THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001100010038-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2006
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: August 21, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

' F011 SECRET
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103
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
~MLPL--l
THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM
Information as of 1600
21 August 1966
ARMY review(s) completed.
State Dept. review completed
PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTHORIZED
Approved -
:OP' SECRET
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21 August 1966
Military activity in South Vietnam was extremely
light during the weekend. For the first time in
South Vietnam 37-mm. antiaircraft rounds have been
reported captured by US troops in Pleiku Province.
A high-level North Vietnamese delegation may have
recently visited Moscow and Peking,
I. The Military Situation in South Vietnam:
The Australian Operation SMITHFIELD continues to
search Phuoc Tuy Province for the remnants of the Viet
Cong force which suffered heavy casualties on 19
August (Para. 1). Light contact was reported in
Operation PAUL REVERE II (Para. 3).
US forces have captured
rounds o -mm. antiaircraft ammunition for the
first time in South Vietnam (Para. 6). Ten people
were wounded by four grenades thrown into an Amer-
ican NCO club in Da Nang on Saturday night (Para.
10).
II. Political Developments in South Vietnam:
Rumors persist of efforts to revive the Buddhist
"struggle" forces in the Hue area (Paras. 1-3).
Steps are about to begin to implement a govern-
agreement with the tribal autonomy movement
FULRO (Para. 7). A new strike is reported in the
Saigon area (Para. 8).
III. Military Developments in North Vietnam:
Three US aircraft were lost during air strikes over
North Vietnam this weekend (Paras. 1-4).
IV. Other Communist Military Developments:
There is nothing of significance to report.
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V. Communist Political Developments: A high-
level North Vietnamese delegation is believed to
have visited the USSR (Paras. 1-2). Other Vietnam-
ese delegations are in China (Paras. 3-5).1
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geratian
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DECK HOUSE III
~TRRENT SITUATION
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I. THE MILITARY SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. The one-battalion Australian operation
which began on 18 August near Ba Ria in coastal Phuoc
Tuy Province has been named SMITHFIELD. US aircraft
flew 20 strikes yesterday in support of Australian
infantrymen, who continue to sweep the hills and
rubber plantations in an area. about 40 miles south-
east of Saigon in an effort to locate the remmants
of the Communist force which the Australians engaged
successfully on 19 August. Cumulative casualty fig-
ures for this operation indicate 17 Australians
killed and 22 wounded. A total of 231 Viet Cong
have been reported killed and 62 weapons captured.
2. The US Operation DECK HOUSE III has com-
pleted its first phase. The one battalion of US
Marines in the operation has been reloaded on ships
of the US 7th Fleet. Special Landing Force. These
forces are scheduled to be recommitted on 22 August
with an assault on the beaches of Phuoc Tuy Prov-
ince immediately to the west of the area covered
in phase one. No contact with the Viet Cong was
established during the initial phase of this oper-
ation.
3. Light contact was reported on 20 August
between US troops participating in Operation PAUL
REVERE II and a Communist force of unknown size.
The two-and-one-half-hour engagement along Route
19, near the Cambodian border, resulted in one
American killed and two wounded. Seven enemy troops
were killed, according to a US body count.
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4. Five South Vietnamese Army battalions be-
gan a search-and-destroy operation--THANG PHONG 18
--on 21 August in western Pleiku Province in coor-
dination with Operation. PAUL REVERE II. Four of
these battalions were helilifted into an area
about 30 miles southwest of Pleiku town and will
sweep toward the northeast. The fifth battalion
is being held in reserve. No contact with enemy
forces has been reported.
6. Soldiers of the US 1st Cavalry Division
in Pleiku Province captured some rounds of 37-mm.
antiaircraft ammunition on 11 August. This is the
first reported instance of the capture of this
type of ammunition in South Vietnam. It adds to
growing evidence of the presence in the South of
37-mm. guns, larger than any antiaircraft caliber
known to be in Communist hands below the DMZ. Ear-
lier this year, POWs claimed to have seen such
guns in the South, and since the beginning of the
year allied pilots have occasionally reported see-
ing airbursts such as a 37-mm. shell would make.
