"
April 1966 in
Vietnam
Cu Chi - the
25th Infantry div launch
Operation Kahala on April 16, 1966; a search & destroy mission.
APCs move across a rice paddy and a soldier returns enemy fire. The soldiers reach deserted enemy positions and search the tunnels. A forward command position is formed and captured enemy rice and materiel is inventoried. On April 17 the APCs continue the sweep and enter a village and more tunnels are searched.
Villagers proclaim ignorance of
Viet Cong activities. No young men are found in village.
Propaganda signs are found in a nearby bunker. One VC is captured, interrogated and fed. A tunnel is investigated. The next day another village is searched. Viet Cong uniforms are found in some brush. New tunnels are searched. The troops burn some dwellings and move on. On the 5th day, an additional village is searched and several armed Viet Cong guerrillas are captured.
Bien Hoa -
Huey Helicopters participate in
Operation Green Eagle on April 5, 1966. Several helicopters are hit by enemy fire.
SVA troops board the helicopters.
Back at Bien Hoa the helicopters are inspected by aviation mechanics for damage.
Bien Hoa - The 173d
Airborne have devised a new method of deploying mortars: mortar aerial delivery. On April 5, 1966 81mm shells are loaded onto a UH-1D helicopter and dropped onto Viet Cong positions.
Chief of Staff Inspection Tour - On April 14, 1966
General Harold Keith Johnson begins a
Far East tour in
Korea. General
Dwight E. Beach joins him to meet with
Korean President Park Chung-hee the next day.
The General confers with
Brig General
Robert B. Smith at
Camp Casey. He views a
ROK karate demonstration. On April 16, he speaks with the 2nd Inf
Division then
KMAG. An award is given to a member of the 55th
Aviation Company. The General surveys
Pusan Harbor. The General and wife leave Korea via Kempo
Air Base and arrive in
Okinawa, where they attend church the next day. He also gives out awards and decorations and leaves for Vietnam. He visits Cu Chi with
Major General Jonathan O. Seaman and spends time with the
25th Division. He speaks about Operation
Helping Hand and is briefed on Operation Kahala.
Bang Pu,
Thailand - on April 15, 1966 an
ARPA truck mobility test is undertaken by the
US Army and
Thai army. During the wet season, mobility is impaired. Tire types, sizes & number are tested in muddy conditions.
Terra tires perform the best.
Bangkok-Cholbari, Thailand - At The Thailand
Armed Forces Preparatory School Thai
Armed forces are given
English tests on April 20, 1966 for
CONUS training at
Fort Leavenworth. There is an
English language lab at the school. At Cholbari the
Royal Thai Army "
Little Tiger" unit will be UN replacement troops. They demonstrate
M-60 machine guns.
Santo Domingo &
San Cristobal, Dominican Republic -
CARE typhoid serum arrives in mid-April, 1966 at
Santo Domingo Airport, destined for the
National Hospital in
San Cristobal. (Where there is an epidemic.) The serum is transported by an US Army helicopter and arrives at the
82nd Airborne camp in San Cristobal. At the
Army base it is turned over to Dominican hosptal authorities. The
Army also donated 1,
000 doses of typhoid serum.
The US Navy is also donating water tanks and the US Army will establish pure water points for the citizens of San Cristobal. The city's ancient water system is believed to be the cause of the epidemic. A tank is shown being installed.
Water is delivered around the clock by the Army; delivery to rebel sections can be dangerous and are defaced with "Yanqui
Go Home!" but the water is welcomed anyway.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - April 24, 1966 is the 1 year anniversary of the revolt. Thousands demonstrate with anti-American slogans. On June 1,
1966 elections will be held. A radio station is being constructed by the US Army to provide election results. This will be the first democratic elections since 1962. There is also an
AFRTS station in Santo Domingo. It is the only Armed Forces
Station broadcasting in 4 languages."
Department of Defense
PIN 26967
STAFF FILM REPORT 66-18A
VIETNAM - COMBAT AND OTHER ACTIVITIES, APRIL 1966 - 25TH INFANTRY DIVISION, 173D AIRBORNE, AND INSPECTION TOUR OF GENERAL
H. K. JOHNSON; AND EVENTS IN
THAILAND AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
- published: 10 Jun 2015
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