From a Fayetteville, NC newspaper, during his service in Vietnam:

Saigon's Losses Heaviest of War. TAN PHU, South Viet Nam (AP) - A three-day battle with two Communist Viet Cong battalions has left this southern Mekong Delta region bleeding and grief stricken and cost the government its heaviest casualties in the Viet Nam War. (Note, during this battle, his duty location, Tan Phu, was overrun) American advisers (i.e. Special Forces, specifically 5th Special Forces, Viet Nam) reported nearly 300 government soldiers (South Vietnamese) soldiers dead or wounded.

Civilian casualties may exceed 200, an American adviser said. They apparently were deliberately inflicted by the Communists on government sympathizers.

American observers called the action "a stunning Communist political victory."

One American enlisted man, a helicopter crewman, was killed by ground fire Sunday. A dozen other Americans were wounded.

American advisers counted 50 or 60 bodies of guerillas in charred paddy fields. The enemy losses were believed to be much heavier, Vietnamese officers said. The Reds carried the fight into government lines, even in daylight.

The Communists on Sunday moved out of a base in the tangled forest of U-Minh, along the Gulf of Thailand, and overran the district capital of Kien Long. The American believe their aim was to reassert their dominance over the northern Ca Mau Peninsula, along their hunting ground. Recent government moves in the area apparently were hurting them.

In a public massacre at Kien Long, the Viet Cong disembowed the district chief and his young son, broke the arms and logs of the chief’s wife and killed her with a shot to the head, and executed or wounded other government sympathizers including the mayor. Then the Reds headed back into the countryside.

A self-defense cops post inside Kien Long did not yield although many of its buildings were smashed. The small unit however, could do nothing to stop the Viet Cong butchery, American advisers said.

When word of the attack reached corps headquarters at Can Tho, more than 400 paratroopers were dropped in the area. There were 50 jump casualties because of the wind and the battalion did not get moving until later in the day.

A Ranger battalion came in along a canal. Two infantry battalions were moved in by helicopter. A special Forces unit moved out from Tan Phu camp and was ambushed, taking 50 casualties. (Note: dad was at Tan Phu during this time).

After heavy fighting, American advisers were reporting early Monday that Communist units apparently were trapped within a triangle of government forces. Heavy forest fires had also broken out in the Reds’ forest base, making movement there difficult.

The Communists fought their way out, cutting through a Vietnamese infantry battalion and inflicting crippling losses on it.

Then to the amazement of Vietnamese and American officers, Communist units stayed in the area all day Monday, attacking various government units.

By Monday night one Vietnamese battalion was out of ammunition for its mortars and 57mm recoilless rifles” ammunition.

“We knew we were surrounded,” said an American adviser, “and were hugging ground about 10 p.m. when we heard this Communist commander calling our Vietnamese battalion commander over the radio. This Viet Cong was saying he would attack us in force at 3 p.m. Tuesday and wipe us out before reinforcements arrived. I tell you I was scared.”

The attack came from the north and then the west. The defenders were lying in trenches with only small arms to meet the guerillas. “At one stage they must have been 50 years away, “ said the American. “But then the artillery zeroed in on them from Tan Phu with air bursts that must have cut them to pieces. Every time they launched an attack across those rock hard paddy fields we stopped them with artillery.”

The Viet Cong finally withdrew, taking their dead and wounded with them. The defending battalion suffered several losses. The battalion commander was dead along with most of his senior officers, all killed rallying their men, their American advisors said.