The Battle of Bong Son

Operation Masher/White Wing, 1966

Kenneth P White

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Hardback

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English

Casemate Publishers
01 March 2024

History; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700; Military history; Military life & institutions

Operation Masher/White Wing targeted the regiments of the North Vietnamese Army Sao Vang Division operating in the Bong Son area in northeast Binh Dinh Province in central South Vietnam. The operation started on January 24, 1966, immediately after the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) and ended six weeks later. It was led by newly promoted Colonel Harold G. Moore, who as a lieutenant colonel commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the battle of Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley two months earlier.

In 41 days of sustained fighting, the 1st Cav battled each of the three regiments of the Sao Vang Division, resulting in enemy losses of more than 3,000 KIA. This came at the cost of 199 Americans killed on the battlefield and 46 more who died in the crash of a U.S. Air Force C-123 aircraft en route to the battlefield, making it one of the deadliest battles of the entire Vietnam War.

Operation Masher/White Wing was a success. The 1st Cav demonstrated that it had the firepower, mobility, and leadership to find the enemy and deliver a severe blow to it in terms of personnel and equipment losses and in forced evacuation from formerly secure base areas, seemingly proving the value of the search-and-destroy strategy.

However within a few weeks, intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese soldiers were returning to the Bong Son area in small groups. By late April, the Sao Vang Division was back in the area in force. Operation Masher/White Wing proved to be the start of a very long and deadly struggle between the 1st Cav and North Vietnamese for control of Binh Dinh Province-multiple search & destroy operations eventually resulted in more than 9,000 enemy KIA and 2,358 enemy detained, with friendly losses of more than 1,200 KIA, 5,775 WIA, and 27 MIA. While Masher/White Wing demonstrated that search & destroy operations were very effective at the tactical level but without a high-level strategy to stop the unabated flow of fresh Communist troops and supplies into South Vietnam, it wasn't clear just how they contributed to overall victory. At the start of 1968, General Westmoreland ordered the 1st Cav to terminate its operations in the Bong Son area, bringing the battle to a close.

AUTHOR: Kenneth P. White served 18 months in Vietnam as an infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division's Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit. He was a member of a six-man recon team that supported the brigades of the division in the Bong Son area by searching out and locating enemy troop encampments, reporting enemy movements, and directing fire power at targets of opportunity. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and is active in the 1st Cavalry Division Association as a contributor to the association's SABER newspaper.

40 illustrations

By: Kenneth P White
Imprint: Casemate Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781636244013
ISBN 10: 1636244017
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 01 March 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Prologue 1. Preparing for Battle 2. Tragedy Strikes 3. Attack 4. Breakout from the Cemetery 5. A Pincer Action 6. Closing-out Phase I 7. Into the An Lao Valley 8. The Eagle's Claw 9. Yelling Like Madmen 10. Death in a Narrow Place 11. The Iron Triangle 12. No Rest for the Weary 13. The Go Chai Mountains 14. Black Horse 15. Conclusion Appendix I: Book of Honor Appendix II: Memorandum Requesting Name Change Appendix III: Citations and Award Bibliography Historical Documents Glossary

Kenneth P. White served 18 months in Vietnam as an infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit. He was a member of a six-man recon team that supported the brigades of the division in the Bong Son area by searching out and locating enemy troop encampments, reporting enemy movements, and directing fire power at targets of opportunity. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and is active in the 1st Cavalry Division Association as a contributor to the association’s SABER newspaper.

Reviews for The Battle of Bong Son: Operation Masher/White Wing, 1966

"""The author served as an infantryman in the 1st Cavalry Division's Long range reconnaissance patrol unit as part of a six-man team in the Bong Son area. They located NVA camps, monitored their movements and called in artillery and air strikes, giving the author in-depth, personal knowledge of the area and activities covered in this well-written book.""-- ""Military Heritage Magazine"" ""...an excellent account of an important operation that had an impact on how the war was fought by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces. White's day-by-day and, in many cases, hour-by-hour, account of the fighting is well constructed and easy to follow.""-- ""ARMY Magazine"" ""...a deeply researched and comprehensive book, chronicles the battle in great detail, including all American and allied units involved and some of the enemy units of the NVA's Sao Vong (Yellow Star) Division.""-- ""The VVA Veteran"" ""...an accessible and detailed exploration of the 1st Cavalry's role in one of the most critical campaigns of the war. White's study of this oft-overlooked battle provides a new history of one of the Vietnam War's most famous units for military scholars and general readers."" -- ""Journal of Military History"""