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Long Giang, Loc Giang is a village located in An Tuong Dong commune, Hoai An district, Binh Dinh province. An Tuong Dong has 7 villages including: Dieu Tuong, Loc Giang, Tan Thanh, Thach Long 1, Thach Long 2, Tri Tuong, Vinh Vien. Area: 60.06 km2. Coordinates: 14. 17.9 N - 108.59.16 E

- The southwest borders An Tuong Tay, with a high point of Hon Rieng 702m-

- Southeast of Phu My Hoa commune

- Northwest borders Hoi Nhon and An Huu. Tang Bat Ho, Dieu Truong, An Phong

An Tuong Dong is located in the middle of a long valley created by Ben Vach stream. On both sides are mountains, in the middle there are hills and mounds that are very convenient for setting up posts and raiding.

In the early days of entering the South Vietnamese battlefield, the US 1st Cavalry Division wanted to find and destroy the 3rd Golden Star Division to make a big splash. But ironically, the battle of Long Giang, Loc Giang was ambushed by the 12th Regiment of the 3rd Golden Star Division. As journalist Bob March, who was a member of the 12th Cavalry Regiment, said "This was the most disastrous battle" of Delta Company, 1/12 Battlaion, 1st Air Cavalry Division during the entire war." Let's listen to the officers of the 3rd Golden Star Division recount the events and results of the battle.

Each person caried a small basket of rice. During marching quickly, the soldiers had to search for cassava, bananas, yams and other wild vegetables as food along the way. Arriving at the occupied position, soldiers had to stick to the enemy and go to the fields to pick up wild rice in places where the rice was burned by the enemy, they searched for little by little, collectting handfuls and bowls of rice to bring back and put in their helmets to pound to be food.

In late 1966, one afternoon, the Regiment's reconnaissance soldiers met mother Dien living quietly in a dilapidated house. Mom burst into tears, hugging the children of the Revolution, her whole family including 6 people and all died from American bombs. When the enemy sent helicopters to take Mom to the population settlement, she was determined to stay. Every day, she carried a basket and waded from field to field, looking for crabs and snails, so she knew the American troops often stopped to rest when they passed through Long Giang, Loc Giang. According to the baseplan, based on information from reconnaissance and mother Dien, the Regiment decided: Battalion 4 and Battalion 6 deployed an ambush, destroying one to two American companies in the Long Giang and Loc Giang area.

The enemy sensed our main force moving, at exactly 6 o'clock on December 17th, 1966, a group of 6 armed helicopters and 8 jets fiercely attacked the mountain hollows, clearing the bushes along the road from Gio Loi base to Phu My. At 10 o'clock on the same day, the two American battalions were divided into three columns: One from the edge of Dong Bach mountain straight down to the rice fields, one enters from Tan Thanh intersection and the other comes from Tri Tuong village. With the plot to gather in Long Giang village, then develop a formation to sweep into the East of Gio Loi base.

They did not go down the main road but divided into 3 attacks to penetrate the flanks and back of the regiment's ambush formation. Faced with the enemy's plot, Regiment Commander Nguyen Duy Hong quickly consulted, then decided to implement option 2. Immediately the Regiment's ambush position was changed to a counterattack. The Regiment's 82mm Mortar positions quickly regained range and repaired their positions. More than an hour later, the enemy was still slack in front of the battlefield of Battalion 4 and Battalion 6. Weaving through the American army formation was the thin figure of mother Dien with a basket on her hip, her pants rolled up above her knees, an old conical hat on her head. The news Mom sent back said that the enemy still had a break and had lunch before leaving, because in many places Mom saw them opening canned goods, bread, and burning gasoline to cook water. mother Dien's information matched the assessment of the Regiment commander, the units were ordered to keep it secret.