7. Operation PRAIRIE continues in northern-
most Quang Tri Province with contact reported on
19 August between US Marines and a company-size
Communist force. During the five-hour battle, two
Americans were killed and 14 wounded. A total of
11 enemy troops were killed.
8. South Vietnamese Regional Force and Popu-
lar Force units operating about ten miles north-
west of Hue in Thua Thien Province established con-
tact with an estimated two-company-size enemy force
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on 19 August. Friendly losses in the two-and-one-
half-hour battle included 19 killed, 16 wounded,
and two missing. A total of 37 Communist troops
were reported killed and eight captured.
9. Three battalions of the US 1st Infantry
Division began Operation CASTINE on 20 August.
This search-and-destroy operation is being con-
ducted in Binh Duong Province in an area where
the 272nd Viet Cong Regiment--with a strength of
some 2,000 men--ts reported to be located. No
contact with the enemy has been reported.
10. Two Viet Cong terrorists hurled six
hand grenades into a crowded US noncommissioned
officers club in Da Nang on Saturday night. Four
of the grenades exploded, wounding six US service-
men, three US civilians, and. one Vietnamese ci-
vilian. One of the terrorists was shot and killed
and another one was captured. Three other Viet
Cong suspects were also arrested.
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II. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
1. Rumors predicting strikes or some other
form of renewed "struggle" activity in Hue this week-
end, in connection with the anniversary on 20 Au-
gust of the Diem regime's crackdown on Buddhist
pagodas in 1963, did not materialize. The US con-
sul reported on 20 August that activity in the city
appeared normal.
2. The consulate has commented, nevertheless,
that remnants of the "struggle movement" remain ac-
tive in the form of a low-keyed propaganda effort,
and that rumors persist that "the strugglers" are
reorganizing for a new effort. Most of this spring's
"struggle" leaders who are still at large appear
to be coalescing around a "Committee for the Salva-
tion of Buddhism." Two new publications--both of
them antigovernment, antielection, and anti-US--
have appeared since mid-July.
3. Government authorities, determined not to
allow a new antigovernment "struggle" to gain momentum,
are monitoring the situation, including the attitudes
of the Vietnamese Army's 1st Division in the area.
The Hue police chief, however, privately admits that
the police in I Corps--reorganized after last spring's
dissidence--are still an unknown political quantity.
Election Attitudes
4. Reports continue to be received of both Bud-
dhist and Viet Cong efforts to discredit or disrupt
the September constituent assembly election. The
embassy has received evidence that the Buddhist In-
stitute's antielection communiqu4 of 13 August has
been transmitted in the form of instructions to Bud-
dhist representatives in the delta, and possibly
throughout the country. Provincial officials report
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an increase of Viet Cong antie.lection propaganda, but
only a few overt acts to date. They anticipate grow-
ing Communist harassment, but hope to provide ade-
quate security to assure a substantial voter turn-
out.
5. Various sources are claiming that certain
generals on the Directorate are taking steps to en-
sure the election of favored candidates, and that
similar steps are being taken by some province
chiefs. Although the validity of these reports is
unknown, they are probably typical of rumors circulat-
ing among skeptics who expect the government to con-
trol the election outcome.
FULRO Develo2menttss
FULRO rep-
resentatives, although still skeptical of the gov-
ernment's good faith, plan to meet with government
representatives in Ban Me Thuot on 24 August to dis-
cuss arrangements for the phased return of FULRO
troops to GVN control.
21 August 1966
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8. According to MACV, 400 wcrkers in the Sai-
gon area, engaged in moving goods destined for US
troops, went on strike on 19 August. They are pro-
testing a pay reduction resulting from a change of
working hours from two 12-hour shifts to three 8-
hour shifts. Military personnel have been moving
the supplies since the strike began.
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