Operation Toan Thang III ("Complete Victory") was a U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) operation conducted between 17 February and 31 October 1969 in the Vietnam War. The operation was designed to keep pressure on Vietcong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces in III Corps.
Background The operation was a continuation of Operation Toan Thang II in the same operational area and with largely the same forces.
Operation February On 17 February at 00:36 a mechanized infantry unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in a night defensive position southwest of Bến Cát received ground probe which was repelled with unknown enemy losses. An OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter was shot down northwest of Bến Cát. On 18 February at 11:15 a company from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division patrolling with ARVN Regional Forces (RF) southeast of Phú Cường found a 10-ton weapons and munitions cache. At 18:15 a reconnaissance unit from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operating southeast of Tân An found the graves of 11 PAVN/VC.
On 19 February at 07:45 helicopter gunships of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division engaged 12 enemy soldiers northwest of Xuân Lộc, aerorifle troops were landed and found 15 bodies in the strike area. At 11:00 the aerorifle troops engaged an enemy force killing 21 PAVN/VC and capturing one and five individual and one crew-served weapons; U.S. losses were one killed. At 15:30 troops from the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division found a nine-ton food cache northeast of Phú Cường.
On 20 February at 22:30 a unit from the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in a night defensive position southeast of Phú Cường detected movement on their perimeter and then received 82 mm mortar fire followed by a ground attack at 02:18. The enemy withdrew at dawn leaving 28 PAVN/VC dead and three individual and four crew-served weapons. A UH-1 Iroquois was shot down southwest of Tây Ninh. On 21 February at 14:30 two companies from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division patrolling northwest of Tây Ninh found a 320-ton rice cache. On 22 February at 18:50 the 1/9th Cavalry engaged an enemy force south of Đồng Xoài killing ten.
On 23 February at 01:15 Patrol Base Diamond I southwest of Go Dau Ha occupied by the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment was attacked by a PAVN force resulting in 109 PAVN killed and 15 U.S. killed. At 02:45 a firebase occupied by a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division located southeast of Dầu Tiếng Base Camp was attacked resulting in 38 PAVN/VC killed and eight individual and two crew-served weapons and a radio captured; U.S. losses were three killed, among them was Staff sergeant Robert W. Hartsock who smothered an enemy satchel charge with his body, an action for which he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. At 17:55 mechanized infantry from the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy unit east of Dầu Tiếng, artillery and air support were provided and 23 PAVN/VC were killed and four individual weapons captured. At 21:30 troops from the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division ambushed an enemy force north of Phú Cường killing 12 PAVN/VC and capturing eight individual and one crew-served weapons. On 24 February at 10:45 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division operating west-northwest of Saigon engaged an enemy force killing 16 and capturing nine. At 22:40 a United States Navy Patrol Boat, River (PBR) on a canal northwest of Cần Đước District was fired on by two Sampans and returned fire killing 12 VC.
On 25 February at 01:50 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th infantry Division engaged an enemy company northwest of Tân An in an hourlong battle. A sweep of the area found 27 PAVN/VC dead and one captured and five individual and six crew-served weapons. At 02:00 a base camp of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division received 95 rounds of 82/120 mm mortar fire and 40 rounds of 107/122 mm rocket fire followed by a ground attack which continued until the enemy withdrew at 06:30 leaving eight dead; U.S. losses were one killed. Between 02:30 and 05:00 an enemy force attacked a firebase southwest of Go Dau Ha occupied by a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. The defenders were supported by artillery and AC-47 Spooky gunship fire killing 78 PAVN/VC and capturing one and seven individual weapons and one light machinegun; U.S. losses were one killed. At 03:30 a firebase 6 miles southeast of Dầu Tiếng occupied by a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division received 150 rounds of mortar and Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire followed by a ground attack. The enemy withdrew after an hour leaving 25 dead, five captured, five individual and five crew-served weapons; U.S. losses were one killed. At 07:30 an ambush patrol from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division engaged an enemy force east-northeast of Saigon killing two and capturing five AK-47 rifles and one RPG launcher. A nearby sampan was found to contain a munitions cache. At midday mechanized infantry from the 2nd and 3rd Brigades, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force southeast of Dầu Tiếng, the enemy withdrew at 14:00 leaving 23 dead.
