Viet Cong Strike near Kontum

June 26, 1965 - Communist forces, which have been massing for months in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, struck last night at a district capital north of Kontum.

The Viet Cong troops, estimated at a battalion, or 500 men, overran the town of Toumorong, 290 miles northeast of Saigon.

A relief force, flown by helicopters from Pleiku, was grounded at Kontum by bad weather. 

Near Duchoa, 20 miles northwest of Saigon, an attack by about 1,000 Viet Cong guerrillas early this morning left 44 Government soldiers dead or missing and 40 wounded.

A U.S. adviser, Sgt. 1st Cl. George A. Vanlandingham of Alexandria, Va., saw the Communists swamping the Government position with what he called “human-wave tactics.”

“There is a field out there about 100 meters wide,” the sergeant said. “The machine-gunner was shooting them down as fast as he could, but there were just more people coming at him than there were bullets coming out of his machine gun.”

A Government battalion, about 300 men, held its own throughout the night, although at one point the Viet Cong overran a flank of the command post.

“We were still shooting through the front door when the Viet Cong were coming through the back door,” Sgt. Vanlandingham remarked.

Aircraft guided by flares finally broke up the Communist attack. Thirty-four Viet Cong bodies were counted, and witnesses saw many more carried away by the Communist troops. Three wounded guerrillas were captured.

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