 First Infantry Division began Operation Mastiff on 22 February. This search and destroy action took place in Tainine Province, 64 kilometers northwest of Saigon. On the perimeter of a large rubber plantation these infantrymen located a Viet Cong medical training camp and field dispensary. Pure water was produced by a camp distillery and the enemy medical training center stocked enough medical supplies to care for a unit of battalion size. There were several buildings in the installation. One of them contained a gas operated refrigerator. Others served as classrooms and storage facilities. No enemy personnel were encountered in the buildings. Reams of printed material were seized and rapidly screened by our interpreters. Then the men began to find secret tunnels and more mounds of literature and gear were located. One tunnel was suspected of being occupied by the enemy. A concussion grenade was used and five enemy personnel removed. One was killed by the explosion and the other four rendered unconscious. Among the injured were two Viet Cong women instructors. Medics of the Big Red One administered first aid for shock caused by the grenade blast. This woman found farthest back from the tunnel entrance is revived in a short while. Other tunnels in the camp area were rechecked for additional chambers and to locate any more Viet Cong who might be hiding there. But none was found. The search revealed instead this Russian made bold action carbine. Also found were a number of Viet Cong tactical maps which were later turned over to Brigade Intelligence. The prisoners were removed from the area for evacuation and later interrogation. Captured supplies of value were taken out and unwanted material was destroyed on the spot. Then the buildings in the camp were doused with gasoline and the installation was set afire. On the outskirts of a village at Trong Loth 48 kilometers north of Saigon refugees are evacuated from the area by troops of the first Infantry Division. It is 13 January and Operation Crimp is about to begin. The villagers are being moved so they will not be endangered during the sweep. Suddenly that night a Viet Cong mortar attack was mounted against the camp at Trong Hoa. As artillery batteries fired back in the darkness the medics tended the wounded by lantern light at the aid station. The following morning damage to the camp was assessed and it was found that several trucks some 105 howitzers and storage tents were lost. One enemy mortar shell was defective and failed to go off. Damage in the area was extensive however. The wounded were flown out to a field hospital in the rear. Three days later on 17 January Operation Crimp got underway. Armored personnel carriers and tanks wheeled into position for the start. The signal was given and units of the Big Red One rolled out. With infantry following in the wake of the armored elements the sweep through Viet Cong territory was unremitting. The enemy was driven from the Trong Loth stronghold and the area secured. Two Viet Cong guerrillas one about 20 years old and the other 35 were captured by men of the 101st Airborne Brigade in the Tui Hoa area 128 kilometers north of Cameron Bay. New water repellent clothing was found among the young prisoners possessions. The older man had been carrying a rifle when captured. An ID card belonging to the younger man was dated 1917 making him 49 years old. One questioned he refused to say where he had gotten the ID card. Despite his Viet Cong uniform he insisted he was not a VC. It was decided to fly both prisoners back to headquarters for interrogation by expert intelligence teams since the elder captive also denied that he was a Viet Cong. The flight was made in silence as the two prisoners realized escape was impossible. Then they were at the field and the stockade awaited them. On 15 February in the area around Tui Hoa troops of the 101st Airborne found a Viet Cong monument to the dead. Brigadier General Willard Pearson Brigade commander ordered the VC memorial destroyed. After the explosion there was no trace of the one year old memorial. Also in the Tui Hoa area the 101st Airborne soldiers carried out a two day operation on 18 and 19 February. It was known as Operation Search Out and was another hunt and kill mission. The men landed in an open meadow. Soon afterward they were moving through jungle country toward a valley where the Viet Cong were believed to have a regimental headquarters. The objective had been bombed by Air Force B-52s for several days prior to the operation and no Viet Cong were found. Bomb craters were measured, the damage surveyed and an accurate field report was compiled for Air Force officials. Patrols combed the area for two days without locating the enemy. Then one VC surrendered and reported the bombings had resulted in a week long evacuation of Viet Cong dead. On 20 February the units of the 101st returned to the pickup zone and reassembled for the airlift back to the base. The strange mission was over. The troops had walked out of the area a distance of 24 kilometers without contact. They had come through a land devastated by bombs. As the men returned to their camp for a three day rest they carried with them a first hand report on the effectiveness of air support in the war against the Viet Cong. From the top of Hong Kong mountain the entire first air cavalry base can be seen. On the night of 20 February this mountaintop signal installation at An Kei was taken under Viet Cong mortar fire as the enemy attempted to overrun the camp. Due to a well organized defense in place the VC were beaten off. The enemy had penetrated barbed wire defenses on the camp perimeter to gain access to the mountain. This man lost his new camera but saved his life. The attack knocked out communications by destruction of power units and some cables but no signal equipment was damaged. Resupply by air was begun immediately in