"BATTLEFIELD VIETNAM" "Search And Destroy" "In 1967, American forces in South Vietnam launched a series of powerful attacks on the Vietnamese communist guerrillas." "The aim was to take the war to the NLF's biggest units by attacking their bases in overwhelming strength." "The Americans hoped that the guerrillas would stand and fight." "They could then annihilate them with vastly superior firepower." "The offensives were designed to use the tactics of Search and Destroy on the grandest scale yet." "Some of the biggest helicopter operations of the war were mounted to try and trap entire Vietcong regiments." "More guns and aircraft were called in to support the attacks than had ever been unleashed on a Vietnam battlefield." "The Americans meant to damage the Vietcong so badly they would be unable to carry on the war." "In fact, the Americans would fail to wipe out the Vietcong's biggest units." "Despite heavy losses in men and equipment, the guerrillas would return even stronger, ready to launch their own offensive campaign." "PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE" "By mid 1965, the mission of American troops in South Vietnam was changing fast." "They had come to secure airbases, but now they were actively looking for combat with the Vietcong." "On May 18th 1965 the 173rd airborne brigade the first U.S. Army infantry unit to arrive in Vietnam, began operations." "Its first task was to sweep a wide area around its base near Saigon." "The 173rd met no real resistance." "There were thousands of Vietcong troops in the Saigon area but they remained elusive." "More American troops arrived." "As the weeks went on, questions were asked about the whole policy." "Was it wise to send a conventional army with its slow moving, heavily armed infantry, its planes, its tanks against guerrilla units that might be impossible to pin down?" "The US commander in Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, insisted that the army could find and beat the enemy." "There were soon encouraging signs." "In August 1965, in Operation Starlite, U.S. marines surrounded a Vietcong regiment of 2,000 men and defeated them in a full scale battle." "The next major challenge was posed by the NLF's allies, the professional troops of the North Vietnamese Army." "By September 1965, two North Vietnamese Army regiments, the 32nd and the 33rd, had moved down the Ho Chi Minh trail and infiltrated from Cambodia into South Vietnam." "The 66th regiment was following close behind." "The plan was to take the provincial capital Pleiku and advance along highway 19, to the coast to Qui Nhon, splitting the South in two." "The Americans were determined to block the NVA's attempt to reach Qui Nhon." "The idea was to place in the An Khe valley the most mobile force they possessed, the 1st Air Cavalry division." "The Air Cavalry was the first formation anywhere in the world designed around the helicopter." "The division was 15,000 strong and had 480 machines... 5 times the number of a normal infantry division." "The whole idea had, until recently, been an experiment with an eye on any future war in Europe." "No one really knew how it would work in a place like Vietnam." "Combat units of the 1st Cavalry began to arrive at An Khe in mid September 1965." "By October the division was fully operational." "Its base, Camp Radcliff, had grown into an massive complex... of helicopter pads, supply dumps, accommodation and maintenance facilities." "For the officers and men of the Air Cavalry, there was a good deal to prove and they were determined to take the battle to the enemy." "For their part, North Vietnamese Army commanders were just as keen for a fight as the Americans." "Their 6,000 troops, already in the border area, meant to keep up the pressure on the South Vietnamese government forces, at the same time they aimed to find out how well U.S. troops would fight and how their own soldiers would cope with American weapons and tactics." "After infiltrating into the South the 32nd and the 33rd North Vietnamese regiments had established a base area on the high ground of the Chu Pong massif." "On October 20th 1965 the 33rd regiment laid siege to an American Special Forces camp at Plei Me." "After a Siege that lasted six days, the South Vietnamese Army, backed by the US Air Cavalry, secured that camp, and both NVA regiments withdrew to the Chu Pong." "There they meant to join with the newly arrived 66th regiment before renewing their campaign." "The American plan was to fly in the whole of the 1st battalion of the 7th Cavalry to find the NVA regiments." "It was the first time US troops would face NVA regulars." "The first step was to create an artillery fire support base near the Chu Pong at Landing Zone Falcon." "Next the lead elements of the 1st