Demilitarizing the Zone

The Geneva accords of 1954 that separated North and South Viet Nam stipulated the creation of a buffer zone between the two countries. No troops were to enter this so-called Demilitarized Zone, which averages three miles in width on either side of the Ben Hai River frontier. Hanoi has long regarded the DMZ as a convenient, protected freeway for infiltrating its soldiers into the South. Flagrant though that violation was, in recent months Hanoi has done far more: it has turned the DMZ into a giant staging area and mortar and artillery base for its buildup against the U.S. Marines facing the zone. In almost a month of continuous fighting just south of the DMZ, the Marines have been repeatedly attacked in force and increasingly hit by round-the-clock, all-too-accurate mortar, rocket and recoil-less-rifle fire originating from the DMZ.

Last week, by land, sea and air, the Marines and South Vietnamese hit back in a multipronged, 10,000-man operation, sweeping into the DMZ area south of the border in an effort to drive the North Vietnamese out of it. Five Marine battalions struck from the south toward their own besieged base of Con Thien. A South Vietnamese task force roared northward up Route 1 all the way to the river border, then divided and turned back to push the enemy southward. Due north of Con Thien, a Marine battalion helicoptered into the DMZ to hammer the North Vietnamese toward the Marines moving north. And in a spectacular amphibious and helicopter assault, two more Marine battalions scythed in from the South China Sea. Waiting to do battle were two North Vietnamese regiments in the DMZ itself and at least three or four enemy battalions operating south of the zone --some 6,000 Communist soldiers of the estimated 35,000 in the border area.

A Formidable Fleet. Operation Hickory began with the Marine drive from Cam Lo to relieve Con Thien, which has been under almost constant mortar attack since May 8. The terrain favored the dug-in enemy: a dense jungle tangle of banana trees, bamboo, betel-nut and breadfruit trees in which visibility was seldom more than 15 ft., and fields separated by 10-ft.-high hedgerows. One company was within a mile of Con Thien when it was pinned down by fire from the seemingly deserted village of Trung An. The North Vietnamese had built of logs, trees and dirt an astonishing network of 300 holes throughout Trung An, were so well burrowed that even the U.S. bombers' 1,000-pounders and napalm failed to root them out. The leathernecks called up big M48 tanks to break through the hedgerows and roll right up atop the enemy bunkers.

A second Marine company was sent west to outflank Trung An, and soon was pinned down itself in the village of An Hoa. The fire was so heavy that rescue and supply choppers were driven off, and soon the Marines were without food or water, sucking bamboo for moisture. A third company finally broke through and managed to pull its casualties back into a nearby church. All that day mortars crashed around it, but none hit the roof. Even so, it was more than 40 hours before enough helicopters could get in to evacuate all the wounded. The next morning, the Marines blew up all the gear and extra ammunition that they could not carry and fought their way clear, carrying their dead in litters. Then the assault continued northward, though some 40% of the Marine force was killed or wounded*--many from mortar fire from the DMZ.

The assault on the DMZ itself began on the eve of Ho Chi Minh's 77th birthday. Dawn broke over a formidable invasion fleet steaming slowly off the coast. Two cruisers and five destroyers turned broadside to begin the softening-up bombardment of the shore line in the heaviest concentration of naval gunfire since the Korean War, while the amphibious assault boats swarmed in. Waves of troop-packed helicopters rose from the deck of the carrier Okinawa. The amphibious troops and their tanks, tractors and guns came ashore, meeting with little resistance. For the heliborne assault forces, it was another story.

Free Bombing Zone. The first landing zone, Goose, was only a mile south of the Ben Hai River. It was an enemy hornets' nest, and only 75 Marines were unloaded before they came under withering fire. The rest of the Marines sped to the secondary landing zone, Owl, and disembarked easily, but the men at Goose simply dug into the sand dunes and waited for their buddies on the beach to catch up with them. Then the advancing Marines hit the hole-to-hole kind of fighting that they have become accustomed to in recent weeks. Snipers would begin spitting at the Americans; when the Marines went after them, they turned out to be decoys that led the U.S. troops into machine-gun fire.

The Marines not only had an estimated two companies of North Vietnamese to cope with but also the civilians living in the DMZ. Part of Hickory's mission is to remove the estimated 11,000 villagers living in the DMZ and resettle them farther south, thus creating a free bombing zone in the buffer strip; the South Vietnamese force that moved up Route 1 had part of the same mission. The Marine force that helicoptered in north of Con Thien faced little opposition, but it quickly uncovered proof of Hanoi's plans for a major offensive out of the DMZ: a vast depot of North Vietnamese equipment ranging from rockets, mortars and antitank mines to rice and medical equipment.

Downtown Hanoi. As Hickory continued at week's end, the combined Allied forces had already killed more than 700 North Vietnamese and wounded countless more. Predictably, there were cries of protest over the U.S. incursion into the DMZ; Moscow, for example, called it "dangerous escalation." In fact, the U.S. admitted that Operation Hickory, far from being a long-considered step-up in the war, was rather a tactical and defensive necessity against the threat posed by the sudden North Vietnamese buildup. The U.S. command in Saigon indicated that U.S. forces would not stay in the southern part of the DMZ for more than a few days and pointed out that the Allies had not violated the North Vietnamese portion of the DMZ. But the U.S. also made clear that, to protect Allied troops, it would go back into the DMZ if need be.

For Ho Chi Minh's birthday proper, the U.S. had another surprise: the first purposeful bombing of downtown Hanoi. Carrier-based Navy planes hit the 32,000-kw. power plant only 2,000 yards from the city's center that supplies some 20% of the nation's electricity. Flying through fierce antiaircraft fire, seven U.S. planes went down, and MIGs came up to defend the Communist capital. Four of the Russian jets were shot down in dogfights, and in raids the next day Thailand-based Air Force planes shot down another five MIGs. That brought to 69 the number of MIGs downed over the North.

* The week's action brought to more than 10,000 the number of Americans who have died in the Viet Nam war.

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