1966 battle of the Vietnam War
Operation Masher, also known as Operation White Wing, (24 January—6 March 1966) was the largest search and destroy mission that had been carried out in the Vietnam War up until that time. It was a combined mission of the United States Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and Republic of Korea Army (ROK) in Bình Định Province on the central coast of South Vietnam. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 3rd Division, made up of two regiments of North Vietnamese regulars and one regiment of main force Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas, controlled much of the land and many of the people of Bình Định Province, which had a total population of about 800,000. A CIA report in 1965 said that Binh Dinh was "just about lost" to the communists.
The name "Operation Masher" was changed to "Operation White Wing", because President Lyndon Johnson wanted the name changed to one that sounded more benign. Adjacent to the operational area of Masher/White Wing in Quang Ngai province the U.S. and South Vietnamese Marine Corps carried out a complementary mission called Operation Double Eagle.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was the principal U.S. ground force involved in Operation Masher and that operation was marked as a success by its commanders. Claims are made that the PAVN 3rd Division had been dealt a hard blow, but intelligence reports indicated that a week after the withdrawal of the 1st Cavalry PAVN soldiers were returning to take control of the area where Operation Masher had taken place. Most of the PAVN/VC had slipped away prior to or during the operation, and discrepancy between weapons recovered and body count led to criticisms of the operation.
Allegations that there were a reported six civilian casualties for every reported PAVN/VC casualty during the Fulbright Hearings prompted growing criticism of US conduct of the war and contributed to greater public dissension at home. During Operation Masher, the ROK Capital Division were alleged to have committed the Bình An/Tây Vinh massacre between 12 February and 17 March 1966, in which over 1,000 civilians were allegedly killed. The operation would create almost 125,000 homeless people in this province, and the PAVN/VC forces would reappear just months after the US had conducted the operation.
Background.
Bình Định Province was a traditional communist and VC stronghold. Binh Dinh consisted of a narrow, heavily cultivated coastal plain with river valleys separated by ridges and low mountains reaching into the interior. The main effort of the campaign in Binh Dinh would come on the Bồng Sơn Plain and in the mountains and valleys that bordered it. The plain, a narrow strip of land starting just north of the town of Bồng Sơn, ran northward along the coast into I Corps. Rarely more than 25 km wide, it consisted of a series of small deltas, which often backed into gently rolling terraces some 30-90m in height, and, at irregular intervals, of a number of mountainous spurs from the highlands. These spurs created narrow river valleys with steep ridges that frequently provided hideouts for PAVN/VC units or housed PAVN/VC command, control and logistical centers. The plain itself was bisected by the east-west Lai Giang River, which was in turn fed by two others, the An Lao, flowing from the northwest and the Kim Son, flowing from the southwest. These two rivers formed isolated but fertile valleys west of the coastal plain. The climate in the region was governed by the northeast monsoon. The heaviest rains had usually ended by December, but a light steady drizzle, which the French had called crachin weather and occasional torrential downpours could be expected to occur through March. These weather systems would at times limit the availability of air support.
The vital artery of Highway 1 ran north and south ran through Binh Dinh. The area of Operation Masher was about north to south and reached a maximum of inland from the South China Sea. The U.S. Marine's Operation Double Eagle extended northward from Masher and the ROK's Operation Flying Tiger extended southward. South Vietnamese forces participated in all three operations.
The First Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was selected by U.S. Commander William Westmoreland to carry out the operation. The 1st Cavalry had borne the brunt of the combat during the Siege of Plei Me and the Battle of Ia Drang in October and November 1965, and some battalions of the 1st Cavalry had sustained heavy casualties. More than 5,000 soldiers in the division were recent arrivals in Vietnam with little combat experience. The South Vietnamese 22nd Division stationed in Binh Dinh had also suffered heavy casualties in recent fighting and was on the defensive.
The opposition to the American and South Vietnamese units participating in Operation Masher/White Wing was the PAVN 3rd Division consisting of approximately 6,000 soldiers in two regiments of PAVN regulars who had a recently infiltrated into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail and one regiment of VC guerrillas who had been fighting the South Vietnamese government since 1962. The majority of the population of Binh Dinh was believed to be supportive of the VC.
The plan of Operation Masher was for the U.S., South Vietnamese and ROK soldiers to sweep north and for the U.S. and South Vietnamese marines to sweep south catching and killing the PAVN/VC forces between the allied forces. Orders for the U.S. forces in Operation Masher were to "locate and destroy VC/NVA units; enhance the security of GVN [Government of South Vietnam] installations in [provincial capital] Bồng Sơn, and to lay the groundwork for restoration of GVN control of the population and rich coastal plain area." The primary metric for judging the success of the operation would be the body count of PAVN/VC soldiers killed.
Preparations.
The 1st Cavalry Division broke the campaign into two parts. During the first, primarily a preparation and deception operation, a brigade-size task force would establish a temporary command and forward supply base at Phu Cat on Highway 1 south of the area of operations, secure the highway somewhat northward, and start patrolling around Phu Cat to convey the impression that the true target area was well away from the plain. During the second, division elements would move to Bồng Sơn itself and launch a series of airmobile hammer-and-anvil operations around the plain and the adjacent valleys to flush the PAVN/VC toward strong blocking positions. General Harry Kinnard assigned the mission to Colonel Hal Moore's 3rd Brigade, but if need be, he was ready to add a second brigade to the operation to intensify the pressure and pursuit.
