Word: cavness
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...Pong foothills. Intelligence had long suspected the Chu Pong massif of harboring a large Communist base fed from the Cambodian side of the border. X Ray seemed a likely spot to find the enemy, and so it was. No sooner had the 1st Battalion of the Air Cav's 7th Regiment rushed from its choppers in the landing zone than the shooting began...
...moved was hit," said Savage, as he described the bitter struggle in which first the platoon leader and then the platoon sergeant were mowed down. But the rest fought on as wave after wave of attacks was beaten back by the platoon's guns and pinpoint Air Cav artillery support. When the remnants of the 2nd Platoon were finally rescued and brought back to safety, they were dazed and jabbering, but still had discipline, pride and-most amazing of all-ammunition to spare...
Four days and nights the battle around X Ray raged, while a remarkable concatenation of American firepower kept the estimated two attacking North Vietnamese battalions at bay. The 1st Air Cav's artillerymen poured more than 8,000 rounds into the area, firing so fast that their barrels often glowed red with heat. By day and night, tactical air pounded the enemy (see following story), and for the first time, in a series of ten raids, the giant B-52s from Guam were used in tactical support, blasting suspected enemy concentrations in the lowering mountains around X Ray. Bullwhip...
...well have been the 1st Air Cav's threatened interdiction of the enemy's manpower pipeline that produced the unprecedented ferocity of Communist attacks last week. For Chu Pong is clearly a central enemy enclave and funnel point into South Viet Nam. On the Cambodian side, the hills slope gently, allowing easy access for the supplies and men arriving from the North. To the east, the la Drang River provides easy transport and a natural gateway to Viet Nam's central highlands-whose takeover some U.S. intelligence experts believe to be the goal of Hanoi...
...week's end, while Vietnamese paratroopers moved in to continue the battle and give the torn ranks of the 1st Air Cav a well-earned rest, General William Westmoreland summed up the official American view of the long month that began with the siege at Plei Me: "I consider this an unprecedented victory. At no time during the engagement have American troops been forced to withdraw or move back from their positions except for purposes of tactical maneuver. American casualties were heavier than in any previous engagement, but small by comparison with the enemy...