On 26 February as part of the Tet 1969 attacks, at 03:00, a force of approximately 400 men from the VC 275th Regiment, 5th Division, had infiltrated into the tiny village of Thai Hiep on the outskirts of Biên Hòa. About 85 per cent of the force was estimated to be PAVN soldiers. At about 03:00, as reconnaissance elements of the unit were observed and engaged by United States Air Force (USAF) security forces at the perimeter of Bien Hoa Air Base, the villagers began to flee their homes, running down streets and creek beds. The villagers met elements of the South Vietnamese 5th Marine Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, 18th Division and the 3rd Squadron, 5th Armored Cavalry moving on the road less than from Thai Hiep in response to the contact at the air base. The villagers told the ARVN forces how they were driven out of their homes and confined to an area near a creek running alongside the village. At that time, the air base security forces reported that they had lost contact with the enemy reconnaissance element which withdrew east toward Thai Hiep. The ARVN units swiftly moved into blocking positions, and by daybreak, the PAVN/VC were surrounded. Additional RF elements moved in and the ARVN troops continued to contain the PAVN/VC forces until 11:00 when assault forces, in the form of the ARVN 36th Ranger Battalion, reinforced the contact. By 15:00 the 36th Ranger Battalion moved into the village attacking the PAVN/VC force. The series of assaults met heavy resistance by the battalion of PAVN who had turned the villagers' sandbagged shelters into a series of well-fortified defensive positions. ARVN psychological operations units broadcast repeated loud-speaker appeals and warnings, and all of the remaining villagers and several wounded PAVN/VC evacuated out of Thai Riep. Just after 16:00 USAF F-100s and F-4s along with Republic of Vietnam Air Force A-1 Skyraiders were directed against the PAVN/VC positions in the village. Following the employment of the supporting fires, the 36th Ranger Battalion moved back into the village. The Rangers met only slight, disorganized resistance. By 01:00 the next morning, the bodies of 264 PAVN/VC soldiers lay in the village and 87 had been captured or surrendered. More than 100 individual and crew-served weapons were captured. ARVN casualties were ten killed and 100 wounded and one US Army photographer was killed. The prisoners revealed that their mission had been to attack Biên Hòa city and the Bien Hoa Air Base. At 10:30 troops from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division engaged an enemy force east of Dầu Tiếng. The unit was later reinforced by a unit from the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and together they killed 46 PAVN/VC, destroyed 150 bunkers and captured one individual and two crew-served weapons.
On 27 February at 12:10 a unit of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (11th ACR) sweeping an area west of Phước Vĩnh Base Camp discovered a 1.5 ton weapons cache containing 29 AK-47s, three SKS rifles, one RPG-2 launcher, one RPG-7 launcher and assorted other munitions. At 13:45 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division engaged an entrenched enemy force northeast of Biên Hòa. Artillery fire was directed onto the bunkers and 50 secondary explosions were observed. A later search of the area found 38 PAVN/VC dead; U.S. losses were one killed. At 14:30 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division sweeping an area east of Dầu Tiếng engaged an enemy unit killing 17 and capturing one. At 19:30 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division and air cavalry from the 164th Combat Aviation Group engaged an enemy force northwest of Cái Bè District killing 36 PAVN/VC. At 20:30 helicopter gunships from the 12th Combat Aviation Group destroyed two sampans killing ten VC east of Cần Đước. An OH-6 was shot down northeast of Trảng Bàng District.
On 28 February at 09:50 the armored cavalry squadron of the 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy company northeast of Go Dau Ha. Infantry from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division reinforced and the enemy withdrew in the afternoon leaving 28 dead and one captured and five individual and one crew-served weapons; U.S. losses were two killed. At 10:30 a unit of the 11th ACR engaged an enemy force northeast of Lai Khê, other U.S. units reinforced and the enemy withdrew at 14:00 leaving 16 dead and nine captured. At 11:25 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy squad east of Trảng Bàng, the enemy broke contact but the armored cavalry pursued and reengaged them killing 11; U.S. losses were one killed and one Kit Carson Scout killed. A UH-1 was shot down north-northeast of Tây Ninh.
Operational results for the month were 1,689 PAVN/VC killed and 288 captured and 522 individual and 185 crew-served weapons captured. U.S. losses were 130 killed.
March On 1 March at 15:00 USAF jets attacked a bunker west-southwest of Hiệp Hòa causing two secondary explosions. An aerial observer saw 28 PAVN/VC dead in the strike area and two bunkers, 12 structures and 11 sampans destroyed. An OH-6 was shot down north-northeast of Tây Ninh killing two crewmen. Another OH-6 was shot down northwest of Sông Bé. On 2 March at 10:30 a unit of the 199th LIB found a 10-ton rice cache southwest of Saigon. At 12:45 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operating south of Rach Kien found a weapons cache containing 14 SKS, three AK-47s and four automatic rifles. At 14:30 a unit of the armored cavalry squadron of the 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force northeast of Go Dau Ha. The unit was reinforced at 16:20 by another squadron unit and supported by artillery and helicopter gunships. The enemy withdrew at 18:00 leaving 19 dead and one captured; U.S. losses were two killed.
On 3 March at 04:55 three 122 mm rockets hit Saigon killing 12 civilians. At 11:10 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division operating west of Sông Bé found the graves of 11 PAVN/VC, all had been killed by small arms fire in the preceding day. At 11:20 a mechanized unit from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division operating southeast of Phú Cường found 7 graves containing 12 PAVN/VC dead, all had been killed in the preceding day. At 12:30 scouts from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division operating south of An Lộc observed ten PAVN/VC on a flatbed truck and called in helicopter gunships on the location killing all ten. At 20:55 five 92 mm mortar rounds landed near the Newport Bridge causing minimal damage.