The Battles
Operation Cedar Falls
Operation Junction City 1 and 2
The Information below was edited from a more detailed description by EHistory.com
Operation Cedar Falls
Task Force Deane
At 0800 on 9 January the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment attacked west from its staging areas near Ben Cat. After securing the bridge across the Thi Tinh River and Position GREEN, one kilometer to the southwest, the regiment knifed toward its objectives some seven kilometers to the west. By 1000 the Blackhorse Regiment had penetrated the entire width of the Iron Triangle from east to west and had severed it from the Thanh Dien forest on the north. Only slight enemy resistance had been encountered.
Task Force DEANE officially joined Operation CEDAR FALLS at 0800 on D-day with its headquarters located near Ben Cat. Two of its battalions were lifted by helicopter from Bien Hoa to Phu Loi and then to Position BLUE, a staging area ten kilometers east of the triangle. On D-day the 11th Armored Cavalry (Blackhorse) Regiment, commanded by Colonel William W. Cobb, came under the operational control of the 1st Division and subsequently under Task Force DEANE at 1200. The cavalry had closed its training and headquarters in a staging area north of Phu Loi at about midnight the previous day. The 3d Squadron of the 11th had moved from its base camp at Long Giao to a forward assembly area just east of the junction of the Saigon and Thi Tinh Rivers, the last element arriving at 2315 on D minus 1. More...
Operation CEDAR FALLS was long overdue. The Iron Triangle and nearby village of BEN SUC had been lucrative targets for some time. How-ever, this was the first time sufficient forces and equipment were available to properly execute such an undertaking.
The Triangle had been a notorious VC haven. From its confines attacks were launched on the surrounding area, and VC control over such areas was uncontested. Ralliers confirmed that the Triangle contained numer-ous tunnels and bunkers and huge stores of foodstuffs and equipment. Continual bombing and artillery fires certainly disrupted VC activity, but civilian occupants in the area hampered free-fire activities. Addition-ally, B-52 strikes and artillery bombardment could not be exploited with ground troops. There were simply no access routes, air or ground, into the heart of the Triangle. The few existing ox cart roads and foot trails were heavily mined and booby trapped. The 100 square kilometers of the Iron Triangle provided a secure jungle haven which no one division could seal, search and destroy. More...
In addition to the destruction of the base area of Military Region IV, the most significant and unexpected result was the surrender of so many Viet Cong. This has never happened before in the war in Vietnam, and in this area, at least, is a reflection of the complete breakdown in confidence and morale on the part of the VC.
In summarizing the effects on the enemy, General Seaman said:
(1) A major portion of the enemy's base and control center for operation against the Capital Military District has been destroyed. This repre-sents the loss of an investment of twenty years. The enemy's offensive capability against the Capital Military District has been reduced by loss of personnel, equipment and facilities.
(2) Over 3,700 tons of rice have been captured or destroyed. . . .More significant than the loss itself is the resultant diversion of manpower to reconstitute his stores.
(3) All of the civilian inhabitants of the area, some 6,000 plus their livestock were evacuated. This will deny the enemy food, manpower, revenue, transportation and intelligence.
(4) The capture of over 500,000 separate pages of documents including crypto-material, has given us valuable intelligence. The enemy's security programs have been compromised to include records continuity.
(5) Realization of the seriousness of these losses by the leadership in North Vietnam, COSVN and the VC-dominated populace will have a serious psychological impact.
From every aspect, the enemy had suffered a great defeat. In the words of General Seaman, they would now have to "re-evaluate the relative capabilities of their forces as opposed to ours."
The chemical sections were also very active and effective in denying use of captured rice to the enemy. When conditions permitted, the rice was removed from the area. However, in some cases, in view of the large tonnages involved as well as the location of the rice, removal was impossible. For example, on 12 January 450 tons of rice in 100 pound bags, located in eight different caches, were destroyed by the chemical personnel of the 1st Division. To contaminate the rice, a hole was made in the middle of the cache and two 40 pound cratering charges were placed in the hole and detonated. The explosion caused the bags to burst and spread the rice over a wide area. Eight-pound bags of CS crystals were then placed in and around the area, linked with detonating cord, and exploded simultaneously. This system was often and effectively used during the operation.
To provide rapid crossing for the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and supporting forces as they launched their sweep from Ben Cat toward objectives on the opposite side of the Iron Triangle, the 1st Engineer Battalion of the Big Red One was directed to construct a Bailey bridge over the Thi Tinh River just west of Ben Cat. Work commenced on 21 December, well before D-day, at a site adjacent to an existing Eiffel bridge and a destroyed concrete bridge. The bridge site preparation included the destruction of the remains of the concrete bridge, the construction of headwalls on each bank, and the construction of an eight-pile pier in the center of the river to support the Bigfoot Bailey bridge sections. The assembly of the bridge was begun on 31 December, the launch made on 1 January, and the final welding done by 5 January.
