Word: monsoonal
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...like a seesaw, took two interlocking directions at once last week. American planes took advantage of the last clear days before the monsoon to wreak unusually heavy damage on North Viet Nam. To the south, the enemy shied away from major actions and, bowing to the superiority of U.S. firepower along the Demilitarized Zone, broke off the lengthy siege of the Marine base at Con Thien. Though Con Thien is not yet home free, its relief was a psychological boost to the entire U.S. effort in Viet...
...artillery bombardments have left the three red hills of Con Thien a crater-pocked moonscape. Monsoon rains, a month ahead of their normal mid-October arrival, have churned the outpost into a quagmire reminiscent of Ypres in World War I. Everything must be brought into the outpost by helicopter to a landing zone grimly known as "Death Valley," or over the unpaved road from Cam Lo. Everything rots or mildews. The Marines at Con Thien live on C rations. Because water is scarce, they shave only every other day and can seldom wash...
When the northeast monsoon begins pelting Con Thien with 20 to 25 inches of rain a month, the Marines and the enemy will both have trouble preventing their sodden fortifications from crumbling. Within three days last month, 18 inches of rain poured down on Con Thien, caving in foxholes. Continuing rains and Communist pressure last week closed the resupply route from Cam Lo-at a time when most of the CH-46 choppers used to airlift material were grounded for defective tail assemblies. The low monsoon clouds will hinder U.S. air strikes, but the rain will also cause problems...
Shock Value. Thus the Marines feel that they have already stood and taken practically the hardest punch that North Viet Nam can throw at them until the monsoon ends next April. All the same, military men express considerable doubt about the concept of static defense embodied in Con Thien. Some would prefer to see the Marines make more forays to spike any Communist guns below the North Viet Nam border-as the Israelis did with the Syrian artillery atop the Golan Heights. U.S. military doctrine holds that a force assumes a defensive position only when it is not strong enough...
...settled his robes for an indefinite protest vigil underneath a tree in front of the palace. Each night followers brought fresh changes of robes and food, tea, milk, vitamins, dextrose mixed with water and aspirin. The palace guards permitted Tri Quang to use their gate toilet, and when the monsoon came, South Vietnamese Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan came out and invited Tri Quang inside, holding an umbrella...