page_title: Battle of South Saigon
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of South Saigon / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Cầu chữ Y (bridge 1968)
context_page_description: The Battle of South Saigon took place from 7-12 May 1968 during the Vietcong May Offensive of the Vietnam War. 4 VC battalions attempted to advance over a series of bridges into south Saigon, but were blocked by US Army units and eventually forced to retreat with heavy losses.
context_section_description: The VC began their assault at 03:45 on 7 May. Soldiers from the 506th Battalion opened fire on the APCs that were standing guard on the Y Bridge. A company from the Phu Loi I Battalion, having already crossed the canal on sampans without being detected, also opened fire from the north bank. The 1st Platoon fired back with their own weapons as AK-47 bullets chipped away the bridgework and pinged off their vehicles. The troops hoped that the intimidating firepower of their .50-caliber and M60 machine guns would keep the VC at a respectful distance. Several Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) whooshed out of the darkness, but the rounds slammed into the bridge instead of the vehicles.
  At 05:30, the 506th Battalion shifted its focus from the 1st Platoon to a police station located just south of the Y Bridge. The outgunned policemen were on the verge of abandoning the building when several helicopter gunships appeared overhead and their guns forced the VC to seek cover. Scarborough immediately sent his 2nd Platoon racing from the 5A Bridge to the police station. An estimated company of VC was getting ready to attack the station from a nearby rice paddy when the 4 APCs rolled into the compound. Their machine guns forced the VC to stay put behind a series of dikes. The fight remained hotly contested until an AH-1 Cobra gunship strafed the length of the dike, putting the VC to flight.
  While soldiers from the 506th Battalion continued to snipe at the 1st and 2nd Platoons, the main VC threat shifted to the hamlet of Cầu Mật (10.747°N 106.68°E), which sat on the canal road a few hundred meters to the west. Now occupied by the Phu Loi I Battalion, the hamlet became Scarborough’s most pressing problem. As long as the VC controlled Cầu Mật, Company C would be effectively cut in two. He radioed the commander of the 5/60th Infantry, Lieutenant colonel Eric F. Antila, for instructions. Antila told him to keep his men where they were until more help arrived. Two platoons from Company A were already on their way from Bến Lức District in northeastern Long An Province. Antila also told Scarborough that helicopter gunships from Troop B, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, would arrive shortly. 9 APCs and 58 soldiers from Company A, 5/60th Infantry, arrived in the Eighth District a few hours later.
  After ARVN troops established a blocking position on the east side of Cầu Mật, the US soldiers began working their way among the ramshackle buildings and narrow streets on the western side of Cầu Mật. Many already knew something about urban combat; Company A had fought in the Tet Offensive battle of Cholon and Phu Tho Racetrack. The advance was slow and methodical. In the confusing warren of houses and alleyways, there was always a risk that the VC could sneak through the cordon and double back for a surprise rear attack. The Americans also had to be discriminating in their use of fire because the hamlet was still full of civilians. Air and artillery strikes were ruled out for the same reason. As a result, most of the fighting took place at close range with small arms, grenades, and machine guns. By evening, Company A had killed several dozen VC while losing 2 killed and 47 wounded. Much of Cầu Mật still remained in VC hands.
  As the battle for Cầu Mật heated up, General Hay directed Major general George C. O’Connor to commit more men from his 9th Infantry Division. On the afternoon of 7 May, a composite company of the 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment and part of the 6th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, landed onto a dry rice paddy some 1.5km south of Cầu Mật. Antila assumed operational control over those units. Antila now had the equivalent of six companies at his disposal, but many more would be needed to clear the Eighth District.
  On the morning of 8 May, the infantry company from the 3/39th Infantry, began to sweep Cầu Mật from south to north. The scout platoon from the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, joined the action a short time later, adding some extra punch with its APCs and .50-caliber machine guns. The sweep was a harrowing affa
caption: The Y Bridge in 1968
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