Aug. 21, 1964 - A battalion-size South Vietnamese force that walked into a Viet Cong ambush late yesterday had theoretically cleared the paddy-land area of guerrillas “a few hours before,” military sources reported today.
According to the latest reports, 60 of the Government troops were killed, 65 wounded, and 135 listed as missing in the engagement. Four Americans accompanying the Vietnamese force as advisers were killed.
For the American and Vietnamese commands, the ambush was one of the most disheartening examples in recent months of the Viet Cong’s skill at surprise attacks.
The ambush took place about 45 miles southwest of Saigon in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Hoa, a center of mounting Viet Cong strength. The Viet Cong followed their traditional strategy of making a small attack and then lying in wait with larger forces for Government relief units.
For more than a month, the Viet Cong have struck at Government forces in many parts of South Vietnam with the same tactics. The elements of surprise, camouflage, and remarkable striking speed have been brought into play with repeated success.
The Pentagon identified two of the four Americans killed in the ambush.
They were First Lieut. William D.H. Ragin, whose wife lives in Fort Monroe, Va., and Sgt. 1st Cl. Tom Ward, whose wife lives in Fayetteville, N.C. Mrs. Ragin is a daughter of Brig. Gen. William J. McCaffrey, who is assigned to the Pentagon.
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