Battle of Tra Binh Dong

The Battle of Tra Binh Dong was a military encounter between South Korean Marines and a combined force composed of North Vietnamese and Vietcong units. It took place in and around the Tra Binh Dong village near the border of Cambodia, South Vietnam, from February 14 to February 15, 1967, during the Vietnam War. Australia and South Korea were the only countries that sent combat troops to that Southeast Asian country in support of the United States.

Summary

The intelligence information that led to the battle was provided by a Vietcong deserter and former commander of a training camp. He informed that the North Vietnamese Army were planning an attack on the ROKMC’s 11th Company. At 23:30 hours on February 14, 1967, the North Vietnamese 40th and 60th Battalions moved into their positions in the forest surrounding the perimeter of the South Korean 11th Company. The regular North Vietnamese battalions were also supported by one Viet Cong local force battalion from Quang Ngai. With their troops built up around the area, the Communist forces planned to cut all communication lines and wipe out the South Korean forces in the area.

The Battle of Tra Binh Dong began when the Vietcong attempted to cut through the wires that surrounded and protected the South Korean base perimeter. The South Korean marines were dug in and waiting with requests for air-support. But due to foggy weather, AC-47s could not initiate the attack on the Vietcong, so they only had the artillery support. When the North Vietnamese and Vietcong had penetrated Korean positions, heavy fighting immediately followed. Initially the outnumbered South Koreans, though vastly superior in firepower, were pinned down, but Communist forces’ ranks soon started to break up in the heat of the battle as the South Koreans counterattacked. When the fighting ended 246 enemy bodies were left behind.

Below, South Korean Marines during the battle of Tra Binh Dong