spartans_in_darkness

leta SEeREfflCOMIt41i'H(1
This operation, named Junction City, involved
thirty-four u.s. and two ARVN battalions, and
lasted from February to May 1967. A reported
2,700 communist troops were killed in a series of
ferocious battles involving some of the heaviest
fighting of the war. Massive air support proved
vital in at least three separate actions which
accounted for many of the communist losses.
(5//51) Despite these major field operations,
COSVNremained a vibrant command and was in
control of the region along the Cambodian border.
With Nixon's approval of the assault into
Cambodia, the u.s. command's interest again
centered on COSVN. Spearheading the attack ­
known as Operation Toan Thang ("Complete
Victory") 45 - against COSVNand the headquarters
SVNLA were the u.s. 1st Cavalry Division
(Airmobile), the 11thArmored Cavalry Regiment,
the ARVN Ist Infantry Regiment, and the 3rd
Airborne Brigade. On 5 May, this combat force
crossed the border in search of COSVN.
Supporting this assault were the 371st Radio
Research Company, which was the direct support
unit for the 1st Air Cavalry Division, and the
409th Radio Research Detachment. The highlight
of the this operation was the seizure of "The City"
- the main COSVNlogistics center.
(rS//SI) However, the operation failed to bag
the COSVN organization. From SIGINT, it was
discovered that COSVN had been on the move
since 4 April, when DIF located it west at its secondary
base area. From then on, the cryptologists
could plot COSVN's movements as it slowly drew
deeper north and west into Cambodia. By 4 May,
it had already reached a point twenty-five kilometers
northeast of its 4 April position, which placed
it one kilometer past the thirty kilometer zone of
operations established by President Nixon. In
LEGEND
MEKONG
RIVER
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• MAIN LOCATIONS
.. DIVERGENT LOCATIONS
~~I\lml COSVN BASE AREAS
4 NAY j' "
22 MAY "
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IIXT4595i!
[22 NARCH ,
L!-APRIL I
(V) Men ofthe 409th Radio Research Detqchment
aboard 'In M-113 armored personnel carrier ~uring
the 1970 Cambodian invasion
(V/~I) (OSVN movements during the
V.5.-ARVN incursion into Cambodia
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