SUMMARY OF EVENTS
The offensive against Saigon began before dawn on Sunday, May 5, 1968.  The
city was defended by ARVN and Vietnamese Marine units and the Vietnamese
National Police.  Units from the 9th Division became involved as of the
morning of Tuesday, May 7, 1968, when the enemy hit the 5-60th Mech as it
guarded the southern approaches to the Y-Bridge and the Highway 5A bridge;
these key bridges spanned the Kinh Doi Canal, connecting Saigon with its
southern suburb, known as District 8.  Built up from a swampy area, District
8 was populated by Catholic immigrants who had left North Vietnam after the
French defeat in 1954.

                                       TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1968
At this time, the 3-39th was operating in the vicinity of Rach Kien,
approximately fifteen kilometers southwest of Saigon in Long An Province.
According to the battalion log entry for 9 AM:  "3-39TH INF ALERTED TO MOVE
TO SAIGON ON SHORT NOTICE FOR 3 TO 5 DAYS.  FRENCH FORT AND RACH KIEN WILL
RECEIVE RELIEF FORCES.  COMPANIES WILL MOVE WITH 3 RIFLE PLATOONS[,] NIGHT
KIT EQUIPMENT[,] AND 100% BASIC LOAD.  CP GROUPS WILL INCLUDE SUPPLY
REPRESENATIVE.  MINIMUM OF ONE 81MM MORTAR AND THREE 90MM RECOILLESS RIFLES
PER COMPANY."

A/3-39th was lifted from the French Fort at 2:20 PM and inserted into an LZ
along a canal in the rice-paddy country at the southwestern tip of Saigon by
2:34 PM.
    B/3-39th departed An Nhut Tan at 2:45; it landed in A/3-39th's LZ by 2:56
PM.
    At 4 PM, A/3-39th (minus the 1st Platoon at Nhut Tan) was picked up again
only two-hundred meters from its original LZ and inserted at 4:08 PM into a
second LZ six kilometers northeast near the village of Chanh Hung (which sat
in District 8 less than two kilometers south of the Kinh Doi Canal between
Highway 5A to the west and Route 230 to the east).
    At 4:17 PM, B/3-39th (minus the 3d Platoon at Rach Kien) also lifted out
of its original LZ and inserted at 4:27 PM into a second LZ, also near Chanh
Hung.  While digging in for the night, A/3-39th discovered a cache of
sixty-eight 82mm mortar rounds, plus enemy foxholes and a small amount of
AK-47 ammunition.
    The Battalion Field CP and Recon Platoon were on the ground as of 9 PM.
    According to a brigade report, the Battalion Field CP and B/3-39th set up
for the night immediately east of Xom Cau Mai (which hugged the Kinh Doi
Canal between the Y-Bridge and the Highway 5A bridge about a kilometer and a
half north of the LZs in Chanh Hung); A/3-39th set up along the Rach Xom (a
tributary of the Kinh Doi Canal) approximately a kilometer southwest of Xom
Cau Mai.  These locations do not match up with those reported in the
battalion log.

Meanwhile, C/3-39th, opcon to the 4-39th (which was responsible for sealing
the southern approaches to Saigon), was positioned about two kilometers south
of the eastern tip of Saigon (about four and a half kilometers southeast of
Xom Cau Mai).  A and B/3-60th assumed responsibility of those positions the
3-39th had departed to move to Saigon (An Nhut Tan, Rach Kien, and the French
Fort).
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