THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06749694
• 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 2, 1967

Approved for Release: 2019/03/29 C06749694
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
3.5(c)
MC
MEMORANDUM
The Situation in Vietnam
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2 November 1967
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WARNING
This document contains classified information affecting the national security
of the United States within the meaning of the espionage laws, US Code
Title 18, Sections 793, 794, and 798.
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Information as of 1600
2 November 1967
HIGHLIGHTS
The Communists are continuing their costly as-
saults against allied positions in northern Binh
Long Province.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
Another abortive assault on Loc Ninh in Binh Long
Province early on 2 November resulted in heavy enemy
casualties (Paras. 1-3). A series of enemy attacks
southwest of Da Nang on 2 November caused heavy
damage to a South Vietnamese refugee center (Paras.
4-8). The North Vietnamese 2nd Division is regroup-
ing in a heavily forested hill area just west of
Que Son in southern Quang Nam Province (Paras. 9-10),
There is
IV.
There is
Military Developments in NortA Vietnam:
nothing of significance to report.
Other. Communist Military Developments:
nothing of significance to report.
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
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1. Another abortive assault on allied positions
at Loc Ninh in northern Binh Long Province was launched
by Communist troops early on 2 November.
2. The two-pronged attack was directed at two
battalions of US reinforcements near the Loc Ninh
airstrip and at a nearby Special Forces camp and South
Vietnamese outpost. Heavy allied artillery and mortar
fire forced the enemy to withdraw shortly after day-
break leaving behind 238 dead thus raising the five-
day toll of enemy killed to nearly 850. Allied
casualties during the attacks were light. Twenty-
five allied soldiers have been killed (eight US) and
118 wounded (32 US) during the five days of enemy at-
tacks.
3. According to preliminary interrogation of
an enemy soldier captured earlier this week, there
is a large Communist base camp less than five miles
north of Loc Ninh, just south of the Cambodian border.
The prisoner claimed that the camp was receiving sup-
plies daily from Cambodia. He said that two or three
French-made ten-wheel trucks transported rice and
foodstuffs across the border to the depot. The sup-
ply area allegedly houses an estimated 1,000 soldiers.
'Enemy Attack on Dai Loc
4. A series of well-coordinated enemy attacks
in coastal,Quang Nam Province some 15 miles west of
Hoi An .resulted in extensive damage to a South Viet-
namese refugee village early on 2 November.
5. The activity began with a mortar attack fol-
lowed by a ground assault on the Dai Loc bridge by an
estimated 100 Communist soldiers. The attackers were
finally forced to withdraw by a heavy concentration
of US artillery and air support. The Communists then
shifted their target to a nearby US Marine position.
Mortars, automatic weapons, grenades, and satchel
charges were used during a fierce one-hour attack.
Simultaneously, two other nearby allied positions--
another Marine night defensive position and a combined
action platoon--came under heavy attack which included
intense small arms fire.
171 2 November 1967
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6. During these actions, a group of enemy
troops entered the refugee center at Dai Loc and
burned 160 of the homes. The Communists then went
to a populated area just to the northwest and
burned another 180 homes. Casualties for the en-
tire episode included ten Marines killed and nine
wounded; nine South Vietnamese civilians were also
killed. Only four enemy bodies were found in
an initial sweep of the area.
7. This tactic of multiple small-unit attacks
concentrated on a cluster of military and civilian
targets, although not new, is being used increas-
ingly by Communist troops throughout South Vietnam.
This tactic, involving several dispersed incidents
within a short time, tends to restrict the effec
tiveness of allied reaction forces. Additionally,
the tactic gives the enemy a greater psychological
impact on the area and may also divert attention
from the movement of supplies or personnel for fu-
ture offensive activities.
8. This trend also encompasses closer coordi-
nation among main force, local force, and guerrilla
units throughout the country. The close coordina-
tion displayed in a series of attacks last week in
the delta suggests they were planned and controlled
at the province level. This may have been the case
in the latest action in Quang Nam Province.
North Vietnam's 2nd Division Regrouping
9. The headquarters of the North Vietnamese
2nd Division and all three of the division's sub-
ordinate regiments are now concentrated in a heav-
ily forested hill complex just west of the Que Son
valley in southern Quang Nam Province
. The 3rd_Regiment has
apparently extricated itself from its vulnerable
position of last week in the coastal plains. The
2nd Division may be in the highlands to reorganize
and receive replacements as it did in early October.
2 November. 1967
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10. During the past two months the 2nd Di-
vision has been the most active enemy division in
South Vietnam. Since the first week in September
nearly 300 US troops have been killed fighting it
and local Viet Cong forces along the Quang Nam -
Quang Tin border. Over 2,000 enemy soldiers have
been reported killed in this sector.
2 November 1967
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III. MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
IV. OTHER COMMUNIST MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS
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1. There is nothing of significance to report.
2 November 1967
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