battalion landed at LZ X-ray." "Right in front of them were nearly all the 66th and 33rd NVA regiments." "When company B pushed towards the spear of the Chu Pong it was attacked immediately and the platoon was encircled." "Company A was also pinned down by fierce fire before the rest of the first battalion was landed." "A and B companies then launched attacks to relieve the encircled platoon, but were driven back." "The following morning, the Americans, reinforced by another company, were hit by waves of NVA troops." "Heavy fire support wreaked havoc on the attackers and by now, another American battalion was on its way overland." "Conceding defeat, the shattered North Vietnamese regiments began to pull back towards the Ia Drang valley and the safety of Cambodia." "After the fight at LZ X-Ray the Chu Pong was bombed by almost a hundred B-52s ...each unloading 17 tons of high explosives." "For the next 10 days the NVA regiments were pursued relentlessly by the Americans." "But although the North Vietnamese were in retreat they were still capable of hitting back." "In one textbook ambush mounted by a rear guard battalion of the 66th regiment 155 Americans were killed." "For U.S. forces it was the most costly day of the war so far." "In the battle of the Ia Drang valley in the Pleiku operation the 1st Air Cavalry division lost 300 dead, but the NVA had suffered much worse." "1,300 North Vietnamese soldiers had been killed and many more wounded." "It was a clear-cut victory for the Americans." "Two enemy regiments were all but smashed and there was now little danger of South Vietnam being cut in two." "The Ia Drang battle was a major boost for U.S. commanders." "It seemed to prove their strategy was the right one." "The enemy's big units could be made to stand and fight and take heavy casualties in the process." "If the communists could be forced into more battles like Ia Drang, they would quickly suffer such losses they would have to abandon their whole campaign." "THE LEADERS – United States" "The final push to use American combat forces in South Vietnam had come from President Lyndon Johnson himself." "Yet he had never wanted to fight a war in Asia." "Johnson's priority was social reform, his Great Society program, and he feared the war in Vietnam might fatally damage his plans." "The problem for Johnson was that if the war grew unpopular, it could cost him the political support his program needed." "On the other hand, if Vietnam was lost to communism it would be just as damaging." "The only solution that Johnson could see, and the one agreed with his defense secretary Robert McNamara, was an uneasy compromise." "The US would carry on fighting the war, but everything possible would be done to limit its impact on the American people." "Dramatic measures like calling up the reserves, or the National Guard had to be avoided." "Above all, Johnson was determined to keep China and the Soviet Union out of the conflict in Vietnam." "By now both communist powers had nuclear weapons and China had almost unlimited manpower." "Fighting the Chinese in Asia would demand millions of American troops and cost untold casualties." "Johnson's solution was to fight a limited war." "He restricted the bombing campaign against North Vietnam to personally approved targets." "He also ruled out invading the North, no matter how much it backed the NLF." "In fact, General Westmoreland, the US commander in South Vietnam, had no desire yet to go into what he felt were communist sanctuaries in neighboring countries." "But what he did want was a much more effective bombing campaign to cut the flow of supplies and men to the guerrillas." "If that happened, Westmoreland was confident he could win." "He would need more troops, but once he had built up his forces, he was sure he could seize the initiative." "THE LEADERS – The Vietcong" "The leaders of the National Liberation Front were rarely able to meet." "They were force to gather in the strictest secrecy in a remote forest area near the Cambodian border." "The fear was that a single American bombing raid could wipe out the leadership at a stroke." "Security was intense and avoiding enemy units meant that some members had to travel for weeks to reach the conference." "The Central Committee had 52 members and was led by the Chairman Nguyen Huu Tho." "Tho was a French educated lawyer, and to many in South Vietnam, the acceptable moderate face of the Vietcong." "But behind Tho were lifelong communists like the General Secretary Huyn Tan Phat." "...an architect and the NLF's foremost thinker." "Another hard liner was the French educated lawyer Tran Bu Kim one of the NLF's founders." "By now, Northerners were in almost full control of the military command and through them North Vietnam was making