Week of November 27, 2022
Week of November 27 – December 3, 2022:
South Vietnam's 7th Regiment Annihilated on
November 27, 1965
SUMMARY: On Saturday, November 27, 1965, a reinforced North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regiment attacked and destroyed the 7th Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) near the Michelin Rubber Plantation a few miles northeast of Dau Tieng, South Vietnam. The ARVN regiment sought to destroy elements of the newly formed North Vietnamese 9th Infantry Division operating in the area. The NVA division comprised the 271st, 272d, and 273d People's Liberation Armed Forces regiments, formed from local Viet Cong (VC) forces. The shooting began early in the morning and lasted for eight bloody hours. Seven American advisers were killed in the battle and the South Vietnamese regiment was completely wiped out.
FULL STORY: The Michelin Rubber Plantation was the largest rubber plantation in South Vietnam. It covered 31,000 acres of the Binh Duong Province and was home to hundreds of workers who lived in 22 hamlets sprinkled across the property. The communists maintained a strong presence there. The plantation was a profitable source of tax income for the South Vietnamese government, but was also subjected to regular levies by the VC. By October 1965, financial demands from the local VC had become untenable and it was no longer economical to operate the plantation. The company refused to pay the levy.
In reprisal, the VC shot up one Michelin manager’s home with a 57-millimeter recoilless rifle. The owners and managers shut down plantation operations, fled to Saigon and begged the government to intervene. Hundreds of idle workers and a dried-up revenue stream could not be ignored.
The South Vietnamese government, assisted by the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), tasked the ARVN 7th Infantry Regiment and the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division with opening the roads into the plantation, clearing the property of hostile forces and reestablishing order and security.
In November 1965, ARVN and U.S. Army troops initiated pacification efforts dubbed XAY DUNG 10 and 11, and Operation BUSHMASTER I, respectively. The operations were successful and the South Vietnamese government was determined to capitalize on the achievements and extend the endeavor to the surrounding region, with a particular focus on the high ground along the Saigon River.
On November 26, the 1st, 3d, and 4th Battalions of the ARVN 7th Infantry Regiment set out from the district capital Dau Tieng towards the Cau Cong hills, just west of the Michelin property. They intended to exploit B-52 strikes that were scheduled in the area the following morning. The 2d Battalion, along with a battalion of South Vietnamese Rangers, an artillery battery, and a troop of armored M113 personnel carriers were held back in reserve. That afternoon, the regimental commander split his manpower, sending the 3d Battalion ahead of the main force. The battalions bivouacked in defensive positions at Nha Mat for the night, preparing to move at first light. Their plans were interrupted at dawn, when a reinforced communist regiment launched coordinated but separate assaults against the regimental command post, the two main force battalions, and the 3d Battalion.
The attackers’ mortar barrages, heavy automatic weapons fire, and human wave assaults had a devastating effect. The VC had learned by bitter experience that close proximity was critical in order to minimize U.S. and ARVN artillery and air support effectiveness. Their tactics worked. The 4th Battalion was divided down the middle. About half were killed and the other half, including their American advisers, were wounded. The 3d Battalion—which was on its own—had planned to lure the VC into a trap, but they too suffered terrible casualties. Three of the four American advisers were wounded. Only 45 men of the 3d Battalion were unscathed, including the fourth American adviser. The regimental command post and the 1st Battalion, including all seven American advisers attached, were utterly annihilated. Friendly losses that day were 249 killed, 213 wounded and 140 missing.
These are the brave U.S. soldiers who gave their last full measure of devotion that day:
- Major Guy H. McCarey, Jr. of Tampa, Florida, Advisory Team 70, Headquarters (HQ), MACV Advisers, MACV. Photojournalist Horst Faas, who arrived at the site soon after, reported: “The senior U.S. adviser to the slain regimental commander was found Sunday sprawled dead beside a foxhole.
At 7 a.m. Saturday, he had radioed a nearby Ranger battalion adviser: ‘My radio operator has just been killed, and we can't hold out much longer unless we get air strikes immediately. Put the strikes right among us, that's where the Communists are.’ A few minutes later the adviser, his voice still calm, called, ‘I'll have to get out of here. We're folding up.’"
- Captain James W. McNeely of Norwich, Connecticut, Advisory Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisers,
MACV was a cavalry platoon leader and on his second tour of duty in Vietnam. In addition to six children, he left behind his wife who was pregnant with twins at the time.
- First Lieutenant Carl A. Gray of Morganton, North Carolina, Advisory Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisers, MACV attended Laotian Language school in Washington, D.C. in 1965 before deploying to Vietnam as a Special Forces volunteer.
- Sergeant First Class Phillip J. Vander Weg of Wayland, Michigan, Advisory Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisers, MACV had been a member of the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the "Golden Knights." He left behind his wife and three children.
- Sergeant William H. Crisman of Detroit, Michigan, Advisory Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisers, MACV had enlisted in the Army four years earlier. He had been in Vietnam just five weeks before being killed. He left behind his wife and a son.
- Private First Class John M. Grasso, Jr. of New Britain, Connecticut, Public Affairs Office, HQ,
MACV Advisers, MACV was a radio operator.
- Private First Class Lester J. Kersten of Chicago, Illinois, Advisory Team 70, HQ, MACV Advisers, MACV was also a radio operator.
As it turned out, the attackers were a well-trained reinforced NVA regiment. While made up primarily of VC, the regiment was comprised of seasoned combat veterans supplied with the latest Soviet weapons. The South Vietnamese troops, on the other hand, were trained to fight meager numbers of relatively unskilled, irregular troops and were equipped with World War II U.S. Army surplus. To say they were outmatched was an understatement.
All seven American advisers are memorialized together on Panel 3E, Lines 115-116 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.1