On the morning of 25 January the men of the 3rd Brigade at Camp Radcliff began their move to staging areas in eastern Binh Dinh. Two battalions, Lieutenant colonel Raymond L. Kampe's 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment and Lt. Col. Rutland D. Beard's 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment went by road and air to Phu Cat, joined South Koreans in securing the airfield and support base, and carried out wide-ranging search and destroy actions nearby that met only light resistance. Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Robert McDade's 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, with about 80 percent of its authorized strength and thus still not fully reconstituted after the fight at LZ Albany, boarded a dozen C-123s at the airstrip for the short ride into Bồng Sơn. One of the C-123s crashed into mountains near An Khe, killing all four crewmen and 42 passengers on board. The rest of the battalion deployed without incident and then helicoptered north to Landing Zone Dog, where engineers started building an airstrip and digging in artillery.
On paper, the hammer-and-anvil attack plan was not complicated. After 3rd Brigade elements secured mountain positions west of the Bồng Sơn and set up Firebases Brass and Steel, covering the northern and southern parts of the search area, 2/7th Cavalry would push north from LZ Dog and 2/12th Cavalry, also staging from LZ Dog, would work its way south from the opposite end of the target zone. Meanwhile, with the South Vietnamese Airborne Brigade acting as an eastern blocking force along Highway 1, 1/7th Cavalry would air-assault onto the high ground to the west and push east towards 2/7th Cavalry and 2/12th Cavalry. If PAVN/VC units were in the area, the 3rd Brigade would bring them to battle or destroy them as they fled.
The operation.
Phase One: Bồng Sơn.
Operation Masher began officially on the morning of 28 January 1966. Low clouds, wind and heavy rain prevented the movement of artillery to Firebase Brass. Lacking supporting fire, Moore cancelled the 2/12th Cavalry's mission. In the meantime, PAVN/VC fire downed a CH-47 helicopter at Landing Zone Papa north of Bồng Sơn and Kampe responded by sending a 1/7th Cavalry company to secure
the crash site. When it too came under fire, he set aside his original mission, the attack east from the mountains and moved his two other companies to LZ Papa. By the time they arrived, however, the PAVN/VC had withdrawn. Kampe's units spent the night at the landing zone. McDade went ahead with the mission, directing his men to begin scouring the hamlets that started about 2 km north of LZ Dog and extended 4 km further up the plain. Company A, 2/7th Cavalry understrength at two rifle platoons because of the crash three days earlier, entered the area at Landing Zone 2 and pushed north through rice paddies. Company B flew to Firebase Steel to secure it for an artillery battery.
Company C deployed by helicopter to the northern edge of the target in order to sweep to the southwest. The sandy plain where it set down, Landing Zone 4, () seemed safe, a relatively open tract in the hamlet of Phung Du 2 with a graveyard in its midst and tall palm trees on three sides. Company C omitted the artillery preparation that normally preceded a landing due to the proximity of the village. The first helicopter lift landed at LZ 4 at 08:25, with no PAVN/VC reaction. When the second lift came ten minutes later however, the PAVN 7th Battalion, 22nd Regiment, entrenched in earthworks, palm groves and bamboo thickets throughout the hamlet, poured mortar and machine gun fire into the landing zone. Company C commander, Captain Fesmire waved the second flight away, expecting the troops to be dropped at an alternative landing zone a few hundred meters to the southwest. Instead, they ended up at four nearby but scattered locations. Returning ten minutes later with a third lift, the helicopters unloaded the men at a fifth site. By 08:45 Company C was on the ground, but the unit was so fragmented and enemy fire so intense that the various parts found maneuver difficult and effective communication with one another impossible. Meanwhile, heavy rain impeded the provision of adequate air support, and the men were so dispersed that artillery was of little use. American casualties soon littered the hamlet ground.
McDade ordered Company A to reinforce Company C but when they reached the southern edge of the landing zone, they also came under fire. Although the men formed a perimeter near a paddy dike, they were soon pinned down and never reached Company C. Early in the afternoon McDade joined Company A, but to no effect. Finally, six helicopters carrying reinforcements from Company B reached LZ 4. But the effort generated so much PAVN fire that all six were hit and two were driven off. Only the command group and part of one platoon were able to land and they quickly found themselves in a cross fire. Under heavy rain McDade managed to locate the fragmented Company C and succeeded in bringing in artillery support. Meanwhile, the darkness and poor weather gave Fesmire the cover he needed to pull Company C together. As he prepared to settle in for the night, he received orders from McDade to move south, closer to the rest of the battalion. Under heavy fire, he completed the linkup at 04:30 (). Along with 20 wounded, his men carried with them the bodies of eight killed.
After dawn on 29 January the low overcast lifted, and fighter-bombers pounded the area to McDade's north, detonating PAVN ammunition and causing large fires. Soon after, McDade's companies, reinforced by 2/12th Cavalry, swept north to eliminate the last PAVN from the hamlet. But the clearing operation took another day, and was completed only when elements of 1/7th Cavalry joined the sweep