sure its policies were followed." "The NLF guerrilla army was even more closely controlled by the North." "Its top commander was the North Vietnamese Army general Nguyen Chi Thanh." "Thanh was noted as a political firebrand and wanted to stay on the offensive whatever the cost or the dangers." "Thanh was equal in rank to the North Vietnamese defense minister General Giap who favored a more cautious approach in the South, now that American firepower had entered the equation." "By the end of 1965, Giap was winning the argument." "The result would soon be felt on the battlefields of South Vietnam." "STRATEGY – United States" "When American combat troops had first arrived in Vietnam, few U.S. officials had believed that the South could survive." "By the end of 1965, the picture had changed dramatically." "The new government led by Air Marshall Ky was growing in confidence." "The arrival of American troops had given morale a huge boost and there was no longer a danger that the communists could win quickly." "For General Westmoreland, the next stage was to go on the offensive against the Vietcong." "His aim was to take on the big formations on the battlefield and eliminate them one by one." "The tactics would be those of Search and Destroy, finding and trapping the enemy, then smashing his forces with massive firepower." "General Westmoreland's strategy would be to wear the Vietcong down by relentless attrition." "In battle after battle Westmoreland meant to force the Vietcong to sacrifice troops and materials faster than they could ever be replaced." "The measure of success would be the amount of supplies destroyed, the number of bases knocked out and above all the body count, the number of enemy soldiers actually killed in battle." "For defense, 4 national priority areas were agreed by the Americans and the South Vietnamese." "The coastal provinces around Da Nang and Qui Nhon, and the central part of the Mekong Delta, and above all, Saigon, the capital." "These were to be first consolidated and then made springboards for large Search and Destroy operations against enemy units in base areas." "The greatest Vietcong concentrations in the whole of South Vietnam were known to lay between the capital and the Cambodian border." "Through this area ran several strategic roads and the river routes into the capital." "There were believed to be enemy bases in the Iron Triangle, War Zone C and War Zone D." "These base areas were the destination for most of the supplies and men that came down the Ho Chi Minh trail, and it was these bases that the Americans would have to attack if the Vietcong were to be finally defeated." "A key part of the American strategy was to stop the Vietcong replacing the men and supplies they lost in battle." "The "Commando Hunt" bombing campaign was hitting the North Vietnamese transport system and the staging areas for troops infiltrating down to the South." "During 1965 U.S. aircraft had flown... 55,000 individual sorties over the North." "In the South itself the Americans meant to take over most of the fighting." "The U.S. forces were better armed and trained than South Vietnamese government troops." "They were much more mobile and had the backing of enormous firepower." "Meanwhile, to the intense frustration of many South Vietnamese army commanders, government forces would deal mainly with local security." "Only elite units would take part in offensive operations." "STRATEGY – The Vietcong" "In December 1965 Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese leadership... ordered a change in the way the war in the South was to be fought." "From now on, the Vietcong would avoid pitch battles with the Americans unless the odds were clearly on their favor." "There would be more hit and run attacks and ambushes." "To counter the American buildup, Vietcong recruitment would be stepped up, and more North Vietnamese army troops would be infiltrated into South Vietnam." "The Vietnamese communists, following the example of Chinese guerrillas before them, had always given the highest priority to creating safe base areas." "They were training grounds, logistics centers and headquarters." "They also offered secure sanctuaries for times when the war might go badly." "Hiding the base areas had always been a high priority for the Vietcong." "Now, with American spotter planes everywhere... it was more vital than ever to protect them." "In remote swaps or forests there were few problems, but nearer the capital it was much more difficult." "The answer was to build enormous swarms of underground tunnels." "The biggest were in the Iron Triangle and in the Cu Chi district only 20 miles from Saigon." "In the Cu Chi base area, any facility used by the guerrillas like a conference room or training area, had almost