Overview

VIETNAMIZATION: By April of 1970, President Nixon's program of 'Vietnamization' was well under way. More than 60,000 U.S. troops had already been shipped home and more were scheduled to be withdrawn by the end of 1970. An intensive training program was under way in an attempt to turn the Army of South Vietnam (known as the ARVN) into a self-sufficient fighting force capable of holding its own against the increasingly aggressive North Vietnamese Army troops (NVA) flooding into South Vietnam.I CORPS TACTICAL ZONE: The five northern-most provinces of South Vietnam formed the I Corps Tactical Zone (pronounced 'Eye-Core'). With the withdrawal of the 3rd Marine Division in early 1970, the famous 101st Airborne Division was given sole responsibility for operations in the I CTZ. The NVA were pouring into Quang Tri and Thua Thien Provinces from Laos and the 101st, equipped with hundreds of helicopters, was tasked with preventing the NVA from attacking the population centers along the South Vietnamese coast.OPERATION TEXAS STARThis operation, the last offensive operation by an American unit in Vietnam, was given to the 101st Airborne. All other American forces in Vietnam had been relegated to a defensive posture. Accordingly, the 1st and 3rd brigades of the division were moved into the interior of I Corps in an effort to disrupt the build-up of the NVA 304B and 324B Division's in the infamous A Shau Valley and in the jungle-covered mountains west of the Song Bo River and all the way to the Laotian border. From April through August, 1970, units of the 101st aggressively went after the 324B Division in the jungles of Quang Tri and Thua Thien provinces. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the operation ended on September 1st with the 324B Division being forced to withdraw back into Laos to re-fit and re-arm. The 101st Airborne had bought vital time for the ARVN forces to finish their training and move into their new role of aggressive action against the NVA

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9781549742316

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