 These tanks are providing security for a newly established forward base camp in the play-me area. The camp was set up by a task force of 25th Infantry Division Elements as part of Operation Paul Revere. Here in Pleiku Province, the Cambodian border is only 40 kilometers away. Tents and facilities of the camp cover a large area. Helicopters arrive for resupply loading at this forward base, which is called Camp Oasis. These films were made during the third week of June. The camp was established to block the Viet Cong and prevent them from infiltrating into South Vietnam from Cambodia during the rainy season. Camp Oasis is protected by tanks while the troops are out on sweeps. A few kilometers away at the mouth of the Ia Drong Valley, an artillery battery sets up for a fire mission to help prepare a new landing zone in the valley where Operation Paul Revere will continue. Some clearing work is required at the battery position. A search and destroy operation, Paul Revere has been in progress since 10 May. With his aiming circle, the battery commander guides the emplacement of the guns. Artillery missions in the central highlands of South Vietnam are complicated by steep hills and deep valleys. The 105 howitzers are adjusted according to directions while some of the crewmen prepare rounds of ammunition. When the guns are properly emplaced, the crews sight their weapons and the pieces are ready for loading. The battery commander gives the order and firing commences. The highly skilled artillerymen work calmly and efficiently firing and reloading. Salvo after Salvo is fired as the commander receives his orders from the FDC. As the barrage continues, the assault troops are heading for the objective landing zone. Soon after the preparatory fire is ended, the assault troops of the Tropic Lightning Task Force land at the LZ and another sweep begins. From the landing zone, the troopers start moving up the Ia Drong Valley in search of the Viet Cong. Since the operation began on May 10th, more than 400 V.C. have been killed and 72 captured. Friendly casualties remain light. At the village of Tan Bien Nuan, a short distance from the forward base camp, a civic action program also gets underway with medical aid for the villagers. Particular attention is given the very young, many of whom are suffering from malnutrition. Packages of food are among the tools employed by the medical team in helping to combat the run-down condition of many of the children. A civil affairs unit gives out tools in nearby Tan Bien Tu village as part of a self-help program. The men of the village are grateful for these implements. Afterwards, clothing which had been collected in Hawaii is distributed. There is almost a bargain basement air of excitement as the villagers crowd around the vehicle to choose from the variety of donated garments. The village women, like ladies everywhere, clamor happily over the clothing bonanza. The items, like this purple Mu U Mu U, don't always fit their new owners, but everyone seems pleased. A few days later, on June 21, the Vietnamese 2nd Corps Armed Forces Heroes Day is celebrated at Placo headquarters. Major General Stanley Larson, Commander, Field Force 1 Vietnam, attends. Of particular interest is the contingent of Montagnard women volunteers and their banner. South Vietnamese civilian groups are also represented, as well as uniformed irregular defense groups. Banners proclaiming friendship for the Americans are in evidence all around the parade ground. In the ceremonies which take place, the South Vietnamese Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Nguyen Hu Co. awards medals to several American soldiers for acts of heroism during Operation Paul Revere. For these men of an artillery battalion in Tui Hoa, Thursday, June 2nd begins like almost every other day. Following a night of harassing fire into the jungle, in support of the 101st Airborne, the 105-millimeter howitzers are cleaned until they shine and made ready for the next fire mission. Ammunition is replenished and stacked for the action which inevitably lies ahead. When the request for support arrives, the artillery men are ready and waiting. The mission is fired quickly and accurately. Then, back to the continuing job of maintenance, without which such a performance would not be possible. Beside a runway at the Vung Tau airfield in Vietnam, men from an air traffic control company set up a portable ground control approach tower, TPN 18. A manufacturer's technical representative supervises the installation, observed by the non-commissioned officer in charge. The tower is equipped with a TPM-8 radar antenna which is utilized for search and scan operations as well as to determine altitudes and weather conditions. It also includes an IFF or identification friend or foe antenna used to determine the identity of aircraft. This transmits directional radar signals in code to all aircraft. A transponder carried aboard friendly aircraft decodes the signal and provides proper identification in return. The scopes and electronic equipment required for air traffic control operations are housed in a portable van. Powered by its own generator, the entire assembly can operate at any location into which it can be airlifted, providing safe and efficient control of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. An ARC-122 radio has been installed in this UH-1B helicopter. This set enables a division or brigade commander to have instant communication with his units during operations. It was developed to overcome transmission difficulties due to terrain features and has been in use for three years. At the Benoit airfield, another installation is underway. Here, an airborne command post radio set, the ASC-6, is being mounted in a command and control helicopter. This unit consists of three different types of radios for AM and FM operations. Field commanders use this system to coordinate and control ground troops, to call for artillery fire or airstrikes, and to control helicopters making assault landings. With the installation of the set completed, the UH-1D lives off to be put through an equipment and communications check. Inside, battalion officers study a map of the area to verify the terrain over which they are flying, and conduct voice checks with their ground units in the area. At Camp Gaylor, Tonsunut, Vietnam, a celebration in honor of the 106th anniversary of the U.S. Army Signal Corps is conducted by personnel of a signal battalion. Commanding officer of the battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Meyer presents awards for distinguished service to outstanding members. After the awards, Colonel Meyer delivers a Signal Corps anniversary message. He recalls the founding of the Corps in 1860 