Page 415 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

Most of the rnilitary installations were untouched. Only a
few were lightly darnaged. Two military dependentsr quarters burned
down rnaking a total of 233 {arnilies horneless.
Several places of worship such as the Buu Quang, Chua
Cat, Gia Hoa pagodas, the Protestant Church and the Stadiurn Catholic
Church were also destroyed. The Binh Quang pagoda took one rnortar
round and lost a corner of its secondary building which then collapsed.
Sorne 100 citizens were killed and twice this rnany wound-
ed and hospitali.zed. Sorne 3,383 farnilies or a total of 19,961 persons
were left horneless since one out of every five civilian houses was
destroyed or seriously darnaged. Those structures destroyed included
737 concrete houses, 1645 tin-roofed shacks and 233 thatch houses.
Structures darnaged but still reparable included 284 concrete, 413 tin-
roofed shacks and 63 thatched huts. Most of the property destruction
was suffered by the people of suburban harnlets except those in the
Duc Thang and Vinh Phu harnlets which saw no fighting. Hardest hit
rffa6 the Phu Trinh harnlet which was regarded as a cornplete loss.

There were ten refugee centers in the city. Most of the
re{ugees preferred to take shelter on the beach- They believed the
enerny would not be naive enough to rnove there and get exposed. Most
of the refugees carrle frorn Phu Trinh and Binh Hung harnlets, the
hardest hit areas during the offensive. They pitched tiny makeshift
tents on the sand. Here they spent the nights. In the daytirne they
ventured back to their harnlets whenever they thought they could in
hopes of salvaging what consurnables they could.One rnonth after the
end of the offensive the signs of distress, abject rnisery and serni-
starvation were still on their faces and in their haggard appearance
for every visitor to see- The fishermen, who made up the larger part
of the local working people, were not allowed to go off-shore to fish
because of the nightly curfew. They were closer to starvation than any
of the other people.

C. A FEW REMARKS

During the offensive against the city, the enerny suffered
a shattering rnilitary defeat and over four tirnes as rnany fatalities as
friendly troops.