Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. The Fall of A Shau

摘要

A Shau is one of several U. S. Special Forces camps located near the Laotian border in I Corps to keep watch on infiltration of enemy units into South Vietnam from the North. It has a triangular shaped fort with walls about 200 yards long with barbed wire perimeter defenses. A 2300 foot airstrip with a pierced steel planking base is just outside the perimeter. The camp is located at the base of a narrow valley some 20 miles southwest of the coastal city of Hue, and only about two and a half miles from the Laotian border. On 5 March, 1966, two North Vietnamese Army defectors walked into Camp A Shau in Thua Thien Province and, under interrogation, reported that the camp would be attacked on 11 or 12 March. The defectors gave interrogators the location of the 325th Division Headquarters (seven kilometers east of A Shau), the 6th and 8th Battalions of the 325th Division and the coordinates of a rice cache. All of the locations given by the defectors were hit by air strikes. In anticipation of a probable attack, the camp was reinforced 7 March with seven U. S. Special Forces personnel, 149 Chinese Nung troops, and nine interpreters. They Joined the 10 Americans and 210 Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group personnel already at A Shau. At 0200 hours on the morning of 9 March, the camp was attacked with mortars, 75 mm recoilless rifles, automatic weapons, and small arms fire. In the initial attack, two Americans were killed and 30 wounded; Vietnamese casualties were eight killed and 30 wounded. The barrage destroyed the supply area for the 380-man camp. Medevac was requested along with air strikes. The enemy attack was broken off at daylight and the defenders began to repair and improve their defenses.