Operation Junction City
As envisioned by II Field Force, preliminary operations GADSDEN and TUCSON, jumping off on 2 and 14 February respectively, would position forces and materiel on the western and eastern extremities of the area of operations. Phase I of JUNCTION CITY would commence on 22 February with five U.S. brigades forming a horseshoe shaped cordon in the western half of War Zone C. (Map 8) The 25th Division would block on the west along the Cambodian border; on the north, along the border, and on the east along Provincial Route 4 would be the 1st Infantry Division with the 173d Brigade attached. On D plus 1 a brigade of the 25th Division and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (attached to the 25th), which had positioned themselves on the southern edge of the horseshoe the previous day, would attack north into the horseshoe. The horseshoe forces would conduct search and destroy operations in their areas. Simultaneous with the detailed and thorough search, a Special Forces and Civilian Irregular Defense Group camp near Prek Klok would be established for future interdiction of enemy supply and infiltration routes in War Zone C. An airstrip capable of handling C-130's would be constructed at the camp. A second similar airfield would be constructed in the vicinity of Katum. More...
During Phase I of Operation JUNCTION CITY the 25th (Tropic Lightning) Division under General Weyand employed its organic 2d Brigade with other units under division control, namely, the 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division; 196th Light Infantry Brigade; 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-); and two South Vietnamese units, the 1st and 5th Marine Battalions (Task Force ALPHA). The 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division, part of the division's task organization, was placed under the operational control of the 1st Infantry Division later in Phase I.
Under the 25th Division's plan, the 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Colonel Garth), would block and continue to conduct search and destroy operations from the area which it held at the close of Operation GARDEN on 21 February in the far western portion of the operational area. Assigned to the brigade were one mechanized infantry battalion, two infantry battalions, one troop of cavalry, and a company of armor. Operating closely with Garth's brigade was the 196th Brigade (General Knowles), which on D-day would conduct airmobile assaults with its three infantry battalions along the northwest portion of the horseshoe to establish blocking positions and seal enemy escape routes into Cambodia. The positions of the 25th Division units would thus form the broad left leg of the horseshoe and would complete, along with the 1st Division, the seal of the operational area. The division's 2d Brigade (Colonel Marvin D. Fuller) and Colonel William W. Cobb's 11th Armored Cavalry (-) constituted the hammer forces that on D plus 1 would drive north into the horseshoe to locate and destroy enemy forces and facilities. More...
The 1st Brigade, 1st Division, initiated the airmobile operations from Minh Thanh with one battalion making an airmobile assault at 0813 into a landing zone north of Route 246 and only 1,600 meters south of the Cambodian border. Sporadic small arms fire was encountered from the southern portion of the landing zone; however, the zone was quickly secured. The other two battalions of the brigade air assaulted into LZ's to the west of the first battalion at 1130 and 1630. They were unopposed. More...
Earlier that day, 845 paratroopers had boarded sixteen C-130's at Bien Hoa and at 0900 the 173d Airborne Brigade began its combat jump. As the aircraft approached the drop zone (three kilometers north of Katum), the jumpmaster's voice rose above the roar of the C-130: "Stand in the Door." General Deane moved to the right door; taking his position in the left door was Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Sigholtz, commander of the airborne task force composed of the 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry; A Battery, ad Battalion, 319th Artillery; and elements of the 173d Brigade headquarters and headquarters company. As the green light flashed "go," General Deane jumped, leading the first U.S. combat parachute assault since the Korean War. There was no enemy contact during the jump.
(Chief Warrant Officer Howard P. Melvin of San Francisco, California, then 53 years old, was participating in his fifth combat parachute assault over a period of some twenty years. His previous four were Gela, Sicily, Salerno, and St. Mere Eglise.)
The 2d Brigade, 25th Division, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-) moved to positions near the open (south) end of the horseshoe and poised for their attack to the north in the morning. The remaining brigade under the 25th Division continued search and destroy operations east of Route 22 and north of Trai Bi.
Eighteen battalions, organized into six brigades, and one cavalry regiment were now deployed around the horseshoe. Thirteen mutually supporting fire support bases also ringed the operational area.
The combined elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-) and the 2d Brigade of the 25th Division thrust northward through the open end of the horseshoe to trap the Viet Cong and locate and destroy COSVN and North Vietnamese Army-Viet Cong installations. The units immediately began to uncover significant caches of enemy supplies and equipment. Only four minor contacts, however, were made during the day's search. More...
On 24 February Task Force ALPHA conducted an airmobile assault into a landing zone secured by the 196th Brigade at the northern end of its area of responsibility near the Cambodian border; the South Vietnamese marines attacked south within the zone and prepared to continue operations farther to the south. The infantry battalion of the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, which was at Suoi Da, moved to field positions six kilometers south of Prek Klok along Route 4. More...
