Thursday, May 25, 1972
Little Tan Khai Joins List Of Bloody Landmarks
by Allen Schaefer
LAI KHE, Vietnam --Nondescript villages, many no larger than a few thatched huts, throughout the history of this war have become landmarks in battles for some larger territory.Tan Khai, five miles south of the provincial capital of An Loc, has been added to the list.After three weeks of bloody and close-in fighting the 21st ARVN Div. pushed through a three-mile roadblock 18 miles north of Lai Khe on Highway 13 that the North Vietnamese defended fiercely.At the same time, units were airlifted into Tan Khai and met little resistance as they established the forwardmost offensive position against the Communist.Today Tan Khai is a stepping stone for the South Vietnamese to free An Loc.From the small village astride the highway, ARVN troops have set up an artillery fire base which is able to pound enemy troop concentrations to the east and west of An Loc.Reacting to the shelling, the NVA have had to redirect some of their barrages away from the embattled city."There's no doubt that the NVA badly want Tan Khai back," said the senior American adviser to the 21st Div. "It represents a real threat to their offensive against An Loc."The NVA want the town, which has a scattering of about 20 houses, so much that they have been launching daylight attacks through open fields in hope of wresting it from the South Vietnamese, the adviser said.Every foray was turned back by tactical air strikes and ground troops. Reports said that Red units broke ranks and ran after the initial strikes, and indication that they may be fresh replacements for forces that have stormed An Loc at bay for more than a month.In a night assault Sunday, four companies of NVA rushed Tan Khai in line formation on each side of the town, but were massacred by air strikes and AC130 Spectre gunship sorties. The adviser said there are an estimated 300 NVA bodies scattered outside the village.Military sources here said South Vietnamese casualties have not been evacuated from Tan Khai for four days, but that resupply problems have been overcome.Although the battle to open Highway 13 from Lai Khe to An Loc gained momentum in the last week, 21st Div. forces still must contend with Red troop concentrations blocking the road nine miles south of An Loc and between Tan Khai and the city.By air An Loc Tuesday looked calm. Its northern sector, leveled by air strikes, was a splotch of brown earth contrasted against surrounding rubber plantations and open fields.A37 Dragonflys arched in low dives against NVA positions south of the city, leaving mushrooming clouds of thick, black smoke.Highway 13 between Chon Thanh and An Loc is pitted by craters from numerous bombing missions. Scars of B52 arc light drops mar the skin of the countryside on both sides of the road.The adviser said strikes in the last week have met with the greatest success since the offensive began in the region. Targets have been well-confirmed and almost every bomb dropped has been directed on NVA concentrations in the open, he said.In addition planes Monday knocked out 11 Communist tanks near the provincial capital. Some of that armor, according to the adviser, was attempting to push from the north against Tan Khai.Sources here reported that ARVN troops in An Loc are gradually enlarging their defensive perimeter in house-to-house fighting."Little Tan Khai Joins List of Bloody Landmarks", by Allen Schaefer, published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Thursday, May 25, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.