 Third cavalry units of the 25th Infantry Division sweep across dry rice paddies near Cushi on 8 April to begin a recovery operation during a search and destroy mission. On the previous day, as Operation Kuhuku, a routine one-day action began, the Viet Cong shot down a UH-1B helicopter. The Huey, which was being used for observation, burst into flames and exploded upon impact. Several five persons aboard escaped, however, two with second-degree burns and the other three with minor scratches. The wreckage is being recovered to prevent the VC from using the metal as shrapnel in their handmade bombs and booby traps. On the following day, 9 April, elements of the 25th converge on the Michelin rubber plantation, some six kilometers northwest of Cushi. Intelligence from a captured VC indicates that a unit of Viet Cong are holed up nearby and the armored units soon make contact with the enemy. The Viet Cong, caught off guard in their complex of trenches and spider holes, opened fire on the US elements with automatic weapons, grenades, and mortars. While one US platoon returns the fire, two more close in from both flanks and quickly overrun the objective. Before searching the VC bunkers and caves, the US troops rake their entrances with short bursts from M16s. Then, the infantrymen enter the maze of trenches and begin removing the Viet Cong dead. By actual body count on the battlefield, this unit of the 25th killed 11 of the enemy and inflicted an unknown number of additional casualties. Also, according to a forward observer with the unit, about 30 Viet Cong escaped the trap and fled toward the Cambodian border. The FO called for artillery fire, which according to his eyewitness report, cut down many of the retreating communists. US casualties consisted of three minor fragmentation wounds with no personnel killed in action. So hasty was the Viet Cong's retreat that they left behind food ready for cooking and their supply of tobacco. Captured weapons and equipment included a 57mm recoilless rifle round, two submachine guns, two automatic rifles, one anti-tank gun, more than 50 grenades and considerable ammo. Much of the materiel was made in communist China. After the objective is cleared and declared secure, the unit begins to reorganize. Within three hours after initial contact with the VC, other elements of the 25th arrive to link up with the lead company and pursue the fleeing communists. While airstrikes are being made against the retreating Viet Cong, ammunition is redistributed from the newly committed units. Then they are ready to continue the sweep. During this advance, one of the armored personnel carriers pushing through jungle vines hit a 15-foot ditch, overturned and caught fire. While some members of the unit begin operations to recover the personnel carrier, others extinguish the small fire in the engine compartment. Meanwhile, equipment and ammunition are removed from the trapped vehicle. After the APC was retrieved, the units pushed ahead. There was no further contact with the VC, however, and at days end, the troops returned to their base camp. At Zabingah, 70 km southeast of Saigon, a howitzer battery supports units of the 1st Infantry Division. It is 7 April, and Operation Abilene is still underway. At a rubber plantation nearby, an NCO conducts a class on patrolling for administrative personnel of a headquarters battery. The intent is to keep all men up to date on basic infantry tactics, regardless of their primary assignments. The class was instituted by the new division commander, Major General William E. DePew, who is being briefed here at a forward CP on operational plans. Meanwhile, a company commander briefs his men on their mission for the night. The unit will march to Apon Foo, a village 10 km to the southwest, where the VC are reported to be holding prisoners before sending them north. Before dawn the following morning, 8 April, the patrol had surrounded the village, and a search party, including interpreters, moved into Apon Foo. The village, however, was deserted, so the patrol and its supporting cavalry unit moved out to join other brigade elements at a new forward CP, about 3 km northeast of Zabingah. At the new CP, Viet Cong prisoners captured by other elements of the Big Red One are interrogated. One of them makes a tape recording for psychological warfare operations. The captive says he has been well treated by the Americans, wishes he had given up earlier, and urges his friends to surrender. The tape will be played in the area from a helicopter. On the next day, 9 April, the units made a 3 hour march to an area 10 km distant, where a new base camp and forward CP were set up. From here, the units continued their probes and sweeps. The monsoon season will convert these clouds of dust into rivers of mud within a few weeks. Later on the same day, 9 April, another unit of the First Infantry was filmed, as it searched Zom Zanam, a small village nearby for Viet Cong. After armored personnel carriers surrounded the village, a search party of squad strength and two interpreters began a house by house check of the residents. Also, the many bunkers and other hiding places are thoroughly searched, and the occupants removed and questioned. With the aid of the interpreters, the troops checked the identification papers of all male Vietnamese adults. Within a few minutes after the unit entered the village, the search pays off. One Viet Cong is discovered and hustled off to the waiting personnel carriers. The Communist guerrilla is bound and blindfolded before being transported back to the base camp. Here, the prisoners will be interrogated. As of 10 April, 23 enemy were reported killed, 15 captured, and more than 650 suspects detained during Operation Abilene. Karabu aircraft deliver 175 mm ammunition to artillery units supporting Operation Lincoln on 5 April. The drop zone is located approximately 16 km north of Pleiku. Ammunition in the resupply weighs several thousand pounds. Artillerymen break open the special packing and remove the waterproof covering encasing the big projectiles. The contents are in good condition and the delivery is a success. The ammunition will be used to support a sweep in the Chupong mountain area by troops of the 1st Cavalry Division Air Mobile. Elements