Having completed its participation in the hammer operation, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-) had tuned west on 26 February to continue search and destroy in the 25th Division's operational area. On 6 March the two squadrons of the 11th Armored Cavalry began a sweep along the Cambodian border. The sweep was to cover a zone extending 1,500 meters from the border and was to start four kilometers southwest of the point where Route 22 hits the Cambodian border in the north and was to end at Lo Go. The sweep would include all the border in the "Little Elephant's Ear" proper. Just after noon on 11 March one troop was brought under small arms, automatic weapons, RPG2, and recoilless rifle fire from an estimated Viet Cong company at six kilometers northwest of Lo Go and within 200 meters of the Cambodian border. The enemy was in well-prepared positions with fortified bunkers and an extensive trench system. As friendly fires and air strikes increased, the Viet Cong were trapped on the near bank of the river which marks the border at this point; helicopter gunships kept the river under surveillance to prevent escape into Cambodia. During the night the position was kept under continuous illumination by flareships and under artillery and mini-gun fire from the flareships. However, the enemy slipped away during the night, leaving twenty-eight dead behind. The reason for the stiff resistance became readily apparent the next morning. Located in reinforced concrete bunkers fifteen feet underground were two large, electrically powered Chinese printing presses weighing nearly a ton each. Manufactured in Shanghai in 1965, each press had an hourly output of 5,000 printed sheets measuring 17 by 24 inches; the presses also had cutting and folding attachments. A further search yielded several barrels of lead printer's type as well as thirty-one individual weapons. The presses were airlifted to the 25th Division's base camp. Indications were that the presses were being utilized by the COSVN propaganda and cultural indoctrination section.
The Phase I operations started to wind down beginning 12 March. On the 14th the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, turned over responsibility for the security of Prek Klok Special Forces Camp, the old French Fort, and Route 4 to the 196th Brigade. Colonel Marks commenced repositioning his forces and prepared to relieve the division's 2d Brigade of its Revolutionary Development mission so the brigade could participate in JUNCTION CITY II. On 15 March the 173d left the operational area and reverted to control of II Field Force; on the same day the 11th Cavalry (-) terminated its participation. At midnight on 17 March Phase I officially came to a close. The enemy had lost 835 killed, 15 captured, 264 weapons, and enormous quantities of supplies and equipment.
The mission of the 1st Engineers was to improve Route 246 to the Saigon River, construct a Bailey bridge over the river, and com-mence construction of an airstrip just west of the bridge site. (The construction of the camp would be the responsibility of a non--divisional engineer unit.) After Phase II began, the 1st Engineers had, in addition to its usual support role, the mission of opening and maintaining Route 246 from the Bailey bridge to a fire support base which would be established at Sroc Con Trang, five kilometers northwest of the bridge.
The bridge was started on the 8th; since it was 210 feet long it was necessary to construct a concrete center pier for support. By noon on the 12th the bridge was open for traffic. By 18 March- the opening of Phase II- Route 246 had been opened and in fact improved to a distance of just over 6 kilometers west of the bridge site to the turnoff to Sroc Con Trang. By the 18th the jungle had been cleared from 1,800 feet of the runway, shaping and compact-ing of the subgrade continued, and 400 feet of runway had been completed. Phase II could begin.
The mission of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division would continue to be the security of Route 246, the bridge site, the camp and airfield, and some of the twelve fire support patrol bases the division would establish (stretching from Lai Khe north to Quan Loi, west to Sroc Con Trang, and south on Route 244 from its junc-tion with 246). The 1st Brigade, 9th Division, except for one week, would be responsible for keeping Route 13 open from Lai Khe to Quan Loi, for escorting convoys along it, and for defending as-signed fire bases in its operational area. (One such fire base at Ap Bau Bang was attacked on 20 March.) It would also conduct considerable searching and destroying-with some success- adjacent to Route 13. On 1 April the 11th Armored Cavalry Regi-ment (-) was to be attached to the 1st Division and would assume the mission of the 1st of the 9th until the end of Phase II. Escorting as many as two hundred vehicles a day through the 55-kilometer run, these units kept enemy firings upon convoys to very few (only two under the 11th Armored Cavalry with no damage). (Map 14).
At 1150 on 19 March 1967, A Troop, 3d Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Captain Raoul H. Alcala, deployed within the perimeter of Fire Support Base 20. A unit of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry, attached to the 1st Infantry Division, the 129-man company had six tanks, twenty M-113 armored personnel carriers, and three 4.2-inch mortar carriers. The unit formed into a circular (wagon train) perimeter defense with the mission of secur-ing the base for B Battery (105-mm.) of the 7th Battalion, 9th Artillery, commanded by Captain Duane W. Marion.
Fire Support Base 20 was located in relatively flat country 1,500 meters north of Ap Bau Bang immediately west of QL 13. To the south of the position was a rubber plantation, while wooded areas were prominent to the north and west. An abandoned railroad track ran parallel to and thirty meters east of the highway. (Map 15). More...