part0021

T he division had moved into the area north of Saigon in the fall of 1968 and operated throughout 1969 and 1970 in the Three Corps region and along the Cambodian border. As a result, numerous rice cache sites were seized, weapons cache sites were destroyed, and a major base camp outside of An Loc and northwest of Quan Loi was captured. With these successes came a decrease in the enemy’s ability to attack Bien Hoa or Long Binh. In addition, the division moved Second Battalion, Seventh Cavalry and First Battalion, Twelfth Cavalry with the Third Brigade to conduct interdiction operations along enemy infiltration routes north of Bien Hoa. Firebase 6 Cindy and Firebase Liz were put into position to accomplish those missions. From the start, both units were in contact with enemy forces. By April 19, the mission was complete and the Third Brigade returned to the Cambodia border region.

Throughout the spring and summer of 1969, enemy forces attacked firebases along the border. Their tactics were always the same. Waiting until after midnight, the enemy would commence their attack with a mortar and rocket barrage in concert with sappers attempting to penetrate the wire, followed by infantry waves attempting to penetrate the perimeter. LZ Grant was a favorite target of these attacks. Several times between February and May, LZ Grant experienced major attacks. The first, in February, saw the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gorvad, killed when a round hit the TOC. He was seriously wounded but refused to leave the battle. 7 The enemy managed to penetrate the perimeter wire, and fighting was fierce, to include the artillery lowering the tubes and firing point-blank into the charging enemy with antipersonnel shot. Blue Max gunships were called in and engaged the follow-on enemy as well as pursuing those attempting to retreat.

In May, LZ Grant was under attack again. Simultaneously, Quan Loi, LZ Jamie, and LZ Phyllis also came under ground assaults that night. The enemy wanted the First Cavalry Division out of the Three Corps region, which was not going to happen. Again the enemy attempted to move against Bien Hoa and Long Binh with the Fifth VC Division moving from War Zone D towards this target. The Third Brigade was once again moved to the area to block this move and required helicopter support to put soldiers in the field.

While Third Brigade bounced between Quan Loi and Bien Hoa-Long Binh, Second Brigade remained in the north along the border. In addition, with the First Infantry Division leaving Lai Khe, Second Brigade was given responsibility for the security of that installation. The solution was to create the “Rat Patrol.” This unit was devoted to the security of Lai Khe and operated out of gun jeeps that patrolled the perimeter of the base, augmented by units that were permanently stationed at Lai Khe.

The First Brigade was focused on the southern end of War Zone C and the Ninety-Fifth VC Regiment. In a major engagement supported by B-52s, the First Brigade cornered the Ninety-Fifth along the Saigon River and the area known as the Crescent. An infantry company was inserted after the first bomb strike, only to meet stiff resistance. Four more bomb strikes were made, and then six infantry companies were air-assaulted by helicopters into the area. Tanks from the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment supported the air assault with a ground attack, driving the enemy deeper into War Zone C and across the Saigon River.

In June, LZ Joy and LZ Ike were both attacked in the usual manner with the usual results, which were many enemy dead. In all of these actions, lift helicopters were actively involved, flying resupply missions, troop displacements, Night Hunter Killer missions, command-and-control missions and medevac missions when called upon as well as psyops missions to encourage the enemy to surrender. Some did. In the area of Phuoc Long Province, a total of 546 Vietnamese deserted the enemy by the end of November. The division would continue to establish firebases where intelligence said the enemy was moving or establishing base camps. The division was constantly on the move, as was the enemy.

In order to avoid the division, the enemy continued to move eastward along the Cambodian border. The division did likewise, moving eastward to Song Be. Here the division discovered a trail network different from what had been found before. Bamboo had been cut and laid to create a roadbed along the boundary between Two Corps and Three Corps. This would provide good roadbeds during the monsoon season instead of mud trails. This trail network was approximately four feet wide and had bunkers established every one hundred meters or so. First Battalion, Ninth Cavalry found the network and immediately went to work destroying it with air strikes and cavalry helicopters, while Night Hunter Killers patrolled the area to restrict movement. This trail complex was named the Jolley Trail after the commander of the cavalry troop who had found it.