THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03029764
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: November 13, 1967

Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
lore *id
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
ecret
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
To ret
119
13 Novembpr 1967
liaproved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
TriiiSoeret
kRNING
locument contains classified MI urination aliecting ie national security
es within the meaning ot the espior ge laws, US Code
Sections 793. 794, and 798.
__043-Specier
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
"���Lok" '"-� `4--" S s�-�-� ���
3.5(c)
Information as of 1600
13 November 1967
HIGHLIGHTS
Allied forces clashed again with North Viet-
namese regulars near Dak To on 12-13 November.
3.5(c)
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
Allied troops clashed again with North Vietnamese
regulars in the mountainous jungle near Dak To on
12-13 November (Paras. 1-3). Enemy forces de-
stroyed a bridge and ambushed a South Vietnamese
reaction force in Lam Dong Province on 12 November
(Paras. 4-6). Enemy offensive activity continues
in the III Corps area above Saigon (Paras. 7-10).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
The Senate has voted to establish 12 standing com-
mittees and will set up an internal affairs and
rules committee (Paras. 1-3).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam:
There is nothing of significance to report.
IV. Other Communist Military Developments:
There is nothing of significance to report.
V. Communist Political Developments: Another
report of Ho Chi Minh's illness is provided by a
British correspondent recently in Hanoi (Para. 1).
A Liberation Front official in Moscow has stated
that the Front wants more than a bombing halt be-
fore discussing a settlement of the war with the
US (Paras. 2-3).
,SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
proved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
SOUTH VIETNAM
13 NOVEMBER
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
Nod TO P.SECRET
I. MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Allied troops clashed again with North Viet-
namese regulars in the mountains near Dak To on 12-13
November. Communist forces in this sector appear to
be operating in battalion-size units, attempting to
ambush smaller US patrols from dug-in positions.
2. Information on the latest fighting is frag-
mentary. Press reports indicate that South Vietnamese
defenders in a small village two miles north of Dak To
were overrun in one action and that nine US soldiers
were killed and 25 wounded in another action during
the night of 12-13 November. If confirmed, these
casualties would bring US losses to 105 killed and
over 500 wounded in Kontum Province since 1 November.
Some 600 North Vietnamese have been killed.
Route 20 Interdicted in Lam Dong Province
4. Early on 12 November, an enemy force of un-
known size blew up a bridge on strategic Route 20,
some 25 miles east of Bao Loc, the capital of Lam
Dong Province. A South Vietnamese reaction force,
sent to the scene, was ambushed along the highway
near the bridge site. At the same time, another
enemy force attacked South Vietnamese military com-
pounds at nearby Di Linh.
5. Both of these engagements continued on 13
November and South Vietnamese and American reinforce-
ments have been moved into the area. Incomplete
casualty reports list 65 South Vietnamese soldiers
killed, 25 wounded, and 25 missing. Two enemy soldiers
have been killed thus far. Traffic between Bao Lac
and Da Lat in neighboring Tuyen Duc Province has
been temporarily suspended.
13 November 1967
I-1
S.Lit. ET
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
j
.1�-� .1, J-4 J.
6. The recent increase in Communist military
activity directed at South Vietnamese forces in
this area of southern II Corps is consistent with
the avowed enemy objective of destroying security
forces and degrading government authority. Since
last May, South Vietnamese forces have secured
Route 20, denying the Viet Cong some one to two
million piasters a day in tax booty. Current
enemy action also draws friendly forces from
southwestern Lam Dong Province, where most enemy
tax collection points were located, thus allowing
an opportunity for renewed collection in that area.
Enemy Activity in Northern III Corps
7. Communist action continues in the northern
portion of the III Corps area. Late on 12 Novem-
ber the base camp of the 2nd Brigade/US 25th
Infantry Division at Song Be was hit by an intense
25-minute mortar barrage. The barrage, believed
to have been launched by elements of the North
Vietnamese 88th Regiment, consisted of 110 rounds
of 60- and 82-mm, mortar fire. Thirty-three
Americans were wounded.
13 November 1967
1-2
S.ECTZET
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2))
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
New' TOP .SEeRET Nore
13 November 1967
1-3
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3 '1/1-11/01
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2619/03/29 C03029764
stioe TO P�SEC R ET
II. PPTATICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. During its continuing consideration of
draft rules submitted by the rules committee, the
Senate on 9 November approved the establishment of
12 standing committees and decided against having
a secretary general on its board of presiding offi-
cers.
2. The 12 standing committees include the
following: agriculture; education, culture, and
youth affairs; communications and public works;
economics; labor and social welfare; budget, fi-
nance, and taxes; information and foreign affairs;
internal affairs and rules; interior; defense; ju-
diciary; and health. Each will include between
five and ten members, except for the budget and
finance committee, which may have as many as 15.
Each committee may form as many subcommittees as
necessary.
3. In discussing its presiding officers--a
question deferred from an earlier session--the
Senate voted to forgo election of a secretary gen-
eral and establish the internal affairs and rules
committee instead. The position of secretary gen,-
eral was one of considerable power in the Provi-
sional National Assembly, and the senators were
apparently reluctant to vest this much power in
one man again. Specific duties of the committee
have not yet been detailed, but it will probably be
responsible for such tasks as controlling the agenda
and ruling on legislative procedures.
13 November 1967
T9 JT
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
III. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
13 November 1967
III-IV - 1
ikEtRET
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
iuiitRET Nis
V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Additional evidence that ill health pre-
vented Ho Chi Minh from participating in cele-
brations of the 50th anniversary of the Russian
Revolution was obtained by a correspondent for
the Guardian, who recently visited Hanoi.
In a 14 _ovember story filed from Hong Kong, the
correspondent reported that Ho is "very weak."
He said the Soviet ambassador in Hanoi called on
Ho to invite him to the celebrations, presumably
those in Moscow. Ho, who reportedly was con-
fined to bed, said that he wanted to attend but
that he did not have the strength to do so.
Front Official on "Talks"
2. Dang Chan Thi, the Liberation Front
representative to the 50th anniversary celebrations
in Moscow, has provided a further indication that
the Front views any US - North Vietnamese talks
following a halt in the bombing of the North as
separate from any discussions on settling the
war in the South. Asked in an interview with
a Japanese correspondent on 8 November if the Front
would agree to open talks if the bombing of the
North ended, Dang replied that the "suspension of
bombing alone would not lead to such a conference.
He added that the first requisite for a meeting
is US acceptance of the Hanoi's four points and
the Front's five-point proposal.
3. Dang's statement is in keeping with those
made recently by other Front spokesmen. It also
reflects Hanoi's long-held contention that any
postbombing talks would deal only with bilateral
US - North Vietnamese relations and that in any
talks involving a settlement in South Vietnam the
Front, as a full participant, will take the primary
role.
13 November 1967
V-1
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
cret
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764
Nw40' *�;Wr
Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C03029764