The 2th Battalion crossed
the Border Kampuchia - Vietnam
2e Lieutenant Pham Cong
About 3-1970, Battalion 2 was helilifted from U Minh Thuong to Chuong Thien (Hoa Luu). From there it moved to Chau Doc via a convoy of the GMC. It then boarded ship 5 to go straight to the Neak Luong ferry. After a day on the Mekong River, Battalion 2 arrived in the Marine Brigade A headquarters. The next morning, Battalion 2 was helilifted for about 45 minutes to the north of Preyveng. There was about a NVA regiment in this city and a number of nationalist soldiers of Kampuchea who had been stuck inside, waiting to be rescued by the Vietnamese marines. Battalion 2 was given a mission to rescue this city. There was no participation of US forces in this across the border operation. Cobra gunships were absent here. The first landing was of Company 1 of Captain Lam Tai Thanh with Platoon 14 of 2nd Lieutenant Pham Cong, and Platoon 16 (of 2nd Lieutenant Nhan).
Jumping out of helicopters, we were greeted by AK47 bullets coming out of a canal full of tiger grass and reeds. I ordered my boys to concentrate fire power on these reeds and to advance to occupy the canal. Since the concave curvature of this canal was facing the city, we were intensely fired upon from both ends of the canal. I ordered my boys to violently fire at those ends. It was effective. About 20 minutes later, marines charged forward, shouts reverberating in the corner of the sky. The NVA dropped their weapons and surrendered. Six NVA were captured, eight killed and fourteen AK47s were seized.
My platoon had jumped right on NVA outpost. They were caught by surprise. After half an hour, platoon 16 of 2nd Lieutenant Nhan and Platoon 14 of myself protected the landing zone for other coming units. Battalion 2 accomplished landing after two hours, although there had been some resistance of the VC with AK47s, CKC and some collective weapons. Harvest season had finished. Rice field edges were dry and were very good for a defensive line. From here we could use binoculars to observe Preyveng City easily.
Battalion 2 positioned overnight. C47 aircrafts drop illuminating flares above the suspected areas.
At 5:00 am, the Battalion was shelled heavily.
At 9:00 am, fleets of helicopters carrying Battalion 4 landed opposite Battalion 2. This meant that Preyveng City was caught between two Battalions. While Battalion 4 was landing, Battalion 2 received orders to charge forward to the target, about 3 km away. The width of our charging was now about 2 km. Like a flight of bees, we dashed forward shouting "charge" and did not care about the NVA artillery shelling or the spray of firearm bullets. The speed of our charge was so high that the NVA had no time to adjust or coordinate their artillery. Thirty minutes later, we reached rows of big trees on a kerb, leaving the NVA artillery rounds far in the back. However, from the other side of this 10 m wide road, the NVA fired from storied houses at us.
The Company had the mission to occupy a red-roofed villa on the other side of the road, a little to the left of Platoon 14. Inside it, there were a number of Kampuchea soldiers in a desperate situation, needing to be rescued. Captain Lam Tai Thanh gave me the responsibility to occupy it. I and my RTO and two body guards simultaneously dashed across the road. Many AK47 clips and B40 rockets exploded at the same time. My RTO and a bodyguard fell down in the middle of the road. I only had time to grab the radio PRC 25 and continued to charge to the other side. I had to temporarily forget those fallen soldiers and keep ordering my platoon in that critical moment. My Platoon accomplished the mission. We succeeded in rescuing the Kampuchean group of soldiers.
Battalion 2 and 4 pressed the enemy hard from two sides, then from four sides, trying to annihilate the NVA regiment. Fierce battling continued for a week and finally, the NVA disintegrated. We seized their weapons and fully loaded them on to two carts
. 2nd Lieutenant Pham Cong
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