Apr. 25, 1962 - Vietnamese Rangers and the Civil Guard, with help from U.S. Marines, dealt a major blow today to Communist insurgents in the heart of the Mekong Delta country. Routed in heavy fighting, a Communist battalion lost 87 killed and 3 captured. Government forces suffered six dead and six wounded. Marine helicopters shuttled four Ranger companies and one company of the Civil Guard to battlefield positions that nearly checkmated the bewildered guerrillas. Whenever Government forces meet outstanding success, they round up reporters and foreign observers and fly them to the battle scene to view enemy bodies. So today, on a field just outside the hamlet of Truong Hoa, there were 26 bodies lying in two rows in the hot sun. Also exhibited were three stacks of captured weapons, mostly old French rifles with a few new American M-1 rifles, a Browning automatic rifle, and four submachine guns.
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