Wednesday, May 30, 1972
The South's Heroic Defense Of An Loc
by Joseph Alsop
If American units had been defending the wretched little town of An Loc, the whole country would now be glowing with pride. Or at least those Americans whould be glowing with pride who still admire grim courage for national ends; for the South Vietnamese defense of An Loc has been genuinely heroic.The story of An Loc's defense also illustrates the misleading incompleteness of the story of Hanoi's climactic offensive in South Vietnam, as that story is now being told in this country. So it is probably just as well to begin at the beginning, which was COSVN's reason for ordering An Loc to be taken "at all costs."The reason was the successful elimination of the native Viet Cong by the pacification program. In the old days, the Viet Cong would have been used to "prepare the battlefield" by building up all kinds of supply, providing guides and supporting units and so on and on. In the old days, therefore, the crucial battle on the approaches to Saigon whould have taken place much further forward. But now, there are almost no Viet Cong.Hence An Loc was chosen as the enemy's main target because it is at the back of beyond -a "province capital" with a population of 7,000, in a province that is almost empty of people. A road concealed under the jungle canopy also connects it with the Cambodian border, so an attack there could be supplied by truck.The siege of An Loc began on April 7, with a ferocious artillery barrage followed by a tank-led infantry assault. At that time, the town was held by two regiments of one of ARVN's less admired divisions, the 5th, commanded by Gen. Le Van Hung.The first assault came close to penetrating the provincial headquarters, and actually reached the fringes of the ARVN's 5th Division command post. But for want of anything better, the ARVN troops (who included some very brave regional force companies) killed the tanks at almost point-blank range with their bazookalike mighty antitank weapons. What remained of the enemy was then thrown out of town.About 10 days later, this reporter flew over An Loc with the chief American officer in the area, the brave and picturesque Maj. Gen. James Hollingsworth. You could hear the coolly professional talk of the senior American adviser on the ground, Col. William Miller. But you could not see An Loc itself because of the never-lifting smoke of battle. By then, a brigade of South Vietnamese airborne troops had been lifted in to help the regiments of the 5th Division. All the same, Gen. Hollingsworth said:"They're taking real hell in there. I can't tell you whether they can hold."The An Loc perimeter was repeatedly penetrated. The tanks came into town again and again, only to be destroyed where they were. The American news agencies announced the fall of An Loc at least five times. But An Loc did not fall. Instead, by April 26th, Hanoi's once awe-inspiring 9th Division had just about expended itself. The division commander was then allowed to pull his men out after a stinging reprimand from COSVN.Hanoi's 5th Division thereupon moved up. The 5th's commander had boastfully promised to take An Loc in three day's time. He tried hard between May 10 and May 15. After that the 5th North Vietnamese Division had also been expanded. It, too, had to be pulled back.That leaves only one point to cover. The miserable little unfortified town has an area of perhaps three square kilometers. Even when there was no ground assaults, the enemy artillery continued -each day never less than 1,000 rounds; in normal times, generally about 2,000 rounds; and when an assault was coming 7 to 8,000 rounds.All this time, too, there was no medical evacuation from An Loc. Yet when this reporter was on the scene, there were already 1,000 wounded. So was this really "pitiful" and "craven," to quote one U.S. reporter on the subject of ARVN? And how many U.S. units would have held on as well as the South Vietnamese at An Loc?"The South's Heroic Defense of An Loc", by Joseph Alsop, published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Tuesday, May 30, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.