Tan Hoa 1968

By LT Bruce Burton
   In two weeks of continuous contact, elements of six 25th Inf Div battalions have killed more than 400 Viet Cong during the fighting in the Cu Chi area.
   Battles raged along Highway 1 from the outskirts of Saigon to the north of the division's base camp at Cu Chi. Heavy fighting also broke out during the Tet period from the Ho Bo Woods to Duc Hoa in the northern and southern extremes of Hau Nghia Province.
   Soon after the Viet Cong shattered their declared Tet truce, the 1st and 2nd Bns, 27th Inf "Wolfhounds" airlifted into the Saigon area to reinforce American units defending the capital. When it became apparent that more troops would be needed to handle the string of coordinated attacks along Hau Nghia Province's stretch of Highway 1, units were dispatched from the 3rd Bde, 25th Inf Div.
   Both the 3rd Bn, 22nd Inf and the 2nd Bn, 12th Inf came in heavy contact within hours of arriving under 2nd Bde control at Cu Chi.
   The 1st Bde's 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf already under the operational control of the 2nd Bde on a land clearing operation in the Ho Bo Woods, also saw heavy action in the Viet Cong Tet offensive.
   The 2nd Bn, 27th Inf airlifted into Tan Son Nhut Air Base where the 3rd Sqdn, 4th Cav was repulsing a massive enemy assault. The "Wolfhound" battalion set up a base nearby and began to battle enemy units poised to strike at the Tan Son Nhut military complex and at the capital.
   Also on January 31, an ambush patrol from the 1st Bn, 27th Inf killed 15 Viet Cong and captured a 75mm recoilless rifle. Reinforcements from the battalion's forward base at Duc Hoa killed 22 more and captured a second 75mm recoilless rifle.
   Three companies made heliborne assaults into the Saigon suburb of Hoc Mon, which the Viet Cong had overrun the night before. The American force immediately began clearing operations.
   In the early stages of the fighting around Cu Chi, the 3rd Bn, 22nd Inf and the 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf bore the brunt of the action.
   Within days, however, the 2nd Bn, 12th Inf also became fixed in a continuous struggle to push entrenched Viet Cong from two villages to the east of the Cu Chi base camp.
   Early on the morning of February 1, the ARVN Cu Chi subsector reported it was under attack by an estimated Viet Cong battalion.
   The reconnaissance platoon of the 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf led a company of the 3rd Bn, 22nd Inf in a daring charge through heavy enemy automatic weapons and recoilless rifle fire to relieve the burning sub-sector compound

   At daylight, three more companies of the 22nd Inf joined the fight in a three-pronged attack into the village of Cu Chi. Street-fighting raged for five hours until the enemy force abandoned the village. The enemy unit, identified as the 1st Bn, MR IV Main Force Regiment, suffered at least 12 killed, five weapons lost and 21 personnel detained.
   The fighting in Tan Phu Trung and Ap Cho, neighboring villages along Highway 1 less than 10 kilometers from Cu Chi, began January 31 when the 3rd Bn, 22nd Inf moved in to clear two enemy companies blocking the road.
   In almost five hours of continuous contact, the infantrymen killed 17 enemy. The Viet Cong unit, believed to be from the 272nd Regiment, appeared to withdraw from the village.
   Two days later, however, fighting again erupted in the two communities, this time as a truck convoy attempted to pass through from Saigon to Cu Chi.
   While the convoy waited three kilometers to the south, a company from the 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf and elements of the 3rd Bn, 22nd Inf fought their way into the town.
   Although the 3rd Bde battalion has borne the majority of the action in Ap Cho and Tan Phu Trung, elements of the 3rd Sqdn, 4th Cav, Alpha Co, 2nd Bn, 34th Armor; and the 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf have assisted the 22nd Inf in its attempts to drive through the enemy fortifications.
   So far, at least 106 Viet Cong have died in the American assaults on their fortifications, lost six individual and two crew served weapons and several personnel detained.
   The 2nd Bn, 12th Inf killed at least 115 Viet Cong in the battle to clear Highway 8A at Tan Hoa, and in action between there and an Phu Trung, six kilometers to the south.
   Also faced with Viet Cong entrenched in reinforced concrete bunkers, the 3rd Bde unit fought against elements of an estimated two battalions of the 272nd Viet Cong Regiment.
   Although the American unit had faced sporadic contact shortly after it airlifted into the Cu Chi area, its first significant contact came on February 5, when it killed 33 Viet Cong who had dug in at the hamlet of Phuoc Hung.
   The following day, the infantrymen moved north in an attempt to drive through the village of Tan Hoa. Like the action along Highway 1, the fighting has raged ever since.
   On February 6, a company of the battalion killed 22 Viet Cong who had opened fire with small arms, machine guns and rockets. Artillery fire from Cu Chi and armed helicopters supported the troops in their assault.
   Air Force fighter bombers dumped thousands of pounds of explosives onto the enemy fortifications during the eight-day battle.
   Although the U.S. troops several times penetrated the enemy defenses and captured several automatic and crew-served weapons, the Viet Cong force has continued to resist with heavy fire all attempts to break through the town.
   In other actions throughout the province, the 4th Bn (Mech), 23rd Inf killed 24 Viet Cong and captured one RPG-2 rocket launcher in a five-hour fight in the Ho Bo Woods.
   Throughout the two-week period, tactical air strikes accounted for 35 Viet Cong killed, artillery 30, and helicopter gunships 25 enemy killed.
   Two kilometers to the east, two companies of the 2nd Bn, 27th Inf were locked in battle with a large enemy force. Fighting until dark, the infantrymen killed 102 enemy, and were supported by tactical air strikes, artillery and gunships.