Word: arvn
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...offensive began in the sky-with a shattering barrage of at least 12,000 rounds of rocket, mortar and artillery fire across the Demilitarized Zone, which divides North and South Viet Nam. Said Specialist Fourth Class Michael Hill, a U.S. adviser with ARVN units in the area: "It was like nothing we ever expected and nothing we ever saw." Then came the ground attack. Some 25,000 North Vietnamese troops, with Russian-built tanks and artillery, swept down through Quang Tri province, sending 50,000 refugees fleeing south and U.S. advisers scurrying to their helicopters. As his stunned military forces...
Despite the speed with which it spread, the fighting was still indeterminate. There had been no big set battles, certainly none with crack ARVN outfits like the 1st Division. "The ARVN hasn't stopped the [North Vietnamese] drive," said a U.S. officer in Saigon last week, "but the initial surge has ended. So far, continued this thing has had peaks and valleys. But the peaks haven't been too high, and the valleys haven't been too low." The big peaks, evidently, were still to come...
Militarily, Cambodia has become a doormat for Indochina's warring forces. In its eastern provinces, 10,000 ARVN troops were cautiously probing the sanctuaries where elements of three North Vietnamese divisions are believed to be waiting for the signal to open their long-awaited dry-season offensive in South Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Communist units deeper inside Cambodia opened their own offensive. In midweek, a force of Communist artillerymen, perhaps no more than 200 strong, struck the capital with a devastating, 90-minute rocket and mortar barrage...
...often, that is the case. When the South Vietnamese have done well against main-force units, American air support has been crucial. When they have floundered, the problem has been that perennial ARVN soft spot, poor leadership. U.S. military men give high marks to a number of top officers, among them General Ngo Quang Truong, commander of IV Corps, and Major General Nguyen Vinh Nghi, whose 21st Division cleared the treacherous U Minh forest in the Mekong Delta in a tough but little-noted operation last year. Even so, most U.S. advisers below the rank of major speak of their...
There are other uncertainties. The Viet Cong infrastructure, for instance, might not be nearly so weak as is generally assumed. A sudden withdrawal or reduction of U.S. airpower would increase doubts about ARVN's abilities, even if the flow of American supplies and economic support continued. But for the moment, U.S. military men in Saigon and Washington remain reasonably sure that the newly Vietnamized war machine can accomplish its mission: to give the Saigon regime a "reasonable chance" of survival when American troops go home...