Đồng Tâm Base Camp (also known as Đồng Tâm Army Airfield) is a former U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and

Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...

(ARVN) base west of

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majorit ...

in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...

, southern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

History

9th Infantry Division HQ, Dong Tam, July 1968

1966–9

Đồng Tâm Base Camp was established on the northern bank of the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...

7 km west of Mỹ Tho upon

COMUSMACV U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense. MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV ...

General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...

's decision to gain full control over the upper

region. Westmoreland personally took part in site selection. Westmoreland chose the name Đồng Tâm meaning "united hearts and minds" or "singleness of mind, in thoughts, and actions" in Vietnamese. The total construction price for the Army and Navy ran close to $8,000,000. Due to lack of available dry land, the base was created by dredging from the river. Dredging work to create the base commenced in August 1966 and involved the reclamation of 600 acres of swampland. The

Vietcong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

attempted to sabotage the base construction sinking the dredgeship ''Jamaica Bay'' on 9 January 1967 with the loss of 3 crewmembers. In January 1967 the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry was deployed to Đồng Tâm to provide base and construction security followed in March by Headquarters, 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division which moved from

Bearcat Base Bearcat Base (also known as Bearcat, Camp Martin, Camp Cox or Long Thanh North) is a former U.S. Army base near the city of Biên Hòa in Đồng Nai Province in southern Vietnam. History Bearcat was originally a French airfield, later used by ...

. In April the US Navy River Assault Squadron 9 was deployed to Đồng Tâm to support operations. On 1 June 1967, the

Mobile Riverine Force In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...

(MRF) comprising the 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division and the US Navy River Assault Squadrons 9 and 11 was established at Đồng Tâm. By this time the base occupied 12 square kilometres and included a 500m runway and a loading basin for boats. From June–December 1967 base facilities grew providing improved support and rest and recreation for the MRF. The Vietcong regularly harassed the base with mortar fire. Other units stationed at Đồng Tâm included: * 1st Battalion, 11th Artillery (1968 – August 1969) *

3rd Surgical Hospital Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

(May 1967 – September 1969)

1969–75

On 1 September 1969 Đồng Tâm was turned over to the ARVN 7th Division which moved its headquarters there from Mỹ Tho. When President

Dương Văn Minh Dương Văn Minh (; 16 February 19166 August 2001), popularly known as Big Minh, was a South Vietnamese politician and a senior general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and a politician during the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm. ...

announced the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on 30 April 1975, ARVN Brigadier General

Trần Văn Hai Brigadier General Trần Văn Hai (1927-1975) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was born in Cần Thơ. Military service In 1951, Hai graduated from the Dalat Military Academy, Class 7. In 1968, he was commanding the Ra ...

committed suicide at the base.

Current use

The base was abandoned and turned over to farmland and housing while the harbour area is used for fishing and transport vessels. As of 2018 the harbor is government controlled and leases facilities for civilian marine construction purposes. Access to the area requires government approval.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dong Tam Base Camp Installations of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam United States Navy installations Riverine warfare Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam Buildings and structures in Tiền Giang province 1966 establishments in South Vietnam