an effort to return the installation to operational condition as soon as possible. During the attack the signal men sustained some casualties. By body count the Viet Cong lost four men. Elements of the first air cavalry division were filmed on 11 and 12 February as they moved through enemy territory in the Bong San zone of action. The sweep was part of operation Eagle Claw. Here 288 kilometers north of Cameron Bay the troops advanced cautiously in guerrilla infested Bindin province. This hamlet seemed deserted but earlier sniper fire had made the air mobile soldiers suspicious of an ambush. After a careful search tunnels are located and in them hidden Viet Cong. The enemy guerrillas are taken along with their weapons and other gear and moved out of the area. The village is destroyed by fire. A rest period is called before starting out of the area with the prisoners. This was the second day of combat patrol duty for these cavalrymen. During the two days the first cab unit had penetrated deep into the province and it was a long trek out with the captives. Before nightfall the patrol reached the assembly area and checked in for air evacuation with one enemy wounded and with all their prisoners and captured material. This small part of operation Eagle Claw was completed successfully. At a staging area near Benoit about 32 kilometers northeast of Saigon men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade load aboard APCs and convoy out toward the Songdong Nye River. Filmed on 12 February these units were part of a coordinated attack upon zone D situated on the far side of the river. The forces crossing the river were to commence a sweep in zone D fanning out to the north from the river bank. Other elements of the 173rd were moving into the zone from another direction. Some delays were encountered on the zone D shore but were overcome in a short while. The mission of this two-pronged attack was to divert the Viet Cong while special forces came into zone D and set up a new A camp. Within timetable requirements of the operation schedule these elements of the 173rd began moving out. During the five days of the 173rd's operations in zone D from 12 to 16 February airborne artillerymen laid down preparation fire as required by field commanders. 105 millimeter howitzers were used for the supporting fire missions. At Benoit the main base of the 173rd Airborne Brigade assault helicopter crews were briefed on landing zone conditions and target approach points in zone D as they prepared to deliver the second wave of troops. Shortly thereafter the squadron was nearing the objective area 16 kilometers to the northeast. At touchdown the airborne soldiers quickly deployed and secured the landing zone. Perimeter defense included 81 millimeter motor emplacements and aiming posts were set up at once. A sweep of the area began and reconnaissance patrols moved out through the wooded hillside adjoining the landing zone. Some time later the undergrowth became so dense the troops were halted. In the early morning hours of 12 February approximately 1,000 troops under special forces command prepared for an airlift from Benoit some 32 kilometers northeast of Saigon. This airborne movement is being made to Zamkot an objective area 16 kilometers farther to the northeast. At the objective the troops are to set up a special forces A camp. Zamkot is situated at the confluence of the Song Bay and the Song Dong Nai rivers. It is in the middle of the at Kong control territory. At the landing zone the troops offload from the choppers and take up defense positions. Patrols are sent out to secure the prospective campsite. From this new camp special forces will gather intelligence on enemy concentrations and movements in the area but first the camp must be established. Logistic support for the project commences with low level drops of immediate requirement items by CV2 caribou's. For the most part these early drops consisted of lightweight building supplies. Air force strikes and 173rd airborne brigade ground operations provided cover for the A team. Then the Chinooks began arriving with the heavier supplies and were directed to load landing points. Boats to be used for river patrol work were among some of the first loads delivered. On the second day of the operation C-123's of the Air Force came in with color-coded parachute drops but some of the cargo shoots failed to perform and there was loss of some items due to hard landing. As supplies rained down hasty defense work continued. With the drop schedule completed the job of picking up the material and creating a supply depot begins. Salvage of drop damaged items recovered some of the material and the rest was discarded. The work went forward and the field supply depot was quickly organized. The two rivers which border the camp one to the northeast and the other on the west form a natural barrier protecting the camp from surprise attack by the Viet Cong from those two sides. The patrol boats are launched and tested to make sure they're operating properly. Delivery of heavy equipment begins as the Chinooks bring in bulldozers without the tracks or blades. Because of the weight problem these items were flown in in subsequent deliveries. Beside the earth moving equipment several trucks were also delivered in sections. Assembly of the bulldozers was begun at once and the Vietnamese combat engineers accomplished the task in very good time. By 14 February three days after landing camp planning was well advanced. Work had already begun on laying out the new airstrip and the area was being prepared for the bull dozers. Meanwhile the bulldozers had been completely assembled and were being used to level off foundation sites for new buildings which would be erected in the camp. The troops now well supplied had secured the area and organized perimeter defenses. Work would continue here but the A camp was established.