May 3, 1962 - United States Army and Marine helicopters carried South Vietnamese troops today to the edge of Plaine des Jones, a marshy jungle of six-foot reeds in the Mekong River delta. Despite a torrential downpour that left the marshlands waist-deep in water, the Vietnamese forces captured 78 suspected Communist guerrillas and killed 10 others in one of the most successful joint operations involving U.S. helicopter support. The operation was observed by Col. Frank Butner Clay, senior American advisor to the South Vietnamese Seventh Regiment. He is the son of Gen. Lucius D. Clay, who is stepping down as President Kennedy’s special representative in Berlin.
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