Word: arvn
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...where South Vietnamese forces waited for the long expected Communist assault, ARVN soldiers casually siphoned gasoline out of their trucks and Jeeps in broad daylight. They knew that they could sell the gas to civilians for 40 piasters (33?) a liter. In some areas of South Viet Nam, the word was out that the North Vietnamese, short of fuel for their thirsty trucks and Soviet-made tanks, were paying up to 80 piasters...
...expected push on Hué, the former imperial capital 24 miles south of Quang Tri, which is believed by allied strategists to be the main target of Giap's offensive. The four North Vietnamese divisions known to be in the area have made themselves so scarce that ARVN units have recently been dropping pajamaclad scouts into the countryside. Their assignment: find the evasive, ominously quiet enemy troops and call in the fighter bombers...
BACK in the 1950s and early 1960s, when the fledgling South Vietnamese army was largely relegated to the task of guarding roads and villages, American "advisers" not only taught their inexperienced charges but frequently led them into combat as well -on the rare occasions that ARVN was allowed to "liberate" a Viet Cong hamlet. Nowadays advisers barely even advise. In fact, says Major Jerry G. Williamson, a veteran of three tours in Viet Nam, "these guys don't really need advising. We're mostly out here to talk to FAC [forward air control] pilots and coordinate air strikes...
...ARVN pull itself together? Saigon's 492,000-man regular army is suffering from more than battered morale. There are fewer than 150,000 Communist soldiers committed to the invasion; nonetheless they have not only tied up all of ARVN'S reserve strength but have also knocked out an ever-growing list of South Vietnamese units-one full infantry division, a third of another division, five infantry regiments, six armored regiments, three artillery battalions, nine ranger battalions, two airborne brigades and three battalions of marines, Saigon's best troops. The South Vietnamese have admitted to heavy casualties...
Gaping Holes. What are the North Vietnamese after? Ultimately, they would like to wreck ARVN and bring down Thieu. Short of that, their maximum goal could be to seize Hué and the entire top third of the country and use them as a bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. If the battle for Hué occurs, it is universally agreed, it could prove to be crucial-to the shape of a settlement, if there is one, and to the future of Thieu and the Nixon policy in any case. Strategically, the fall of Hué would put Communist artillery...