Operation Speedy Express

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Date	December 1968 to 31 May 1969
Location	Mekong Delta provinces Dinh Tuong, Kien Hoa and Go Cong, Republic of Vietnam
Result	U.S Victory

Belligerents

United States

National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (Viet Cong)

Commanders

Maj Gen. Julian Ewell

unknown

Strength

8,000+ Infantry (Seven battalions of the 9th Infantry Division)

undetermined

Casualties and losses

40 U.S. Killed in Action and 312 Wounded in Action.^[1]

10,889 killed^[1]

v • d • e

Vietnam War

Ap Bac – Binh Gia – Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Starlite – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – Masher/White Wing – A Shau – Xa Cam My – Duc Co – Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Bribie – Junction City – Union – Hill 881 – Union II - Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Speedy Express – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Tailwind – Chenla I – Son Tay Raid – Lam Son 719 – Chenla II – Ban Dong – FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri – Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri – Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Ban Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa – 2nd Saigon – SS Mayagüez
Air operations
Ranch Hand – Pierce Arrow – Barrel Roll – Pony Express – Flaming Dart – Rolling Thunder – Steel Tiger – Arc Light – Tiger Hound – Bolo – Igloo White – Commando Hunt – Menu – Freedom Deal – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Shed Light

Operation Speedy Express was a United States military operation of the Vietnam War conducted in the Mekong Delta provinces Kien Hoa and Vinh Binh.

The operation was launched to prevent NLF (Viet Cong) units from interfering with pacification efforts and to interdict lines of NLF communication and deny them the use of base areas. In 1969 the 1st Brigade, 9th U.S. Infantry Division continued the operation in Dinh Tuong Province, using night ambush tactics while the 2d Brigade continued its mission with the Mobile Riverine Force. Although engagements in Operation SPEEDY EXPRESS were typically small, the 9th Infantry Division fought several sizeable engagements.^[2] The objective was summarized by by a U.S army publication to take the 'war to the enemy in the Delta and sever his supply lines from Cambodia'^[1]

The US military used 8.000 infantrymen, 50 artillery pieces, 50 helicopters and extensive aerial bombardment. The Air Force carried out 3.381 tactical air strikes by fighter bombers.

The U.S military claimed 10,889 enemy dead, with only 40 U.S killed in this operation from the period of December 1968 to 31 May 1969, a kill ratio of 272.2:1, 748 weapons were recovered a ratio of enemy killed to weapons seized of 14.6:1 (the normal ratio for an operation in Vietnam would be at least 4 enemy dead for each weapon recovered). The U.S Army after action report, attributed this to the fact the high percentage of kills made during night hours (estimated at 40%), and by air cavalry and other aerial units, as well as admitting that 'many of the Viet cong and guerilla units were not armed with weapons' The commander of the 9th division, Julian Ewell, was allegedly known to be obsessed with body counts and favorable kill ratios and said 'the hearts and minds approach can be overdone....in the delta the only way to overcome VC control and terror is with brute force applied against the VC' ^[3]

[edit] Controversy

The operation caused some controversy when in 1972 Kevin Buckley writing for Newsweek, in "Pacification's Deadly Price" questioned the spectacular ratio of U.S dead to claimed NLF (Vietcong) as well the low number of weapons recovered, and suggested that perhaps over 5000 were innocent civilians (quoting an unnamed US official), although Buckley acknowledged the NLF structure and control in the region was extensive, he showed how local hospitals had treated more wounds caused by U.S firepower rather than the NLF. ^[4] There were also allegations that some U.S commanders on the ground inflated the body count during the operation since this was how their success was judged.^[5]