THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001100010001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 29, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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Approved For, Release - 006/02/0T:`C1A=RDP79T00826A001100010001-2 103
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
:7)P~nrn"m~
THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM
Information as of 1600
29 July 1966
PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTHORIZED
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g iP~Y
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29 July 1966
On the ground in South Vietnam, Viet Cong
losses in Operation HASTINGS/LAM SON 289 "A" con-
tinue to climb. In the air, the US may have lost
a C-47 and a Navy A-4E Skyhawk in North Vietnam.
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
US Marines and South Vietnamese Army regulars,
supported by heavy tactical air strikes and ar-
tillery bombardment, continue to press a major of-
fensive against the PAVN 324 "B" Division in north-
ernmost Quang Tri Province (Para. 1). US 101st
Airborne Division elements have recovered the body
of a US AID official ambushed by the Viet Cong in
coastal Khanh Hoa Province on 26 July (Para. 2).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
Renewed labor difficulties for RMK-BRJ Construc-
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam: A
USAF C-47 on a mission over Laos has been reported
down (paras. 1-2). A Navy A-4E Skyhawk was shot
down by ground fire near Vinh (Para. 3). Soviet-
delivered Hook helicopters now operational Para
4).
IV. Other Communist Military Developments:
There is nothing of significance to report.
V. Communist Political Developments: There is
nothing of significance to report.
VI. Other Major Aspects: Japan losing inter-
est in North Vietnamese exports of coal (Para. 1).
Hanoi apparently with an adequate inventory is
suspending imports of lubricants used to maintain
truck fleet (Para. 2).
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SOUTH VIETNAM
CURRENT SITUATION
s
0 25 50 75 100 M"
:) 25 50 75 1 0 Kilometers
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Operation HASTINGS/LAM SON 289 "A"--the
major USMC/ARVN offensive against the PAVN 324"B"
Infantry Division--continues according to plan in
South Vietnam's northernmost province, Quang Tri.
On 28 July, a US Marine reconnaissance patrol sighted
an estimated 200 Communist troops in an area approx-
imately 25 miles west of Quang Tri city. Artillery
and tactical air strikes were requested against the
enemy position and resulted in 65 known Communist
dead. Since its initiation on 7 July, the joint
allied ground sweep has produced cumulative enemy
losses of 818 killed (body count), 13 captured, and
239 weapons seized. Friendly casualties to date
stand at 146 killed (125 US) and 471 wounded (445
US).
2. On 27 July, elements of the US 101st Air-
borne Division were paradropped into a heavily Viet
Cong - infested area along coastal-Route 1'about 29
miles north of Nha Trang and recovered the body of
a US AID official ambushed some 2.4 hours earlier.
Airborne recovery units received heavy automatic
weapons fire both during landing and take off. In-
vestigations conducted during the hour-long opera-
tion indicated that the ambush of the official--
Public Safety Adviser Norman Clowers--had been
deliberate and well planned. The incident is sig-
nificant in that it represents a further attempt
by the Viet Cong to intimidate by means of harass-
ment and terrorism American civilians engaged in
nonmilitary activities in the Vietnamese country-
side.
29 July 1966
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
Labor Troubles at Bien Hoa
The m.erican construction consortium in
South Vietnam, RMK-BRJ, recently was sent a written
demand by its workers at Bien Hoa Airfield for a
redemption of oral promises, allegedly made on 23
June, to grant a full 30--percent wage increase.
A smaller increase, retroactive to 3 July and
amounting to a 16- to 17-percent wage increase plus
family benefits, recently went into effect. The
letter established a 72-hour deadline, which elapsed
on 28 July, but contained no specific threat of a
walkout.
2J
_/worker sentiment is to walk off the job unless
demands are met. The management position is that
present US-GVN policy decisions preclude the grant-
ing of any wage increases.
3. The RMK-BRJ workers at Bien Hoa were part
of the 16,000 company laborers who went on strike
on 23 June. Unlike the bulk of the Saigon-area
workers, those at Bien Hoa did not stay on strike
for eight days, but returned to work the same day,
largely in response to the negotiating efforts of
the company's labor relations director. The
latter's oral promises are what the workers now
maintain the company is reneging on.
29 July 1966
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( N, v-.1
1
? Dhong Saly X, -l Nghia Lo? Yen Bai
Dien Bien Phu
Hoe Binh ?
~?.J DRV MIG Activity
x
x
USAF C47 Missing\
--'*Sac Giang
Bac Ninh
l
Mong Cai-
ang Yen? ?
Hai
Duong , T iaiphOg/Kiev An
Hung Yen Airfield
Phu Ly k'
Nam Dinhi?
A4FE Dovined By
Grour[d Fire
T H A I L A N D Muang Nakhon Phanom, ?Khammouane
NORTH VIETNAM
---'' 1, Dong He
S6pone B H. Su ,?Quang Tri
SOUTH H~ee
Muong No` VIETNAM ?
g?
0 7.5 50 75 Miles
0 "[5 50 751Silcmelers
?~ Ban Chieng
'Vong Van
uyen Queng
Ching-hsi
CHINA
Cao Bang J?
Phu Tho , JA
Gia Lam Airfield
r
?CueRoa
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MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM
after the liar been reported missing
by pilot broadcast that he was being attacked
fighters.'
ighters. The crew of eight had been briefed to
orbit a point 15 n.m, southeast of Samneua. Search
efforts have so far produced no trace of the air-
craft or the crew.
3. A US Navy A-4ESkyhawk was
------------------- - - -
reported downed
by ground fire approximately 20 miles north of Vinh
today. The aircraft was one of two performing an
armed reconnaissance mission over the southern coast
of the DRV. The missing pilot was apparently hit by
automatic weapons fire as he was making an attack on
some barges near the coastline.
4? photography indicates that at least
three of e four MI-6 Hook helicopters being assem-
bled at Haiphong's Kien An Airfield are now opera-
tional. Four of the Russian-
livered to the DRV bill 't aircraft were de-
number of heavy r e icopters available to
the North Vietnamese.
29 July 1966
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1. There is nothing of significance to report.
29 July 1966
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V. COMMUNIST POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. There is nothing of significance to report.
29 July 1966
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1. Japanese consumers of North Vietnamese
anthracite coal are reportedly seeking other sup-
pliers because of the poor quality and the unre-
liable shipping schedules of coal from Hon Gay
since February of this year. The permanent loss
of Japan as a coal customer could cost North Viet-
nam as much as $6 million annually in hard cur-
rency earnings, or about 50 percent of total hard
currency earnings in 1965. Despite economic and
military aid from Communist countries, North Viet-
nam has continued to buy both industrial and con-
sumer goods from free world countries, especially
Japan.
2. Hanoi, apparently with an adequate in-
ventory of lubricants and greases, has requested
its bloc suppliers--the USSR, Rumania, and Hungary
--to suspend shipments until further notice. Im-
ports of lubricants had been running at an in-
creased rate since mid-1965, matching the greatly
stepped.up flow of motor vehicles last year, and
planned imports of lubricants for 1966 may have
been scheduled to keep pace with a continuing in-
crease in truck imports this year. Available in-
formation, however, indicates the Vietnamese truck
inventory has not kept pace with the plan, and
North Vietnam is apparently now cutting back on
the maintenance lubricants.
29 July 1966
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