The battle of Cholon and Phú Thọ Racetrack began during the early hours of 31 January 1968 and continued until 11 February 1968. The attacks by
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 ...
(VC) forces were one of several major attacks around
Tet offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
. The attacks were repulsed with the VC suffering heavy losses and substantial damage to the densely populated area of Cholon.
Background
The 6th ''Binh Tan'' Battalion was tasked with attacking the
Chí Hòa Prison
Chí Hòa Prison ( or ') is a functioning Vietnamese prison located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The prison is an octagonal building on a 7-hectare site716th Military Police Battalion which was responsible for law enforcement duties in respect of US personnel.
The
Tết
Tết (), short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Chữ Hán: 節元旦), Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The colloquial term "Tết" is a shortened form of , ...
ceasefire began on 29 January, but was cancelled on 30 January after the VC/PAVN prematurely launched attacks in II Corps and
II Field Force, Vietnam
II Field Force, Vietnam was a United States Army Corps-level command during the Vietnam War.
Activated on 15 March 1966, it became the largest corps command in Vietnam and one of the largest in Army history. II Field Force was assigned the lineag ...
commander,
Lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Frederick C. Weyand deployed his forces to defend Saigon.
At 03:00 on 30 January, the 200-man 6th ''Binh Tan'' Battalion and 100 conscripted civilian porters, infiltrated the city from the west and were met by local VC guides who led them to the Phú Thọ Racetrack. A second set of guides who were supposed to lead the Battalion to the Chí Hòa Prison didn't turn up and eventually the Battalion commander sent 2 companies into the city to try to find the Prison while keeping his remaining 2 companies at the Racetrack.
Battle
At 04:45 a 716th MP Battalion two-man gun-jeep patrol drove through the intersection at the southern end of the Racetrack (). The VC fired on the jeep killing one MP immediately while the other MP radioed a distress call before he was also killed. The radio message was not understood at the 716th MP Battalion headquarters who were dealing with multiple other attacks around the city with the result that over the following hour, two more jeep patrols drove through the intersection and were engaged by the VC with 2 more MPs killed and 2 wounded.
At approximately 06:00 716th MP Battalion commander
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Gordon Rowe sent a truck carrying 13 MPs to investigate the missing patrols. The MPs arrived at the intersection, rescued the two wounded MPs and then withdrew to a fighting position in a building on the southeast of the intersection. Rowe sent further reinforcements to engage the VC but they were unable to make any progress against the VC.
Weyand ordered Lt. Col. John K. Gibler's 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment stationed approximately 10 km southwest to move into the city to assist the MPs. Gibler ordered his Company A to the south of Cholon where they met up with Troop D,
17th Cavalry Regiment
The 17th Cavalry Regiment is a historical organization within the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry after the Pancho Villa Expedition. The unit was constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 17th Cavalry at Fort ...
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) General
Cao Văn Viên
Cao Văn Viên (December 21, 1921 – January 22, 2008) was one of only two South Vietnamese four-star army generals in the history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He rose to the position of Chairman of the Sou ...
ordered 2 companies of the 33rd Ranger Battalion to join ''Task Force Gibler'' and ordered the 38th Ranger Battalion operating west of Saigon to advance on the Racetrack from the west.
''Task Force Gibler'' and the 33rd Rangers moved north through Cholon and as they approached the Racetrack they began to take fire from VC in windows and on rooftops of the 2-3 storey row houses lining the road. The US/ARVN infantry fanned out into alleys and side-streets to engage the VC, while the M113s continued down the road firing on the VC with their machine guns, with the command vehicle being knocked out by a
Rocket-propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...
(RPG).
At 11:00 ''Task Force Gibler'' and the ARVN 38th Rangers converged on the southern intersection, joining up with the 716th MP Battalion platoon. At this time control of the battle passed to
Major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Keith L. Ware and his ''Hurricane Forward'' tactical headquarters at Camp Lê Văn Duyệt which assumed tactical control of all U.S. units within the Saigon Capital Military District.
The US/ARVN forces now supported by helicopter gunships began blasting the VC in the Racetrack's concrete stadium building with 106-mm recoilless rifle fire while also engaging them with machine gun and rifle fire. By late afternoon the VC abandoned the Racetrack, exfiltrating in 3-man groups into the residential neighbourhood to the west, pursued by the Rangers and
Republic of Vietnam National Police
The Republic of Vietnam National Police – RVNP ( vi, Cảnh sát Quốc gia Việt Nam Cộng hòa, links=no), Police Nationale de la République du Vietnam or Police Nationale for short ( vi, Cảnh sát Quốc gia, links=no – CSQG) in Frenc ...
.
Having secured the Racetrack, the U.S. forces used it as a base of operations with helicopters landing the rest of the 3/7th Infantry and an artillery battery there that evening.
On the morning of 1 February, Ware reinforced ''Task Force Gibler'' with Companies A and B, 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment a mechanized infantry unit equipped with M113s. ''Task Force Gibler'' spent the day clearing the neighborhood around the Racetrack, engaging small VC units with 2 M113s damaged by RPG fire and by nightfall the neighborhood was declared secure.
On 4 February the residents of Cholon were ordered to evacuate the area and it was declared a
Free-fire zone
A freedom zone to fire in U.S. military parlance is a fire control measure, used for coordination between adjacent combat units. The definition used in the Vietnam War by U.S. troops may be found in field manual FM 6-20:
:A specific designated a ...
allowing the full weight of U.S./South Vietnamese air and artillery support to be directed against the VC still holding out there.
On 11 February ''Task Force Gibler'' launched an attack on the Phu Lam Pagoda () which ARVN intelligence believed to be the VC headquarters for all operations in Saigon. The VC were entrenched in the pagoda and in bunkers and tunnels in the adjacent cemetery. In a day of hard fighting ''Task Force Gibler'' supported by fire from M42 Dusters overran the position killing 49 VC and capturing 4 together with maps, radios and other equipment for the loss of 6 U.S. soldiers killed.
Aftermath
Only 30 soldiers of the 6th Battalion returned to their base camp near the Vàm Cỏ Đông River following the battle.