Mar. 7, 1962 - Five battalions of South Vietnamese troops launched a major drive today against a Communist stronghold in the Mekong Delta where a company of Government rangers was wiped out in a Viet Cong Communist ambush Thursday. An informed source said government troops had made contact with the enemy on the bank of the river a short distance from the South China Sea and that a battle was underway. The government force was said to total about 1,500 men. During the last 12 days, combined government and Viet Cong casualties have been estimated by officials in Saigon at more than 1,000. Two other major government operations were launched today, both in the province of An Xuyen, at Vietnam’s southern tip.
