MARCH 8 – 11, 1965
The aim of the NVA “mini-Tet” offensive that began on February 23, 1969, was to overrun Saigon. The 1st and 7th NVA Divisions worked their way into the region north of the Michelin rubber plantation while the 5th VC Division moved into the Angel’s Wing west of the capital. The 9th VC massed in southeastern War Zone D. Firefights and rocket and mortar barrages erupted over a wide front.
Cavalry operating out of FSB Grant near the Michelin plantation bottled up the 1st NVA Division by repeatedly interdicting the enemy’s lines of communications. The NVA determined to clear the area for an unimpeded approach to Saigon. On the night of March 8, intense rocket and mortar barrages destroyed the headquarters of Second Battalion, 12th Cav at Grant, killing the battalion commander. Enemy troops stormed the FSB shortly after midnight.
Quad .50-caliber machine guns sliced through the human waves of charging NVA soldiers. Bee Hive rounds cut swaths through enemy ranks. Desperate artillerymen stuffed 175mm howitzers with powder charges, lowered the guns to troop level, and blasted flaming powder into the attackers’ faces. The charge pellets were each about the size of a man’s thumb. They came burning out of the muzzles at some hellacious rate of speed and penetrated into the guts and bodies of the enemy. Screams of pain and terror filled the night.
Concentrated defensive fires and air strikes smashed the attack a mere two hours after it began.
Three nights later, in the predawn hours of March 11, two NVA battalions again tried to overrun FSB Grant. They were driven back. Cavalry helicopters from the 1/9 at Tay Ninh pursued the remnants for the rest of the week.
The successful defense of Grant ensured that the cavalry would continue screening operations in War Zone C, III Corps, as it harassed, interdicted, and kept off-balance enemy elements attempting to push south and east toward Saigon.