 Okay, move out. The war in Vietnam has many faces. It isn't just a simple matter of locating and destroying an enemy who hides in the jungles of this Asian nation. There are human needs to be met if the people of this land are to fulfill their destiny as a free society and the ultimate real victory is to be won. Helping the people of South Vietnam to achieve their goals of enlightenment and the democratic life is one of the major objectives of our army. I want you to explain to them that we have two kinds of thermometers here. We have the oral thermometer and we have the rectal thermometer. Explain to them please that we have oral thermometer and rectal thermometer. Our nation building programs are causing more and more Vietnamese to turn their backs on the communist controlled Viet Cong. The enemy devotes increasing effort to prevent our programs from succeeding. These are the men of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division. Their task in Vietnam is two-fold to defeat the enemy on the battlefield and to carry out effective civil assistance for the people of this war-torn nation. From day to day the men of the 25th the Tropic Lightning Division must live up to their honored motto and be ready to strike. The 25th Infantry Tropic Lightning Division was activated at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii on October 1st, 1941. Composed of organizations which had been in Hawaii since 1921, the 25th is known as Hawaii's Own. Raining exercises for the division in the Hawaiian Islands area during the early 60s were concentrated on jungle fighting and were reminiscent of the Tropic Lightning's bitter battles on Guadalcanal in 1942 and the historic Philippines campaign of World War II. By 1965 the division was slated for service in Vietnam. Training was intensified for these veterans of the Korean conflict. In December deployment of the 25th Infantry Division to Southeast Asia began. First to leave Hawaii were the men of the 2nd Brigade responding to the request of the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. This unit of the 25th departed from Hawaii by sea. Once again the Army's ready force in the Pacific was being called into action. The 6,000th mile voyage ended on January 15th at the port of Vung Tau in South Vietnam. As the men of the 2nd Brigade came ashore they were greeted by General Westmoreland, the U.S. Military Commander in Vietnam. It was the beginning of a new year and a new chapter in the annals of the Tropic Lightning Division's colorful history. During the next few days the 2nd Brigade moved up country to the Coochee District some 20 miles northwest of Saigon. Day and night more than 600 vehicles rolled through the little village of Coochee as the convoys headed for the division's campsite on the outskirts. Meanwhile the division's 3rd Brigade had begun arriving from Hawaii by airlift. Their destination was Play Coo in the central highlands of Vietnam. This was to be the 25th Infantry Division's forward base while Coochee would be Tropic Lightning headquarters. Called Operation Blue Light, the airlift of the 4,000th man's 3rd Brigade by the U.S. Air Force was completed in record time. Eight days were shaved from the schedule as the brigade's men and materiel were delivered to Play Coo in the largest airlift ever attempted. A few days later, on the 19th of January 1966, division support elements came ashore at Saigon Harbor and moved up to Coochee. Two-thirds of the Tropic Lightning Division was at home in Vietnam. For the men of the 25th, the first major assault upon the enemy came with Operation Garfield. From Play Coo, units of the 3rd Brigade were flown southward to Dalak Province and the Viet Cong infested area around Banh Mi 2. It was the beginning of a month-long sweep of the province. The V.C. were difficult to pin down and the searchers were plagued by hidden snipers. As the Tropic Lightning troopers pressed forward, the Viet Cong width drew deeper into the jungle. Whole villages, recently occupied by the enemy, were found to be deserted. Sometimes the dwellings were booby-trapped. All documents left behind by the enemy were carefully studied for military intelligence. Any place where the Viet Cong may have hidden weapons or valuable papers was thoroughly searched. Even the contents of these bags were examined. Time and again during Operation Garfield, the men of the 25th had to re-evaluate their search patterns and objectives. Actual contact with the enemy was confined to small unit actions. However limited, these sudden shootouts in the jungle took their toll of battle casualties. Some of the enemy were taken alive, but many more were killed. Intelligence gathered from the prisoners guided the troopers into the jungle and the prisoners guided the troopers from Hawaii as their search continued. Many caches of Viet Cong rice were located thanks to information given by the prisoners. The food was later distributed to needy Vietnamese people. Great quantities of enemy medical supplies and surgical equipment were also captured and the operation concluded as the V.C. fled. The third brigade took these enemy supplies with them and returned to play coup. Meanwhile, units of the second brigade were conducting Operation Kahuku in the area around Coochee. Supported by armor, these elements of the 25th ran into heavy resistance as they approached the Michelin rubber plantations. Enemy mortar fire rained down upon the advancing armored personnel carriers. Some of the machines were rendered inoperable as a result of the enemy fire but this did not deter the tropic lightning troopers from continuing their advance. As they penetrated deeper into the plantation, the men of the 