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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-06588 to 363-06601.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-06588 to 363-06601
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Title
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Article about American pacification in rural South Vietnam
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Description
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Original title: "corps", Keever's title: "Communists Suffer Heavy Losses Around Saigon, Hurt Pacification Program", Article draft about Communist casualties in their push for Saigon and the effect of the Tet Offensive on the U.S.'s rural pacification program, for the Christian Science Monitor
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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2020 sag
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corps 1 (normass/deepe)
BIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM-The American-supported program
to pacify the rural villages on the outer perimeter of Saigon has been
set back "a minimum of six months" by the Communist blitz into the cities,
reliable sources here report.
These sources,
who are optimistic about the net results
of the Allied victory over the Communists, have made this assessment
in the eleven provinces around Saigon These provinces, form the tactical
area called the Vietnamese Third Military Corps, which maintains
its headquarters here twenty miles from the capital city.
The optimism here is based on the official report that onex nine
thousand two hundred and two Viet Cong have been killed in the eleve-p
eleven-province reion region during and following the Communist urbi urbanized
blitz. Officials report, five hundred fifty seven captured by all Allied forces
in the Third Corps area. About half of the killed and captured were done by
Amie Ae American forces, the other half by Vietnamese forces, official report.
American losses were oneh hundred twenty two killed and one thousand two hundred
ninety eight wounded; Vietnamese a military casulatie casualties for the area
were not reported.
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2020 986
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corps 2 (normass/deepe)
These eleven provinces are: Bien Hoa, Bình Lon Tuong, Binh
Long, Binh Tuy, Ba Gia Dinh,
Hai Nghia, Long An, Long Khanh, Phuộc
autonomous
Long, Phuoc Tuy and Tayninh.
Tau is also included under the Third Military Corps.
The independent seaoost town of Vung
of the four military corps areas in Vietnam, the Vietnamese
Third Corps "cam off better than the other a three, with the least
serious impact and comparatively less loss of government function,"
one source said.
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2020 sag
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corps 3 (normass/deepe)
Hence, the assessment of a six-month setback in
Tactical Zone
Third Corps would not be considered typical for the other three military
areas which suffered more prolong fig prolonged fightin and heavier
destruction,
No detailed country-wide assessment is yet availabld
available in Saigon at the central government level.
The reports
of the impact on the pacification program, number of revolutionary
development cadre teams hit and number of cadre killed has yet to
be kilit tabulated for the whole country.
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zozo sag
Jy 1jp
corps 4 (normass/deepe).
The best general countrywide assessment seemed to be
expressed by one informed Vietnamese ex source, when he said: "The
whole pacification program has been blown skyhigh. The Revolutionary
Development cadre will have to be shifted for emergency relief work
in the cities, rather than for construction in the cities. The whole
R. D. (or pacification) effort whit will probably be shifted into the
urban centers--and I think that is just want the Viet Cong wants us to
do. Then they will control the countryside totally."
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2020 086
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corps 4 (normass/deepe)
areas
At the central government, a crisis-decision is pending
reportedly pending, but not yet finalized on whether to keep the
R. D. cadre teams in the countryside-in some cases the suburban ares
surrounding the cities--or whether to utilise them for construction
of devastated provincial headquarters, police posts, civilian housing and
distribution of relief suffpie supplies for the thousands of homeless.
And, if the Rovelo Revolutionary Development teams are not used in the
urban centers, the Vietnamese government faces a crucial task of organizing
some other apparatus which can take over these functions countrywide, in the
face of an already shrinking a manpower am base in the society.
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corps 6 (normass/deepe)
In the Third Corps area alone, these significant
trends, on the balance optomistio trends ones for the Allied side,
have been established by highly informed sources:
1.
offxhhexfie
The pacification program was not af direct target
xam coordinated with the
the cities beginning Jan. 31 in the Saigon area.
ommunist blitz into
Only Tour
Only four revolutionary development cadre wore killed in
the eleven provinces of third corps during the week-long period
of the Communist urban thrusts. A total of three thousand six hundred
revolutionary development oadre are assigned to the Third Corps area,
but official sources report it is unknown at this time how many were
actually on n duty during this period dovetailing with the
Vietnamese lunar new year celebrations.
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corps 7 (normass/deepe)
"While the Communists were hitting ever pity they could find,
the peasants and government outposts were having the most peaceful week
one observer explained.
of the war,"
Or as another informed working in at the Third Corps
level explained:
"I've been surprised there was no anti-R. D. drive to
accompany the Communist offensive into the cities. But, our R. D.
teams and small military outposts have fared better than normal,
with the exception of Tayninh and Phou Phuoc Long provinces.
in Tminh, we had to move seven out of eleven of our R. D. teams
out of their assigned villages because we'd have had no troops to
And Phuoo Long, we haven't moved
reinforce them if they were hit.
the R. D. teams, which mostly protect the Montagnard hamlets surrounding
A number of these Montagnard
thepr provincial capital of Seon Song Be.
hamlets were attacked as part of the Viet Cong strategy to force these
tribesmen to leaveth the lowland oities and return to the highland jungles
north of here."