instant access to the safety of underground." "Hidden trap doors led below past guarded chambers to long passages." "At regular intervals, branches led back to the surface and other secret entrances." "Some openings were even concealed beneath the waters of streams or canals." "At the deeper levels there were chambers carved out for arms factories, and a well for the base's water supply." "There were storerooms for weapons and rice, and there was sometimes a hospital or forward aid station." "Long communication tunnels connected the base with other distant complexes." "Base kitchens were always near the surface, with long carved out chimneys designed to diffuse cooking smoke and release it some distance away." "Near the kitchens, where the guerrillas' sleeping chambers where they could survive for weeks at a time if need be." "Everywhere at the top level there were tunnels leading back upwards to hundreds of hidden firing posts for the defense of the base." "The Base Area at Cu Chi was a vast network with 200 miles of tunnels." "There were other complexes too, big and small, ...scattered all over the country." "Each villager in an NLF area had to dig a meter of tunnel a day." "There was even a standard handbook specifying exactly how tunnels were to be built." "The orders coming from NLF headquarters were absolutely clear:" "Tunnels were not to be treated as mere shelters, they were to be fighting bases, able to provide continuous support for troops." "Even if the village was in enemy hands, the NLF beneath should still be fully capable of offensive operations." "THE OPPOSING FORCES – United States" "When Washington had decided to send American troops to fight the Vietcong,... the biggest question had been "How many would be needed to win?"" "Military planners accepted that to win a war against guerrillas, an army needed to outnumber them 10 or even 15 to 1." "But American Generals were now arguing that the Vietcong was no longer a guerrilla force but a conventional army of big units." "Because U.S. commanders were confident they were not fighting a guerrilla war, they saw no need for a 10 to 1 superiority in forces." "Against a regular army, 3 to 1 was usually considered enough." "400,000 US troops plus the South Vietnamese Army... would be just sufficient to reach that target." "The plan was to have most of the men in Vietnam by the end of 1966." "The South Vietnamese Army had divided the country into 4 tactical zones with an army corp in each." "As American forces arrived, Military Assistance Command Headquarters in Saigon assigned them to a corp's tactical zone." "By the end of 1965, the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force..." "The 1st Air Cavalry division was in II corp, along with a brigade of the 101st airborne." "The 1st infantry division and the 173rd airborne were in III Corp." "During 1966 the plan was to build up U.S. strength by 2 Marine regiments, three army divisions, an armored cavalry regiment, and two light infantry brigades." "The combat strength of allied nations were also increased to two Korean divisions and a Marine brigade, an Australian Task Force,  plus New Zealand and Philippine units." "By late December 1965, almost 150,000 U.S. troops had arrived in Vietnam." "The Air Force had over 500 aircraft at 8 bases." "The huge scale of the buildup had placed an incredible strain on facilities and installations." "There was a frenzy of building as Army and Navy engineers, along with American civilian contractors improved airfields, bases and roads." "The most ambitious construction project of all was a gigantic port and logistics base at Cameron Bay." "The whole effort was to cost 100 million dollars." "But the new facility would quickly ease the pressure on Saigon's overloaded docks." "By now American supplies arriving in Vietnam by sea were topping 300,000 tons a month and rising fast." "THE TROOPS – United States" "As the cold war had produced one world crisis after another the US armed forces had been on a war footing almost continuously for 5 years." "Budgets were generous, and all the services were superbly well equipped and trained." "Many American officers and NCO's already had combat experience in Vietnam as military advisors." "Most of the more senior personnel had fought in WWII or Korea." "But for the enlisted men, many of whom were draftees their training programs rarely prepared them for what was to come." "Even to the best trained soldiers the reality of arriving in Vietnam could come as a shock." "The climate was exhausting with extremes of heat and humidity." "The Vietnamese people and their culture were totally unfamiliar." "Many American soldiers were from U.S. cities and the lives of Southeast Asian peasants were beyond anything they knew." "But