Menu
On April 18, 1968, A Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division was conducting combat operations Binh Duong Province, RVN, when they located a Viet Cong (VC) base camp eleven miles east of Ben Cat. The contact precipitated a savage three-hour battle during which the Communists hurled tear gas grenades at the U.S. troops. As A Troop attacked, the VC fired seven rocket-propelled grenades. An armored vehicle hit by one of the projectiles was undamaged. The Americans drove the large enemy force from bunkers and trench lines who fired small arms and automatic weapons and used tear gas six times throughout the attack. A Troop poured heavy tank fire into the base camp as they advanced, causing the enemy to break contact and run in the late afternoon. The U.S. forces moved into the base camp and located forty-one enemy dead. As they worked their way through the camp searching for small arms and ammunition, they killed another sixteen VC with grenades and tank fire as they blew up the numerous spider holes and bunkers in the base complex. Two cavalrymen were killed during the engagement, SP5 Thomas J. Lawson and SSG Frederick D. Wescott; three others were wounded. During the fighting, some VC were observed wearing dark shirts while others wore white shirts. It was noted that the uniforms were uncharacteristic of their “usual motley array.”
-Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “GIs Clash Twice With Reds, Kill 114 North of Saigon.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, April 21, 1968
