Apr. 18, 1963 - In one of the boldest strokes of their long campaign of subversion in South Vietnam, Communist Viet Cong guerrillas (pictured) invaded the coastal city of Quang Ngai and advanced to the edge of a U.S. military adviser’s compound, American military sources said today. They asserted the surprise raid was coordinated with assaults on 12 surrounding strategic hamlets, set up with U.S. financial backing to protect the Vietnamese from the Viet Cong. The U.S. compound in Quang Ngai, 250 miles northeast of Saigon, was threatened by the guerrillas for two days before the attackers were driven off by South Vietnamese troops. Nineteen government soldiers were reported killed, and Communist losses were said to be about 130 killed. The South Vietnamese are building strategic hamlets in Quang Ngai. About a quarter of 400 planned are already built. The Communist attacks appeared aimed at intimidating the locals doing the building.
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