Nov. 24, 1963 - Communist Viet Cong guerrillas slipped past South Vietnamese Government defenses at a training camp west of Saigon today without firing a shot and then overran it. Thirty-seven Government soldiers were killed, 26 were wounded, and 3 were reported missing. One U.S. Special Forces officer at the camp was critically wounded, and four were missing. This was the first time a Special Forces camp, at which Americans are training Vietnamese strike forces, has been completely overrun since the U.S. began a military buildup two years ago to help South Vietnam fight the Communists. About 250 well-armed guerrillas were inside the camp’s compound before the first shot was fired. A Communist entered one barracks where 30 members of the strike force slept and killed 24 soldiers with a long burst of machine-gun fire. In a diversionary attack near the camp, the Communists kept 200 Government troops from moving to the rescue of the Special Forces camp.
Comments