Word: saigon
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Perhaps as Nixon had intended, the strikes had more impact in Saigon than in Hanoi. The tough decision to mine the harbors helped lift the gloom that had settled over President Nguyen Van Thieu and his South Vietnamese general staff in the wake of the abject ARVN collapses at Quang Tri and in most of the Central Highlands. The disasters had frozen Saigon into a paralytic numbness-the sort of debilitating shock that can quickly translate into a sudden and mortal collapse of morale. In order to boost the sagging spirits of the capital, ARVN set up a display...
...ARVN pull itself together? Saigon's 492,000-man regular army is suffering from more than battered morale. There are fewer than 150,000 Communist soldiers committed to the invasion; nonetheless they have not only tied up all of ARVN'S reserve strength but have also knocked out an ever-growing list of South Vietnamese units-one full infantry division, a third of another division, five infantry regiments, six armored regiments, three artillery battalions, nine ranger battalions, two airborne brigades and three battalions of marines, Saigon's best troops. The South Vietnamese have admitted to heavy casualties...
...pure Giap-methodically prepared, lavish with firepower, and at an unexpected point. The U.S. and South Vietnamese commands had been awaiting attacks on Kontum or Hué. Instead, Giap once more drove on An Loc, the shell-torn rubber town near the Cambodian border, 60 miles north of Saigon. As usual, Giap's troops fought an almost medieval war of siege and attrition. North Vietnamese artillerymen rained some 7,000 shells and rockets on the ruined city during a 15-hour barrage -a rate of one round every eight seconds. The U.S. Air Force responded in kind by laying...
...units are receiving replacement troops right on the battlefield. At times, Giap's commanders have let 3,000-man regiments fight down to 400 or 500 men before pulling them back to refit. Giap, moreover, has been uncharacteristically reckless in his use of tanks. A U.S. officer in Saigon who saw tank duty in World War II says: "I never saw the Germans or ourselves expend armor at a rate comparable to the North Vietnamese. Last week they moved 25 tanks east of Quang Tri in broad daylight. All of them were destroyed or damaged. That's kind...
Sarcasm. One paper that switched stands was the Denver Post. Noting that "we have consistently supported President Nixon's efforts to wind down the war and bring home American troops," the Post concluded that "it is not worth risking a wider war in order to save Saigon. The President has gone too far, and we hope he can find a way back." The Boston Globe resorted to sarcasm: "We hope that as the crisis develops and we approach the brink of disaster, those on the other side will show as much feeling for basic humanity as the Administration...