in spite of the strangeness of the world in which they had come to fight, ...at this stage morale was high amongst American troops in Vietnam." "There was confidence in the army's leadership and most units had a strong sense of camaraderie." "There was also the knowledge that a soldier's basic tour of duty was a finite 13 months and 14 days." "While thousands of Americans were getting their first look at Vietnam, the South Vietnamese army was in its sixth year of war and most of the army's 300,000 soldiers were reluctant conscripts." "Many were underfed and desertions were outstripping recruitment by 2,000 a month." "As for the officers, corruption was rife many sold their units' food and supplies." "The most senior commanders had nearly all been appointed for their political and family connections." "WEAPONS – United States" "For years, the basic infantry weapon of the American soldier had been the M-14 rifle." "It was a dependable weapon, but was unstable when fired on full automatic." "The M-14 would stay in service with some units for a long time yet... but a new weapon was starting to reach the troops in Vietnam." "The M-16 was a light, compact assault rifle made of metal alloy and plastic." "It was effective up to 400 yards and had very high rate of fire." "Although on paper the M-16 seemed to offer the infantryman everything he could wish for in a rifle, the reality was very different on the battlefield." "The M-16 was prone to jamming, a nightmare for the soldier in a firefight." "The problem was reduced by scrupulous cleaning, and later modifications would cure the problem completely." "But in the meantime, many men viewed the M-16 with deep mistrust." "In an American infantry platoon, the most valued weapon of all was the M-60 machine gun." "The M-60 could fire more than a 100 rounds a minute and had a range of 1,000 yards." "The gun was usually operated by a two man crew, but it could also be fired from the hip." "The M-60 was extremely robust and well suited to the harsh conditions of battle in Vietnam." "As well as the weapons they took with them into the field, American infantry could call on heavy fire support at any time." "Ground attack aircraft could saturate the area with high explosives or napalm, while few operations were ever mounted out of range of friendly artillery." "Unlike aircraft, guns were not affected by weather or visibility and they were extremely accurate." "The biggest American artillery pieces, the 175mm Howitzers, could destroy a target at a range of 20 miles." "By now every infantry division depended heavily on helicopters  to maneuver its forces on the battlefield and to carry supplies and heavy equipment." "For the Army the basic infantry transport helicopter was the UH-1 Huey." "The men called it 'Slick' because its frame was uncluttered by guns or rockets." "The Huey was able to carry 11 soldiers and their equipment." "For protection, each helicopter had a door gunner with an M-60." "As well as Hueys for transporting infantry and general supplies... there were Huey gunships for escort and assault." "The gunships were armed with a formidable array of rockets, machine guns and grenade launchers." "THE OPPOSING FORCES – The Vietcong" "By the end of 1965 the total strength of the NLF and North Vietnamese Army units in the South had grown into 206,000 men and women." "Of these, 36,000 were main force NVA troops, the rest were regional and local guerrillas." "The main force Vietcong units were used to launch large scale offensives over a wide area." "They were uniformed, full time soldiers." "Regional forces were also full time, but they were operated inside their own districts." "If necessary, their units could come together to make bigger formations for a large scale attack." "If enemy pressure became too great, they could break again down into smaller units and scatter." "As for the local guerrillas based in the villages, their main job was political." "...they were a constant remainder of the armed presence of the Vietcong and worked to increase local support." "They were also expected to defend nearby installations, like bunkers and tunnel complexes." "Vietcong forces were commanded by the Central Office for South Vietnam near the Cambodian border." "The NLF deployed two divisions, the 9th, with 3 regiments, and the 5th with two." "Four more regiments were independent main force units." "The NLF also controlled more than 40 local and regional battalions." "Further North, all communist operations were run by the North Vietnamese Army." "The NVA deployed 3 divisions and 9 independent regiments." "In 1965 American aircraft made tens of thousands of bombing attacks against the Ho Chi Minh supply trail and on logistics centers in North Vietnam." "In spite of their efforts, the