Guarding the Gauntlet

It was just past 3 a.m. last week when the deafening roar of high explosive split the quiet moonlit night. The blast slammed the Greek tanker Eleftheroupolis against its pier near the Nha Be tank farm southeast of Saigon, Despite the constant allied watch on shipping along the entire 30-mile length of the Long Tau channel, which links Saigon and the sea, a Viet Cong frogman had attached a 100-lb. charge to the vessel's anchor chain. Damage was minor: one compartment was ruptured, but the jet fuel inside did not ignite.

On another day, the rising sun was just beginning to shimmer over the Long Tau when Chief Signalman Bob Monzingo clamped on the black beret worn by U.S. Navymen in Viet Nam, stepped aboard PBR (Patrol Boat River) 756 and headed for a rendezvous with the fully loaded U.S. tanker Kalydon. So did the Viet Cong. Three hours later, the battle exploded. From the Long Tau's east bank, ambushers fired five Communist-made B40 rockets at the tanker. All five missed, and Monzingo's two-boat force foamed toward the attackers, blasting away with M-60 machine guns and M-79 grenade launchers. Within minutes, Vietnamese Regional Force troopers moved inland to catch the fleeing foe. That evening, the raiders were trapped. All six were killed.

Trying Hard. The speed and scope of the allied response underlined the crucial importance of keeping the Long Tau open. Though airlift supply has achieved remarkable results, 98% of all allied war materiel still enters Viet Nam by sea, and a third of this total is unloaded at Saigon by ships that must run the Long Tau gauntlet.

Protecting the channel is a dirty job. It flows through the nauseous swamp called the Rung Sat (Killer Jungle), now more than 50% devastated by defoliating agents, but still dense enough to serve as a haven for an estimated 800 V.C. troops. Because the narrow Long Tau could easily be blocked, the Viet Cong have been trying hard since the beginning of the American buildup in 1965 to do precisely that. "If a ship the size of the Kalydon could be sunk in the middle of the river at that point," said a U.S. naval officer at Nha Be, "we'd be up to our neck. Estimates are that it would take anywhere from two to six months to reopen the channel. The U.S. command simply cannot afford to have that happen, since eight to ten large supply ships chug up the channel every day.

Equally aware of the Long Tau's importance, the Communists have stepped up their attacks from six in 1967 to 37 so far this year. Recently the enemy launched a so-called from a "Flying Trashcan" missile, adapted from a Soviet 122-mm. rocket, at the freighter Transglobe. The first Trashcan missed, but its appearance was ominous confirmation of the Viet Cong's continuing determination to block the Long Tau.

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