Word: battalion
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Classical Charge. Down in the Mekong Delta, an equally savage battle was in progress. Moving into the "Twin-River Complex" of Chuong Thien province, a battalion of South Vietnamese infantrymen walked into a trap. One company was hit as its American-piloted helicopters put down in the paddy-and-palmetto plains between the Nuoc Trong and Cai Lon rivers. Four "slicks" (troop-carrying choppers) were shot out of the sky by Chinese-built 7.9-mm. antiaircraft cannons; another four "gunships" (helicopters carrying rockets and machine guns for close support) dropped like stones. Moments later, a Medevac chopper was downed...
Another Thermometer. One Marine who carries that philosophy to perfection is Lieut. Colonel William Corson, 41, a former Naval Academy professor, economist and engineer who controls 50 sq. mi. of jungle west of Danang. After months of patrolling and night ambushes, Corson's 1,500-man battalion set up what he likes to call "my laboratory for capitalism." The first step was to engage the interest of the villagers, which Corson achieved by the un-Clausewitzean technique of teaching his men the local game: co tuong, a variant of chess that uses "elephants, cannon and 14th century infantry tactics...
Sealed Off. The destruction of Ben Sue, a Saigon River village complex that supported the Viet Cong, was typical. It took only a minute and a half for 60 helicopters to descend on the village with a battalion of the U.S. 1st Division. While loudspeakers warned residents to stay in their homes, infantrymen quickly sealed off the town, catching many of its Viet Cong defenders by surprise. The villagers were assembled and the men between 15 and 45 led off for questioning. Within three days, Ben Sue was deserted, its people and their possessions loaded aboard boats and shipped twelve...
Asia. Already combatting Communist terrorism on its remote northeastern frontier, Thailand announced that it would soon become the sixth fighting ally of the U.S. in Viet Nam.* It has already begun to gather the 1,000-man combat battalion of Royal Thai army volunteers who will enter the Viet Nam fray sometime within the next six months. At the same time, Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman admitted that Thailand has been "allowing U.S. troops to utilize our military installations and facilities...
...jobs at the U.S. port facility named Newport, being built four miles up the Saigon River to handle military shipments and relieve the choking congestion of Saigon port proper. From the beginning, Newport was planned as a wholly U.S.-operated military port, with American soldiers of the 71st Transportation Battalion doing the stevedoring and all the other work. The idea was to minimize pilferage, the chances of sabotage, and the risk of U.S. military equipment's falling into enemy hands...