Description
This period was from June 9-October31, 1969.
In the summer of 1969 Communist military action in South Vietnam temporarily decreased. On July 2, following the siege on Ben I-let.
Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces withdrew into Laos. Defenders at Ben llet credited air power, especially B-52s that bombed concentrations of troops. with preventing the enemy from capturing the camp. On August 12, however, a new enemy offensive began; Communist forces attacked over 100 cities, towns, and military installations in South Vietnam with mortars, rockets, and, in a few cases, infantry. During the next month, between September 15 and October 20. the Seventh Air Force flew close air support against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces that attempted unsuccessfully to take a camp near Due Lap. about 160 miles northeast of Saigon and 3 miles east of the Cambodian border.
Meanwhile. South Vietnam intensified its pacification program. and the United States began withdrawing its military forces. The first U.S. troops left the country on July 8. 1969, and in August the USAF reduced the number of tactical air and B-52 sorties flown daily in South Vietnam. Two F-100 tactical fighter squadrons and a B-57 tactical bomber squadron left South Vietnam during October and the United States transferred to the VNAF operation of the air base at Nha Trang, located on the coast about 200 miles northeast of Saigon. During the summer and fall of 1969, on the Plain of Jars in Laos, the USAF provided close air support to Royal Laotian and irregular forces continuing to fight the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese. On June 24 the Communists attacked Muong Soui, a town 110 miles north of Vientiane and about 45 miles southeast of Luang Prabang. U.S. Army helicopters, protected by tactical aircraft, evacuated the Laotian troops from Muong Soui on June 27, and 4 days later Laotian govemment forces counterattacked with the aid of USAF close air support. The advance stalled on July 8, however. when the weather deteriorated and few tactical fighter sorties could be flown. When the weather improved in late August, the Laotians renewed their offensive, supported by 200 USAF tactical air sorties daily. On September I2 Laotian forces captured Xianglthoang and on September 27 they re-entered
Muong Soui.
In the panhandle of Laos, the USAF continued its interdiction campaign. COMMANDO HUNT ll, concentrating on an area near the Ban I-lieng River running from the DMZ in Vietnam southwest about 25 miles to Tcheponc, Laos, 400 miles north of Saigon. The North Vietnamese used the river and its tributaries to transport supplies from the demilitarized zone into Laos. Strong antiaircraft batteries along the river protected storage and transshipment points, petroleum pipelines, and roads used to move supplies, personnel, and equipment into South Vietnam. The USAF flew tactical air and B-52 missions against this network during the day and gunship missions at night to destroy much of the materiel the enemy attempted to move.
