Thursday, June 1, 1972
Viet Marines Go After Reds
MY CHANH, Vietnam (AP) --South Vietnamese marines stormed a North Vietnamese bunker complex less than a mile west of Highway 1 Tuesday and fighting raged for most of the morning.U.S. advisers said the company-sized enemy force appeared to be remnants of a North Vietnamese regiment which had crossed the My Chanh River last week and staged several attacks that were beaten back."There are not very many of them up there but they're well dug in," said one officer. "Apparently they're trying to resupply some of their mortar crews that have been giving us trouble here."My Chanh and several other marine positions were hit by North Vietnamese mortars and artillery while the fighting raged within sight of traffic on Highway 1.The rattle of small-arms fire was plainly heard on the road but did little to disrupt a roadside marketplace less than two miles from the battle.Early in the afternoon the North Vietnamese began retreating northward. They were pursued by American and South Vietnamese jets, and the highway reverberated with exploding rockets and bombs.U.S. Marine officers at headquarters in Hue said fighting along the northern front has been largely limited to "company-size probes, minor stuff, nothing big."However several officers said they still expected the North Vietnamese to attack in the direction of Hue in force."Sit tight. It will come," said a U.S. Marine officer. "Some people say Hue won't be attacked but that's just wishful thinking. They are just resupplying for the big push."Such tension is not shared by the civilian population of Hue or the villages north of the former imperial capital. Many of the refugees who fled southward after the fall of Quang Tri, South Vietnam's northernmost province, have returned home. Flame trees are in bloom the rice crop is being harvested after a two-week interruption. Artillery rumbles every night and the air strikes are never far away, but civilians appear unconcerned. Most of the shops of Hue have reopened. The sight of reinforcements pouring into Thua Thien Province has given the people new hope.Several Hue residents questioned in the streets said they do not expect the North Vietnamese to attack, "Because now there are too many South Vietnamese soldiers here."While military men disagree, they are not complaining about the high morale."Viet Marines Go After Reds", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Thursday, June 1, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.