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vy 1jp
corps 8 (normass/deepe)
2. The sahankan six-month advůr adverse impact for the
Allies on the pacification program hasa zic come as an indirect
splashback from the Communist offensive in the cities, even if the
R. De teams are not shifted from the rural area.
Tactical Zone
"The pacification program in Third Corps has been set back
thxmamm xmimambara a minimum of six months," one highly informed source
explained. "Because in the process of responding to the attacks in
the urban centers, we had to withdraw the Revolutionary Development
teams' because our elements to reinforce them were fighting in Saigon.
In addition, alot of the customary resources used by the R. D. teams
were be diverted to rebuild the towns-buch as cement and ranting tin
roofing. We will be set back by the reconstruction j in the cities,
not simply by the diversion of commodities, but also the attention
and workloads of the Vietnamese government officials will be focused on the
cities."
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zcze sag
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corps 9 (normass/deepe)
There are ninety Revolutionary Development teams operating
Bach team is authorized 59 men, which are
in the Third Corps area.
detailed for centoment
evo econonomio or social
development of a village, such as construction of schools, dispensaries
or else taking a census and polling the grievanbds
or marketplaces,
grievances of the villagers.
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corps 10 (normass/deepe)
However, many of the R. D1 D.
teams are known to be
understrength,
some of them as low as 35 men in the Third Corps
area, and officials ",
"
guess" a rough average would-be-40 men per
team.
3. The Vietnamese government provincial administration
and fighting forces held together and pre performed well during the
grave period.
Official sources said that in the eleven provinces, of
Third Corps,
no repeat no proin provincial chief was killed. The
chief of Phuoc Tuy province was 2 so lightly wounded not even bandg
bandages were required.
of the 5453 districts, in Third Corps, a subdio
subdivision of a province,
one district chief was killed in
Bien Hoa province and one district chief was wounded. The original
fear on the Allied side was that if the central government and command
headquarters were assaulted in Saigon, the lower echelon ink at the
district and province level would suffer even worse.
the Third Corps area--this has not proved true of the
of the government's administration.
At least in
*
skeleton
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corps 11 (normass/deepe)
No breakdown is yet available at the corps level on how
many members of the provincial staffs might have been killed, such
as chiefs of the agricultural programs or schools, nor is there yet any
miatem accounting on how meh many members of the family of
provincial administrators or Vietnamese army officers XXX were specifically
and deliberately sing assassinated by Viet Cong squads.
where Viet Cong units
In the Cholon area of Saigon,
have held large sections of the population under their control, fai
families or Vietnamese officers or governentno government civilian officers.
were p specially soleog selected targets for Viet Cong reprisals. I A
fr few cases have been reported of beheadings of Vietnamese officers
by special Viet Cong teams, highly reliable sourcex sources report. And
mangim in Saigon, maids and helpers working at the giant
U. S. Army Long Binh Post between Saigon and Bien Hoa have had their
hands ohopped off, reliable sources report, as a reprisal "for working
for the Americans."
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2020 sag
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corps 12 (normass/deepe)
the
capitals.
In contrast to the other three corps areas, Third Corps
had the least oritical situation in any of its eleven provincialitie
The tightest, most critical on was Baria, the capital of
Phuoo Fury Tuy, in which portions of the town were evacuated by
the Vietnamese government, but several strongpoints were left behind.
In one strongpoint, thirteen American Navy Seabees and civilians for
in one area held off the Viet Cong. of the 54 53 distriot capitals,
none were overrun by the Viet Cong.
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Jy 1jp
corps 13 (normass/deepe)
Of the eleven procin provincial cp capitals in the corps
area, four were not assaulted or attacked by the Viet Cong.
These were the border provinces of Tayninh, Binh Long, Phuoc Long
and Binh Tuy, which reflects the movement of Viet Cong troops
from the peripheral border regions to the populated areas.
tonomous
independent city of Vung Tau also was not attacked.
The
@fxthe remaining seven provincial capitals were attacked
in varying degrees, with the most serious situation for the
eee D
government occuring in h Baria.
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zczc sag
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corps
1 (no mass/deepe)
In addition,
American officials and officers are high in their
prise of the performance of the Vietnamese regional army, provincials
Detached diplomatec diplomatic sources are
forces and the Police.
ao also impressed with the performance of the police, based on fragmentary
the
and initial reports fill fiftin filtering into Saigon. In third corps
The Vietnamese provincial forces, called regional and popular forces,
accounted for thirty per cent of the four thousand one hundred sixty
five Viet Cong the official sources announced that they killed
in the first week of the Communist general offensive.
Zone
on the
The Vietnamese Third corps headquarters and the Bien Hoa airbase
were also special Viet Cong targets and considerable distr di destruction
of civilian property and civilian casualties from fighting around these
resulted. Specific details were not available at the corps level,
total number of civilians killed in the action, but preliminary reports
indicated one hundred fifty eight have already been recorded in the government
hospitals alone.
-more reuter
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Date
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1968, Feb.
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Mặt trận dân tộc giải phóng miền nam Việt Nam; Tet Offensive, 1968; War casualties; United States. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
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Location
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Biên Hòa, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.9574; 106.8427
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B9, F16
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