At 1:30 p.m. on December 17, 1966, the Regiment's battle in the two villages of Long Giang and Loc Giang opened the Spring - Winter combat operations (1966-1967) of the 3rd Division. American troops had just entered at the edge of the forest, two battalions were ordered to open fire. At the main front, Company 61 repelled a doubled larger enemy wing, killing 47 American soldiers. Unable to push Company 61, the enemy turned to Company 63. The soldiers of Company 63 resolutely held on and drove them out into the open fields. Platoon Leader Nguyen Dang Cong, the first person in the company could use the M79 Gun and also the first to discover that American soldiers were very afraid of M79 bullets, informed and reminded everyone to collect the enemy's M79 guns and bullets and instructed how to use enemy guns to fight the enemy.

4:00 p.m., the enemy used 9 helicopters to land another American company in the attack direction of Company 63. At this time, the company had only half its troops left because enemy bombs and artillery bombarded the company's battlefield. Faced with that situation, the Battalion Commander of Battalion 6 decided to deploy reserve forces to support Company 63. The appearance of reserve forces right next to the enemy's attacking formation changed the situation. Lieutenant Commander Nguyen Van Quy, when his gun failed, used a submachine gun to kill 21 American soldiers.

4:15 p.m., the enemy continued to pour another American company to the west of Company 63's battlefield. Not allowing them to stand firm, Company 62 mobilized to divide and destroy most of this force.

Like a moth, at 18:00 the Americans continued to pour in another company, bringing the total number of American troops here to seven companies. They divided into several shots to attack directly at the command position of Company 63, Company Commander Chu Duc Lien and Political Commissar Thai Dinh Hoat, gathered all the nurses, cooky, transport, and information soldiers to focus on attacking enemy. Finally, we destroyed an armed helicopter and a Xi Nuc passport full of American soldiers. The platoons also opened fire to attack the enemy, especially comrade Vu Dang Cong's platoon killed hundreds of them, erecting a steel wall in front of the American troops.

After the Long Giang - Loc Giang battle, Battalion 4 and Battalion 6 destroyed nearly 4 American companies, damaged many other companies, burned 12 helicopters. As soon as the battle ended, regiment political commissar Le Hoai Thanh and a group of officers and agency staff came to Battalion 4 and Battalion 6, on each person's back was a basket of squeezed rice, the last grains of rice from the Central agency. The group gathered together and brought down the unit that had just participated in the battle. The soldiers marched to the assembly position, breaking rice and sharing it with each other in tears.

The regiment's victory in the battle of Long Giang - Loc Giang became a shining example in the 3rd Division in terms of the spirit of overcoming difficulties, the ability to organize and command, and the determination of the Regiment's officers and soldiers to fight the Americans. Among that victory, there was the victory of the old Mother, whom the soldiers of the 12th Regiment later respectfully called "Recon Mother" - mother Dien.

After two dry seasons of American strategic counter-attack, the 3rd Division was awarded the First Class Bronze Medal, and the traditional flag bearing the words " Courageous, resilient, victory in early spring", including the contribution worthy contributions of officers and soldiers of Regiment 12.

At the end of the winter of 1967, on the southern battlefield, the US imperialism's "Local War" strategy failed miserably. The American authorities began to waver and become confused, but stubbornly increased their troops and war vehicles to save the situation.

In December 1967, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee decided to encourage the highest efforts of the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people in both regions to bring the Southern revolution to a new period of development by General offensive and uprising in the spring of Mau Than 1968.

Implementing the Party's policy, the Golden Star Division urgently prepared all aspects to participate in the Tet Offensive and Uprising, 1968. At this time, the Regiment was standing near Quy Nhon, filled with new spirit, the entire Regiment sparked up the movement "Volunteer to join the suicide squad". The "Ngo May assault team" was led by Regiment Commander Nguyen Duy Hong.

As the Tet Offensive of 1968 approached, the Regiment's activities became more and more exciting. The movement to emulate killing the enemy broke out throughout the Regiment and won many great victories, contributing to the overall victory of the Division.

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Trần Văn Khởi
57 Quang Trung, thị trấn Kiến Giang, huyện Lệ Thuỷ, tỉnh Quảng Bình
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