Sunday, May 14, 1972
Mines No Substitute for U.S. Marines, Says Viet Colonel
QUI NHON, Vietnam (UPI) --The chief of embattled Binh Dinh Province, Col. Nguyen Van Chuc, said Friday the U.S. mining of Haiphong harbor was fine but what he really wanted was for the American Marines to begin a counterattack.Chuc, whose key central coastal province is already one-third overrun by Communist forces, said in an interview "The blockade of North Vietnam will not change the fighting in the south for at least four to six weeks."The province chief acknowledged the mining of the harbors and waterways was as strong an action as could be expected realistically."But," Chuc said, "I personally would rather see U.S. Marines reoccupy the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)."Before the Communist offensive the DMZ separated the two Vietnams. Now North Vietnamese troops occupied all of Quang Tri Province, a 30-mile strip to the south of the old line.The province chief said he believes U.S. Marine pressure would force the North Vietnamese to break off their efforts to capture the northern city of Hue.Chuc admitted, "We, the Vietnamese, are the ones that have to do the fighting. The Americans can supply us with everything but leadership, and it's our own leadership which has broken down."The colonel, who is widely respected by the American military for his leadership, said a good commander has to go to the front lines with his troops. He fired a regimental commander who was among the first to run during the early days of the fighting in Binh Dinh Province.In spite of the panic which seized the province and sent half of the capital of Qui Nhon fleeing, Chuc has kept most of his family with him."I told my wife I must set an example for the rest of the people. I told her if she leaves I will take a 16-year-old girl as my wife. She became very jealous. She will stay."Speaking of the Communist victories, Chuc said: "There is enough rice in Binh Dinh's three captured districts to feed three North Vietnamese divisions for three to four months"More than 200,000 people once lived in the captured areas. Military sources indicate that many of those who remained were being impressed as laborers to carry rice to North Vietnamese troops on other fronts.Binh said retreating South Vietnamese troops also left behind enough weapons for the Communist "to outfit two new army groups."Chuc said, "right now, we know there are two companies of Regional Forces (South Vietnamese militia) which defected to the North Vietnamese and which are now defending their former artillery positions against South Vietnamese regulars.""Mines No Substitute for U.S. Marines, Says Viet Colonel", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Sunday, May 14, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.