Page 143 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

rrLieutenant Xuan had had only tirne to te1l Hiep to be ca-
reful when the young soldier was rnortally wounded. He irnrnediately
tried to retrieve the body of the young hero but enerny gunners had
followed his rnovernents carefully and he could not get anywhere near
Hiep.
trln the face of the Lieutenantrs dilemrna a civilian in his
{orties,who along with an old lady had been caught in the Iight,
volunteered.to recover Hieprs body' The rnan, Mr. Ho Van Hai, told
the soldiers, rrLet rne do it. Since I arn in civilian clothes it rnight be
a little easierr r.
trAnd without waiting for: an answer, Mr. Hai went out
into the open,trying in the rneanwhile to llght a BastoB cigaletteto calm
his nerves. He trod slowly arnidst explosions, reached Hiep, and pul-
led the lifeless body back to the safety of the cornrnand poet.

I tMeanwhile on the left hand flank Captain Thiet was speak-
ing on the radio,ordering Lieutenant Xuan to withdraw his troops so
thit an arrnored elernent could {inish the job. Three tanks,nicknarned
trCrabstr,appeared {rorn nowhere,causing the enerny to reoganize his
frontline within sight of the governrnent soldiers.

rrTherrCrabsrrsurged forward slowly but surely. A flurry
of bornbs frorn enerny rocket launchers flew in the direction of the rno-
ving vehicles, reducing one of thern to a burning heaP of rnetal. This
did not stop the Rangers frorn continuing the assault. Captain Thiet and
his soldiers rnounted the trCrabrt and converted the vehicle into ahuge
fire rna chine.
rrFighting grew rrrore intense with each passing rninute'
The second tank arrived as reinforcernent only to be hit by a flying
bornb and set a{ire, Enerny troops irnrnediately took advantage of the
surprise to start a counterattack' But they did not realizethe resour-
cefulness of the cornrnander of the 33rd Ranger Battalion and hi6
rnen,
ItAt a sirnple order a totally different forrnation ernerged
frorn the confused battle scene with rnasked rnen, rnoving around like
supernatural beings,felling horrified Viet Cong by the dozens' Most
Rangers had been equipped with gas rnasks and they had resorted to
this tactic to defeat an enerny deterrnined to overrun thern by sheer
nurnber s.
rrln this engagernent Viet Cong losses reached unirnagi-
nable proportions,

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