The Big Hole

It was a foolhardy sniper who leaped out of a camouflaged hole one evening last week and fired a shot at a group of U.S. marines on the prowl for the Viet Cong. His zeal was costly. Approaching the "spider trap," the marines tossed in some grenades, and out popped four willing prisoners. Suddenly another burst of gunfire came from the hole. Big hole, the marines shrugged, tossing in more grenades. When the concealed V.C. responded with still another fusillade, a U.S. demolition squad provided a real blast, using dynamite this time. When the smoke cleared, the marines clambered down into the hole, discovered to their amazement a limestone cavern over six feet high and 250 feet long. It was littered with the bodies of 66 Viet Cong, all dead from the demolition charge--the largest single kill for U.S. troops since they arrived in force in Viet Nam.

The big bag was part of Operation Piranha, a joint U.S.-Vietnamese assault on the Batangan peninsula 20 miles south of coastal Chu Lai--and a suspected supply base for guerrillas operating in the area. At dawn of Piranha's first day, big naval guns pounded Batangan's beaches from offshore. Then an American amphibious force slipped ashore, while Vietnamese marines and army troops helicoptered inland to close the trap, and a U.S. Marine unit choppered down atop Batangan's commanding 660-ft.-high hill.

The landings by sea and air were virtually unopposed, but soon Piranha's pincers, aided by tactical air strikes from Navy bombers, were flushing out Viet Cong on all sides. In the first encounter, U.S. Marines killed four V.C. and captured six. The Vietnamese soon checked in with 28 dead Viet Cong, and the bombers picked off twelve more. Later, in one brief, fierce firefight, the marines killed 17 more Viet Cong and captured 21, suffering not a single U.S. casualty in the process. Marine Major General Lewis Walt flew into Batangan for a battlefield look, found himself "so proud of my marines I can hardly talk."

He had every right to be. At week's end Operation Piranha had yielded the marines 112 Viet Cong dead and 43 prisoners, not to mention an additional 66 V.C. kills scored by the South Vietnamese troops.

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