval Task Force 117 and ARVN Rangers,
Marines and infantrymen counted 285 VC dead.
Elements of the 1st Brigade and support units turned up the
largest cache of the Vietnam War during October while clearing jungle 13
miles southwest of Bearcat during Operation AKRON III. In two weeks of clearing
a massive tunnel complex, Old Reliables found 1,140 weapons, almost 95,000
rounds of small arms ammo, 3,634 grenades, 2,273 recoilless rifle shells
and 452 mortar rounds. The cache included four 85mm howitzers - the first
such artillery pieces seized from the VC by U.S. forces. |
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