Word: saigon
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...years ago, five U.S. soldiers were killed and twelve wounded during a Communist commando attack on Phuoc Binh, the capital of Phuoc Long province. That marked the Viet Cong's first offensive against the picturesque hill town of about 25,000 people located 75 miles north of Saigon on a bend of the Song Be River. Last week, after a violent six-day siege of the city, the Communists finally captured Phuoc Binh. During the drive they also took a key crossroads and two airstrips, as well as every village and town in Phuoc Long province (see map). Though...
...Saigon was unable to provide much help for the 2,500 to 3,000 troops trapped in the besieged city. Because of heavy clouds, South Vietnamese air force planes at first failed to get off preliminary air strikes. Once Saigon did get some A-37 fighter planes into action, the pilots refused to fly below 12,000 ft. out of respect for the Communists' imposing antiaircraft arsenal. That, in turn, made it impossible for government helicopters carrying reinforcements to land within the city. In the end, the South Vietnamese were only able to put two Ranger companies totaling about...
Ominous Change. Though Phuoc Binh itself is of little strategic importance to Saigon, the ease with which the Communists overran Phuoc Long province was a major psychological defeat. "Its fall showed that the central government in Saigon is quite weak," conceded one State Department analyst. "A year ago it would have gone in to defend or recover the place." Equally important, the offensive against Phuoc Long was an indication of an ominous change in the Communists' overall strategy in South Viet Nam. Since the Paris Accords, the Communists have concentrated on building up their hold on rural areas...
...more important provincial capital, Tay Ninh (pop. 250,000). If the Communists can hold the mountain, they will be in a strong position to launch a Phuoc Binh-style artillery barrage on the city, thus making it the next target in the Communist effort to further weaken the Saigon government...
...supposed to have been a cease-fire for Indochina.* In 1974, fighting in South Viet Nam took 75,000 lives on both sides, making it one of the bloodiest years in the war's long history; 1975 will probably be worse. Although a general offensive is not expected, Saigon fears that because the Communist forces are stronger than ever, they will continue their "choking strategy" aimed at Hue and Danang in the North, the Central Highlands city of Kontum, Tay Ninh near the Cambodian border, the area around Saigon, and the heavily populated and agriculturally rich Mekong Delta. Saigon...