Word: kalydon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...another day, the rising sun was just beginning to shimmer over the Long Tau when Chief Signalman Bob Monzingo clamped on the black beret worn by U.S. Navymen in Viet Nam, stepped aboard PBR (Patrol Boat River) 756 and headed for a rendezvous with the fully loaded U.S. tanker Kalydon. So did the Viet Cong. Three hours later, the battle exploded. From the Long Tau's east bank, ambushers fired five Communist-made B40 rockets at the tanker. All five missed, and Monzingo's two-boat force foamed toward the attackers, blasting away with M-60 machine guns...
...dense enough to serve as a haven for an estimated 800 V.C. troops. Because the narrow Long Tau could easily be blocked, the Viet Cong have been trying hard since the beginning of the American buildup in 1965 to do precisely that. "If a ship the size of the Kalydon could be sunk in the middle of the river at that point," said a U.S. naval officer at Nha Be, "we'd be up to our neck. Estimates are that it would take anywhere from two to six months to reopen the channel. The U.S. command simply cannot afford...
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