of the 25th Infantry Division are also taking part in Operation Lincoln. Resupply of additional items for the artillery batteries is accomplished by helicopter. Here, an empty water tank trailer is taken away. Meanwhile, helicopters take off from their base at Anke and fly to pick up the assault troops and transport them to the objective area. During the 10 days since the operation began, 368 Viet Cong have been killed. Fighting during the period took place in the area between Pleiku and the Cambodian border. Five U.S. helicopters had been downed by enemy ground fire, but three were recovered for repair. Now, in this final sweep of the Chupong mountain area, the clearing operation continues. With the Air Mobile soldiers aboard, the assault chopper's head for an LZ situated northwest of Pleiku and about 300 meters from the Cambodian border. As the Hueys touch down, the troopers move across the LZ clearing and into the woods. Following a sweep of the area with negative results, the men are ordered out. Soon afterward, the assault forces are airborne, heading for another LZ 10 kilometers away. 16 kilometers northeast of Pleiku, the first wave of helicopters settles to Earth at landing zone Oasis, and the men debark. With the Viet Cong apparently out of the area, their next mission is being planned as Operation Lincoln continues. Shortly after midnight on 13 April, the Viet Cong launched a mortar attack on Tonsinot Air Base at Saigon. A fuel tank was set afire by one of the 50 mortar rounds lobbed into the air base during the attack, which lasted 20 minutes. In the midst of the extensive damage, the immediate problem is control of the fire. Vietnamese and Air Force firemen spray water on nearby fuel tanks to prevent further spreading of the flames. Five Americans and 14 Vietnamese were killed during the attack. 50 Americans were wounded and many aircraft were damaged by the bursts. The condition of this UH-1B is typical of the extent of damage to individual craft. In all, 31 aircraft were hit by the VC. This C-123 with tail damage and underside shrapnel holes also had its side ripped out. This C-47 was almost completely demolished. However, sandbag emplacements around other aircraft considerably reduced damage. To this M79 grenade launcher, the grenade site for the M1 rifle has been attached by a 173rd Airborne member. As a field expedient, this allows grenadiers to use higher trajectory for accurate indirect fire. Elements of the US Army engineers arrived in the Sata Heap area of Thailand on 15 February after completing construction work on the Bangkok Bypass Road. After two months, the company is deep into its two-fold mission. One part is the preparation of a military housing complex to include more than 100 structures. Whole sections of wall structures are raised in one piece and fastened to the floor. Mass production techniques used in large housing projects are utilized here. A new town on the Thailand Plains is rapidly nearing completion. The other and more vital part of the mission is the construction nearby of base pads and foundations for a tank farm for the storage of petroleum oil and lubricants. Both projects are located approximately three kilometers from the Gulf of Siam and 192 kilometers southeast of Bangkok. Here, freshly mixed concrete is poured into a bucket loader under the supervision of an engineer sergeant. The loader then transports the mix to a prepared farm where a foundation for fuel pumps is being constructed. The tank farm construction will include five 10,000-barrow bolted steel storage tanks. More than 200 Thai civilians supplement the working force. The farm will store JP-4 aircraft fuel for an airstrip to be constructed in the area. A POL pipeline will join the tank farm to the airfield. The target date for completion of this project is June 25th of this year. Some 15 kilometers west of Plaku at a tea plantation, a civic action team holds sick call on 9 April. With the aid of an Arvan interpreter, a medical team visits two villages a day examining patients and prescribing medication. These men, examining local workers and their families, are attached to a civil affairs company of the 1st Air Cav Division. The medics' jobs are complicated by the large turnover of destitute patients. Some of them pretend illness, while others, who are really ill, refuse to follow the prescription given. For Vietnamese children under 15 years of age, the death rate from disease has been almost five times that of children in the U.S. Malaria, tuberculosis, dysentery, typhoid, and dietary deficiencies are traditionally the leading causes of illness and death here. An Army Signal Brigade is activated at Camp Gaylor near Tonsunut Air Force Base. Brigadier General Richard J. Seitz, Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Vietnam, attends the ceremonies. The activation and awards and decorations presentation take place on 6 April. This unit is called the U.S. Army Strategic Communication Signal Brigade, Southeast Asia. It contains all non-organic signal units in Vietnam. The brigade is under operational control of U.S. Army Vietnam. General Seitz presents the brigade colors to the brigade commander, Colonel Robert D. Terry, to conclude the ceremonies. In the Dominican Republic, Easter Sunday is celebrated at services held in this civilian Catholic Church, located in the modern fairgrounds. American soldiers stationed nearby join the many local citizens attending the mass. Also on this Easter Sunday, the traditional sunrise services are held for Protestant military personnel. This service is taking place at Camp Randall. On the following day, 11 April, a farewell review is held in Santo Domingo for Ambassador W. Tapley Bennett Jr., who is leaving the Dominican Republic on the completion of his assignment there. The Ambassador and Brigadier General Robert R. Linville, Commander, U.S. Forces Dominican Republic, troop the line. The men are mostly from the 82nd Airborne Division, with various other elements attached. The 440th Army Band leads the review at Camp Randall. A flyover is performed by UH-1B helicopters. Then the troops pass and review in this farewell parade to Ambassador Bennett, who represented the United States during the period of crisis in Santo Domingo.