25th found the enemy dug in with well constructed bunkers. Dislodging the Viet Cong is never easy. Several hours of combat caused the troopers of the second brigade task force to take casualties. But in the end, the V.C. were overcome by superior firepower. And the underground fortifications were overrun by the Americans. Many of the Viet Cong were slain. The remainder fled from the battlefield. This day, the reign of terror for the local people had come to an end. The enemy would not return. On April 29, 1966, almost three and a half months after the arrival of the rest of the division in Vietnam, the first brigade landed at Vung Tau. The deployment of the tropic lightning division from Hawaii to Vietnam was complete. Within a matter of hours, elements of the first brigade were airlifted to Khu Chi to join the second brigade. Though military operations take much time, the men of the third brigade established a resettlement camp for refugees in Khantum province. Here, the weary victims of the conflict find peace, security, and a degree of hope for a better life in the days ahead. In recognition of the division's humanitarian efforts and its growing program of civil assistance programs, the men of the tropic lightning division were honored at an award ceremony. Brigadier General Glenn D. Walker, then the assistant division commander, and other high-ranking staff officers accepted the award for the 25th. Throughout June and July, the Placou Play Me area was the scene of a major effort by the 25th division and some elements of the first cavalry division airmobile to clay the Viet Cong from the district. Under the codename Paul Revere, the full-scale operation took place some 40 kilometers from the Cambodian border. In this determined drive, heavy armored elements of the third brigade were called up and joined in the massive sweep. Everything in the book was to be thrown at the VC on this one. The activity grew at a feverish pace and the task force began to move. In the forward areas, overlooking the Yadrang Valley, artillery and heavy mortars were blown in. Firebases were set up and suspected enemy positions were zeroed in. Now airborne, the assault troops of the brigade were headed into action. Preparatory fire support began. Despite the heavy shelling, the dispersing Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army units managed to shoot down one of the American helicopters. However, the U.S. troops continued to join the battle. Dogedly, they pursued the fleeing enemy into the deepest jungle. All over the northwestern part of Clay Coupe province, the Tropic Lightning sweep pressed the enemy ever backward as Operation Paul Revere concluded. Because the valuable lessons learned about the enemy's tactics during actual combat, the division established a special training course to teach Tropic Lightning troopers how to ambush enemy troops played by U.S. soldiers during night operations. The deadly Claymore Mine is one of the ambush tools which are used by these night fighters. Though the 25th Infantry Division is well trained on the subject of guerrilla warfare, Major General Fred C. Wayland, who was then the commanding general, felt the men would benefit from special instruction on ways to trap the enemy. Additional measures to deal with the hidden probe were taken as the infantrymen from Hawaii began working with scout dogs. Continuous obedience training conditions the animals and assures their instant response to the handwares' commands. In the field, the big 125-pound animals are trained to sniff out hidden enemy personnel in the thick undergrowth. When V.C. are located, the scout dogs indicate their find without making a sound. The enemy never knows his presence has been discovered until the dog and troopers are upon him. While continuing their combat operations, the 25th Infantry Division, along with all other U.S. Army units in Vietnam, began putting more emphasis upon psychological warfare and pacification programs. Residents of a suspected Viet Cong village are called out for a well-planned pacification festival. Meanwhile, the Hamlet has been surrounded by both U.S. and South Vietnamese troops. In a thorough screening process, Vietnamese officials carry out indoctrination of the villagers, assisted by soldiers of the 25th Division, pointing out the fallacies of the Viet Cong ideology, and offering a better life in exchange for loyalty to the Saigon government. The first stage of the screening is the 25th Division interrogation section. Here, villagers are identified and military intelligence gathered. The Viet Cong information service is next to process the people of the village. At this section, they learn of the various assistance programs, which the Saigon government is making available to the needy of the nation. The section set up by the psychological warfare teams assists the Vietnamese in distributing literature, aimed at politically repatriating the individual with communist leanings. One of the most important aspects of the pacification process is the free medical service given to the villagers. What these physicians and medical aid men do here is long remembered. In the final stage of the screening process, the helping hand section determines the most immediate needs of each family and distributes a wide variety of items considered basic for day-to-day living. Pacification festivals like this one are conducted as a joint effort of both the American military command and the government of the Republic of Vietnam. Everywhere the results are encouraging. As the months roll by, the Tropic Lightning Division's CIOPS teams have stepped up their distribution of Chieu Hoi leaflets, pamphlets calling upon the members