Page 130 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Throughout the second day of the New Year the insur-
gents stepped up their pre6aure and tried to take over the rnilitary
prieon in the vicini.ty. They failed in all their atternpts ln spite of
our inability to bring in rej.nf orcernents.

On the following day a Marine task force carne to the
re6cue of the besieged garrison. In the wake of quite a few bloody
engagernent the two battalion task force get the situation under control.
On the fourth day of the Year of the Monkey the enerny again tried to
force his way into the artillery base. At one point he penetrated the
defense perirneter but pointblank cannon fire again drove hirn back.
A counterattack drove hirn frorn the No Than Carnp and restored
Go.Vap to no rrnalcy.

More than one ARVN officer was killed in this battle,
arnong whorn were Lieutenant Colonel To Ngoc Tho of the FiJth lnfan-
try Division and Captain Tran Manh of the Artillery C ornrnand. Two
105rnrn howitzers were destroyed during the fight.

At the radio station

The attack on the Saigon Radio Station took place at about
rnidnight by a group of Viet Cong rnasquerading as riot police elernents.
The intruders took control of the governrnent building which had been
under the protection of a squad of riot poli.ce troops.

After entering the building,the sappers destroyed rnost
rnachinery but left alone the newly-built witrg where rnost papers and
files .pere stored. Although occupied by the enernn Radio Saigon conti-
nued to broadcast since the transrnission center was located in the
defense perirneter of the Quang-Trung Ttaining Center which was never
threatened by the enerny
By 0500 hours a group of airborne troops were dispatched
to the sceneand within two hours disloged the intruders. A total of 14
Viet Cong were killed and sorne arnrnunition was captured.

It was learned i few days Later that irnrnediate ly after
,
the central radio station was occupied by the enerny, the political war-
fare officer at the Qualg-Trung Tbaining Center - only identified as
Captain Hung - irnrnediately reported the facts to his cornrnanding
officer,Colonel Le Ngoc Trien,and began broadcasting taped rnusic
over the air. The following rnorning listeners of the Voice of Vietnarn
could still hear VTVN and sorne shoxt news bulletins as conveyed to

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