by Major Albert J. Meyer, who, with a handful of men and equipment consisting of signal flags and torches, laid the foundation for the present organization. Today, the Signal Corps fills Army communications needs around the world. The ceremonies in Vietnam are symbolic of over a century of military communications progress. On 25 May in Tui Hoa, Vietnam, a Vietnamese war orphan's home is the scene of a civic action project. The exchange club in San Pablo, California, on learning of the needs of Vietnamese refugees and war orphans, collected funds to purchase items such as clothing, soap, and candy. They presented their gifts through a U.S. officer in Tui Hoa. In addition, a U.S. service man donated 200 much-needed washcloths for the children. Presidents are distributed to the 225 children of this orphanage operated by the Catholic Church. A lieutenants' letter home was the factor which sparked this project. Also on this same day, presents are given to children of the Buddhist orphanage located elsewhere in Tui Hoa. In Saigon on 19 June, Prime Minister Nguyen Khao Ky appears at a celebration of the Vietnamese Armed Forces Day. U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge is among those present here at the Toncunut Air Base. The ceremonies begin as the Prime Minister troops the line with his Chief of Staff. Then a wreath is placed on a monument honoring the war dead. And after the presentation of medals to Vietnamese servicemen and appropriate speeches, the Armed Forces Day parade begins. 3,000 troops are in the line of March representing every branch of service including the military schools. The occasion also marks the first anniversary of the Prime Minister's regime. Members of the Montagnard forces, both men and women, pass in review. Their unusual uniforms present a striking contrast to the modern appearance of the armor which follows close behind them. As the parade concludes, the spectators turn their eyes to the sky. Parachutists of the armed forces jump and land successfully on target before the reviewing stand. A flyover by planes of the Vietnamese Air Force brings the colorful ceremonies to a striking conclusion. An ammunition and cargo pier is being built in the Sata Heap area of Thailand. Seen here on 21 June, the pier is approaching completion. The facility is designed to connect a tank farm directly to see-going tankers. The tankers will tie up alongside and the fuel will be pumped directly into the pipeline. It will travel through the pipe for approximately 4 kilometers to the recently constructed POL tank farm. All pipeline construction is being done by elements of the U.S. Army engineers with two platoons of a pipeline company participating. Modern construction machinery is provided for the work. The NCO in charge directs the pipeline crew in the critical job of placing the pipe sections. An essential part of the setup is the pumping station. Centrifugal pumps send the fuel through the pipe. A gate valve is installed by the crew. The tank farm is 95% complete. A substantial quantity of vital fuel will be stored here, then trucked as needed to a nearby U.S. airfield now under construction. This floating bridge built by U.S. Army engineers in Santo Domingo will be maintained by Dominican forces in the near future. Personnel from Fort Benning instruct a cadre of local Dominican Army engineers in maintenance methods for the floating facility. A Dominican officer takes over the class. In order to keep the bridge in good condition, members of the cadre are trained in the assembly of the units and the equipment necessary for their installation. Pontons, like those which make up the existing bridge, are hauled into the water and floated in preparation for assembly into a practice section of bridge. The pontons are moved to the assembly area by a powerboat. Under the watchful eye of U.S. instructors, the sections are joined. Running the powerboat is an important part of the instruction. Individual components of the floating bridge may have to be repaired or replaced occasionally and thorough orientation in these procedures is provided by the American engineers. The Dominican engineering cadre learn the fundamentals and will train the rest of their battalion. When the exercise is over, the U.S. Army supervisors discuss bridge construction methods with the local team. It's all part of the inter-American mission in the Dominican Republic. On 30 May, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Harold K. Johnson, flies to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to address a Memorial Day assembly. He speaks on the patriotic traditions of America and of her armed forces. One of the highlights of his speech are these words. I would like to speak for just a moment to something that you may not be fully aware of and that's the way that our people in our military services are performing today. And the reason that I want to talk about this just briefly is because there has been so much exposure of the dissidents, so much advertising of the protesters, that it seems to me that you would be interested and proud to know that we have more than three million Americans in the uniform of their country who are serving their country today in the grandest tradition of the country. It took 26 years to forge our own nation and when you look around the world today at some of the nations that are struggling to establish themselves, it's well to look back at our own to see the difficulties that we have. And I would refer specifically to Vietnam. Twelve years they've been struggling, not quite half the time that we've spent. Thirty-six thousand casualties they've taken since 1961. Casualties at one and one-half times the rate that we took them in World War II. So if you think the Vietnamese aren't fighting, change your thinking. They are hard and they've been fighting for a long time and they've been fighting bravely and they've been dying bravely. And then something more than three years ago the army was blessed with a young captain who had almost omniscience and he wrote back to his wife, not very far from here in New Jersey. He wrote a series of letters but he had just a treasure in this statement when he said, Stand strong and unafraid and give heart to an embattled and confused people. This cannot be done if America loses heart. Please don't let them back where you are, sell me down the river with talk of despair and defeat. Talk instead of steadfastness and of loyalty and of victory for we must and we can win here. There is no backing out of Vietnam for it will follow us everywhere we go. We must obey his injunction, stand strong and unafraid as a nation and as individuals within that nation it is hard to see how any of us can do any less. Thank you.