July 13, 1964 - Increasingly aggressive Communist Viet Cong guerrillas staged a daring daylight ambush of a South Vietnamese military convoy today, killing 16 Vietnamese soldiers and three U.S. Army officers.
The Army identified the three officers killed as Major Joseph W. Burkett (top) of Stephenville, Tex.; Captain Billy T. Hatfield (center) of Fayetteville, N.C.; and Captain Richard M. Sroka (bottom) of Pueblo, Colorado.
The assault occurred about 40 miles south of Saigon when Viet Cong forces swarmed out of the jungle on the fringes of a Communist stronghold known as Zone D and laid down a withering barrage of fire from automatic weapons.
The ambush followed a massive Communist assault over the weekend in the Mekong Delta, where 60 Government defenders were killed.
Last week, the Viet Cong attacked three American Special Forces camps in the central highlands in what appeared to be a general offensive in that area.
A Vietnamese military spokesman said that the guerrillas captured 570 weapons last week, enough to arm a battalion.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State William P. Bundy said today that the U.S. had not ruled out military action against North Vietnam.
In an interview, he said: “If it should turn out that it is not possible to deal with the insurgency without stronger measures, we have made it clear that we have not excluded the possibility of action against North Vietnam itself.”
Asked if the U.S. would be ready to use drastic measures, meaning nuclear weapons, against North Vietnam or Communist China, Bundy said the question had been studied carefully, but “I do not think it is appropriate to discuss the measures that might be employed in a case that has not yet arisen.”
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
header.all-comments