Article about the 5th Special Forces Group headquarters

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derivative filename/jpeg

363-05957 to 363-05963.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-05957 to 363-05963

Title

Article about the 5th Special Forces Group headquarters

Description

Original title: "THE SHRINKING BLUE SPOTS", Keever's title: "'This Special Forces camp and Vietnamese district headquarters is the only government control within 30 miles of Hue,' U.S. adviser confides", article about the Headquarters of the 5th Special Forces Group - the command headquarters for the 1,350 American "advisors", article five of six-article series

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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.

Transcript

deepe all-around--article five of six-article series (article slugged 2½ wars becomes sixth article). page 1 july 21, 1965 THE SHRINKING BLUE SPOTS (Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, during his visit to Vietnam last week, was given a closed-door briefing at the headquarters of the 5th Special Forces Group--the command headquarters for the 1350 American “advisors” in 70 different camps in Viet Nam. While McNamara was being briefed on one side of the closed-door, an American sergeant [deletion: posed] explained a [XXXX indicating deletion] pivotal problem of the guerrilla-subversive war. “We know that a certain percentage of the Vietnamese irregulars trained by Special Forces are Communists, the sergeant explained. “One American was killed by one of the civilian irregulars he had trained. In one of our camps in the Delta region, four Communist subversives were caught [deletion: in one place] in one day. We know that more people are subversives but nobody looks at it this way. It’s our job to fight the enemy in the front--not to worry about whether we will be shot from the rear.” Meanwhile on the other side of the [deletion: plywood door] biege door, McNamara was briefed by an American sergeant based at the camp called Phu Tuc, where, the Secretary of Defense was told, [insertion: the ten-man] American Special Forces team and their Vietnamese counterparts receive Communist gunfire only 2000 meters from the barbed-wire [deletion: fenceline] defense perimeter. This is a report on Phu Tuc:) DEEPE ALL-AROUND--ARTICLE FIVE OF SIX ARTICLE SERIES PAGE TWO JULY 21, 1965 PHU TUC, SOUTH VIETNAM--As the American helicopter [deletion: flutt] hovered over this Special Forces camp tucked between the government’s district headquarters and a burn an old charred French fort, a high-ranking American advisor explained, “This [XXXX indicating deletion] is a blue spot on our maps; [deletion: [illegible]] enough blue spots make a nation. These are the areas [deletion: that] secured by Vietnamese troops, district officials and tribal units. These are the areas that keep Vietnam going.” But the blue spots are clearly shrinking in [deletion: size] influence and in number. “This special Forces camp and Vietnamese government district headquarters is the only government control within thirty miles of here,” the American advisor explained. “All the rest is jungle; the Communists can hid a division [deletion: in that jungle] there--yet the people in the Pentagon wonder why we can’t find them.” (More) deepe all-around--article five of six-article series page 3 The jungle--some of the densest in the world--bordering Laos and Cambodia, which is also considered a major hidden sanctuary for Communist troops, was a death-trap for crack French units with Korean battlefield experience little more than a decade ago. American combat troops are expected to be sent to these highland areas in the coming months to [XXXX indicating deletion] counter the infiltration of North Vietnamese army units, at one extreme of the spectrum, and local Southern-born guerrilla units at the other end. The helicopter landed between the two barbed wire fences which formed the inner and outer perimeters of the defense for this camp of no-exit. [deletion: Every] The road through the valley guarded by the camp had been cut during a series of withering ambushes last [deletion: night] month. Light American transport aircraft brought in enough military supplies for the Special Forces company of primitive tribesmen, who are also excellent jungle fighters. The ten-man American Special Forces team also attempt to supply the food needs for the civilian population outside the camp--a total of [insertion: 1600] people--but these flights are unscheduled. (More) deepe all-around--article five of six-article series page 4 Captain William R. Suhanin of Pittsburgh, the ranking American Special Forces officer met the helicopter. He took off his Green Beret--the symbol of American Special Forces--which revealed his prematurely grey hair. “I had the grey hair before coming to Phu Tuc,” the twenty-nine year-old captain [deletion: explained] laughed. “Now I’m getting ulcers.” He [deletion: had] arrived in Phu Tuc a month ago. “We have an estimated 3000 Viet Cong in this province,” he explained. “We are the only Special Forces camp in Hau Bon province and we secure this district headquarters. Of the three government district headquarters in the province, this is the only one that’s half-secure. “One of the three regiments in the province is in this area,” he continued standing in [insertion: a] tin-roofed building to escape the blazing mid-day sun. “But I can’t find it. Daily we [deletion: sent] send out patrols and still we can’t find it. In addition, we have three local guerrilla bands in [XXXX indicating deletion] within this ten-mile area and they too are hard to deal with. They’ve ambushed us several times.” [insertion: (More)] deepe all-around--article five of six-article series page 5 “The camp gets fifty rounds of small arms fire a night from that nearby ridge line,” he continued. “It keeps the camp on guard. The V.C. have us under observation all the time.” Asked the distance to the ridge line, he laughed, “550 meters--we have our mortars laid in on it.” [deletion: [illegible]] Calmly, he explained that [deletion: the] a village [insertion: only] 1000 meters from the camp was considered sympathetic to the enemy. “There’s only women and children left there,” he explained. “The others are out fighting us. Several weeks ago, we even saw three V.C. in the trees along our [deletion: airstrik] airstrip right outside the gate of the camp,” he explained. “And we know that at least three of their agents have already been inside the camp. Part of the V.C. tactic is to pace off measurements so they can have their first mortar rounds come right in on us.” (More) deepe all-around--article five of six-article series page 6 “We have a limited force here and it’s hard to motivate a twenty-man squad to face a battalion,” he explained. “But now we are adjusting to the situation. We feel cocky that we can hold the camp against a V.C. regimental attack. But when we start talking about two regiments--well, it starts to pucker.” Montagnard laborers, their wives and the camp defenders were already preparing much tighter defenses for the camp. The dependents of the camp defenders lived under [XXXX indicating deletion] squat tee-pee’s of thatch roofing. In front of each tee-pee, each family had dug [XXXX indicating deletion] deep inter-locking underground bunkers. “The minute firing begins the Montagnard kids [deletion: run] scamper into the bunkers,” the captain explained, “even when they’re almost full of flood waters.” The captain, obviously confident despite the situation, [deletion: joked] explained, “This place gets to you about night-time. My predecessor was killed only three to four thousand meters from the camp. We know he was killed by a North Vietnamese Army sergeant--we [deletion: captured] killed him. For me to [deletion: even] walk even to the district headquarters [deletion: only] 200 meters away, I carry a rifle. I always carry a pistol even within the camp.” deepe all-around--article five of six-article series page 7 As the helicopter prepared to leave, an American sergeant at the camp explained: I’ve been in Vietnam three times; I’ve been wounded twice. I have [deletion: three months] four months to go. I sure hope I make it. As the helicopter fluttered out of the camp, a departing American advisor explained: If attacked, Phu Tuc as a 50-50 change of pulling through. This is where one must break away from the cost-accounting [deletion: of war equipment] system. It depends on the guts of men. #

Date

1965, Jul. 21

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975; United States. Army. Special Forces Group, 5th; Military bases

Location

Phú Túc, South Vietnam

Coordinates

11.0808; 107.2253

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B187, F5

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English