Vietcong were getting more weapons and reinforcements from the North than ever before." "The average Vietcong unit was now better armed than at any time in the movement's history." "Although the guerrillas depended on the Ho Chi Minh trail for arms, ammunition and special equipment, 21 tons a day was enough to keep them fighting." "Their other needs were met inside South Vietnam." "To feed the troops, rice taxes were imposed on farmers and every possible local resource was used and reused, nothing was wasted." "Even the American supplies and containers left behind on the battlefield were put to some military purpose." "THE TROOPS – The Vietcong" "In the last 12 months the Vietcong had suffered terrible losses." "40,000 had been killed or captured in 1965." "Yet the casualties had little effect on Vietcong fighting strength." "Losses in the main force units were easily made up from the ranks of the local guerrillas." "The biggest problem was the high casualty rate among officers." "To replace these the Vietcong depended on trained men..." "One in ten Vietcong were now Northern and the Vietcong was increasingly run by the Northerners right down to the village level." "By this time most Vietcong main force soldiers had fought for years and were highly skilled and motivated." "Every attack was planned down to the last detail using elaborate models and endless rehearsals." "The troops were well trained in infantry tactics and night operations." "They were also masters of camouflage." "While main force troops thought of themselves as professional soldiers, ...local Vietcong were far less confident." "Mostly, the recruits were young teenagers... and while many were motivated by idealism, others had been pressured or shamed into joining." "What many had in common were real doubts about their ability to fight heavily armed and well trained American soldiers." "WEAPONS – The Vietcong" "Most main force Vietcong troops were now armed with a superb assault rifle." "The AK-47 was a Russian design copied by the Chinese." "It was comparable to the American M-16 but it had fewer moving parts." "The stock was wood, not plastic, and was far more reliable in Vietnam's testing conditions." "The AK-47 also had the advantage of a 30 round magazine,..." "The Vietcong had a range of effective Soviet and Chinese light and medium machine guns." "They also had heavy machine guns, though never enough." "The bigger weapons were especially valued for defense against American helicopters." "For destroying armored vehicles or bunkers, the Vietcong had highly effective rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifles." "Mortars were also available in large numbers, and had the advantage of being very easy to transport." "Many weapons, including booby traps and mines were homemade in the villages." "The materials ranged from scavenged tin cans to discarded wire, ...but the most important ingredients were provided by the enemy." "In a year, dud American bombs could leave more than 20,000 tons of explosive scattered around the Vietnamese countryside." "After air raids, volunteers retrieved the duds and the dangerous business of creating a new weapon began." "In 1966 locally made devices would kill more than 1,000 American soldiers." "EVE OF BATTLE" "For General Westmoreland, the close of 1965 marked the end of the defensive stage of the American war in Vietnam." "In the coming year he meant to complete his buildup, then, he would launch the full scale offensives that would lead to final victory." "The key to Westmoreland's strategy was that communist main force units... would be destroyed in set piece battles by concentrated American firepower." "Westmoreland was confident the Vietcong would stand and fight." "But there were some signs that the Vietcong might be changing their tactics." "In the last weeks of 1965, the Vietcong concentrated their attacks on poorly defended targets like isolated outposts and remote towns." "Strong South Vietnamese or American forces were making contact with big guerrilla units less and less often." "At the same time, there were more sniping incidents and ambushes." "As a result, while Vietcong's casualties went down American and South Vietnamese army losses increased dramatically." "There was even more disturbing news in store for American commanders as 1965 came to a close." "Washington's Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam was failing." "After ten months of increasingly fierce air attacks, the North showed no signs it was about to give up its support for the Vietcong." "Nor had the bombing staunched the flow of men and supplies to the guerrillas." "That meant only one thing:" "The real contest was still to come on the battlefields of South Vietnam." "Subtitling:" "DeStrangis"