Operation Wilderness
Operation Wilderness was a month-long effort in which the 1st Brigade soldiers went hunting an enemy who seemed to prefer hiding to fighting.
Nonetheless, a month of scattered engagements in Tay Ninh Province ands along the Cambodian border produced a body count of 280 Viet Cong.
The operation got underway on 11 March 1968, and the next day the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry captured 5,000 pounds of unpolished rice. This established the pattern of operation; caches, bunkers and base camps were found in abundance, but Charlie kept himself hidden.
Among the items too big to hide were three-quarter ton trucks discovered by supporting helicopter crewmen of Charlie Troop, 3rd squadron, 17th Air Cavalry when they followed fresh tracks leading from Cambodia toward Dau Tieng. Charlie Troop marked the trucks, which were the first found in South Vietnam, and called in air strikes and artillery to destroy the vehicles and their cargos of ammunition. The target practice produced 150-foot high pillars of smoke and flame.
On 16 March 1968 the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Manchus apprehended a woman with no ID card but carrying 6,000 piasters. After deciding that she was carrying the payroll of a Viet Cong unit, the Manchus detained the suspect and confiscated the money. It is not known which Viet Cong near Ap Hiep Thuan skipped a payday to help resolve an inflated Vietnamese economy.
All told the enemy lost 13,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, four tons of rice, 3,825 meters of tunnels and 725 pounds of documents to the sweeps of Operation Wilderness
Notes from Arnold Krause regarding this time period and involvement:
The 2/12th was late to the party in joining Operation Wilderness. Having just settled back in at Dau Tieng, the unit was assigned security activites within the surrounding area of the base camp. Charlie Co was conducting refresher training during the last few days of March
The unit, operating in the 2nd Bde is OPCON'd to the 3rd Bde, then is OPCON'd to the 199th LIB. Within this attachment, are the 3/7th, 4/14 and A (Air Scout) and D Troop (Mech) Troop of the 3/17th. Because we are OPCON'd to the 199th, our whereabouts are not recorded in the 1st nor 3rd Bde daily journals but in the 199th's reports..
On March 30th we are airlifted south to FSB Hamilton near Go Da Ha. where we sweep the surrounding area. On the morning of the 1st we conduct a combat assault to the west (B and C 2/12) where we hook up with D Troop 3/17th. We laager in three different sites before we make contact the morning of the 4th with an enemy force of unknown size.
Coming to our aide, is A Troop, 3/17th which offers aerial recon and LFT support in addition to the artillery and tactical support. We lost 7 KIA, along with 12-15 WIA's. This action lasted from March 30th to April 9th, when the unit returned to Dau Dieng. .
For a detailed movement of the operation, go to 199th Daily journal.