of the National Liberation Front, the Viet Cong, to drop their communist-inspired activities and realign themselves with the Saigon government. By every means available, the leaflets are disseminated throughout the division's area of responsibility, a major campaign to win over the hearts and minds of the enemy within. Promising safe conduct and a life of freedom for those who respond and lay down their arms, the Chieu Hoi leaflets are read by thousands. And the campaign works. Previous hardcore Viet Cong are defecting to the Americans by the hundreds. In their eagerness to start the new life, the defectors offer wholehearted cooperation. They lead our troops to the hiding places of their former V.C. guerrilla comrades. Each location is systematically searched, then destroyed. In the struggle to win over the dissident elements, one of the most valued aspects of the civic action program is the medical assistance work being carried out by MedCAP teams. This is the village of Phuoc Hiep, about seven miles northwest of the 25th Division headquarters at Cu Chi. The members of this MedCAP team from the 25th Medical Battalion visit this village once a week to provide free medical service to its inhabitants. Similar visits are made to a great number of other villages in the district, and the MedCAP team has an extremely crowded schedule. Despite the pressures under which these men work, each patient is given careful attention. Well, he's got a bad fracture here. He must have been born and didn't die, you know. He wasn't shot or in an accident. Well, hell, he's had a fracture here. He says no. How long has he had drainage like this? And I think what he's got is an osteomyelitis with a fissile and chronic drainage. And what we'll do is ask him to come back next week with his parents and we'll try and make arrangements for either going to Saigon to the hospital or up to the top of that hospital and get an x-ray to see if it can be debrided and maybe just put them on long-term antibiotics. You think he understands? Would you ask him? Do you think he understands to come back? By mid-summer 1967, 18 months after the division's arrival at Coochee, medical teams from the Tropic Lightning Division had treated more than 189,000 Vietnamese citizens. The overall civic action program being carried out by the 25th Division takes many forms. Here at the village of Dau Chiang, some 50 miles northeast of Saigon, a number of self-help projects have been launched under supervision of the 3rd Brigade S-5 section. Captain Vinh-Nh Lauks is the officer in charge. Dau Chiang is in a position here next to the Saigon River. It comprises five hammers. We have here a population of about 10,000 people, which is approximately two-thirds of the total population here in the Freetown District. Because of our position next to the village, we feel that we can get in here and do civic action work with the people and thereby reach most of the people in the district. What we try to do mainly is create projects for these people in coordination with the district and village officials that are going to be number one long-lasting and number two projects in which the people are going to derive a lasting benefit. We try to get these people and we have been very successful in getting them to do projects on their own in which we provide materials, technical assistance, and then they do the project. I truly feel that the willing cooperation and enthusiasm shown by the people here in Dau Chiang is a good indication that these people feel secure from V.C. in the area here, that they want to see their village progress, that we have come a long way in the time that the brigade has been here and has assisted these people. I think that in time to come, we are going to find these people contributing more and also feeling more secure in their respective areas here. In the final analysis, the United States Army 25th Infantry Division is a combat outfit. In this shooting war, their first job is to hunt down the enemy forces and to eliminate them as efficiently as possible. This is not easily done in the guerrilla warfare of Vietnam's jungles, swamps, and rice paddies. A typical example is Operation Barking Sands, named after a famous beach in the Hawaiian Islands. Elements of the first brigade are being sent out to clear an area in the battle zone, suspected of harboring the Viet Cong Second Domean Battalion, a hardcore guerrilla unit supported by the Hanoi government. The Trouble Spot is a place with the improbable name of Hap Nha Viet, about 10 miles east of the division's Cu Chi base. The plan called for the assault force to go in in two waves, landing about 100 yards apart. At the landing zone, the first wave received fire from the Viet Cong and was immediately pinned down. The second wave came in and it too was taken under fire. Trying to link up with the first wave, the men of Alpha Company received fire from the wood line to the back, front, and one side. They kept pushing ahead, while the forward observer called in the helicopter gunship for suppressive fire. It took the men of Alpha Company nearly two hours to link up with the men of the first wave, only 100 yards away. Finally, the Air Force Saber Jets were called in. Operation Barking Sands, a small portion of the war against the aggressors was completed. The little hamlet of Hap Nha Viet was taken. From day to day, this is the way it is in Vietnam. As the conflict continues, the 25th Infantry Division of the United States Army fulfills its daily missions of compassion and nation-building on the one hand and the stern duty of ground combat on the other. Whatever the demand, the Tropic Lightning Division stands, ready to strike.