2 C
THURSDAY. AUGUST I. 1983
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
Ptifoeti Lcao Ateack Ds Comisiiciinilt Threati to Covert Amy
By ARTHUR J. DOMMEN
United Prat International
Attopcu, Laos-OJPll-A young
rmy private of the Royal Lao
army who earns the equiva
lent of $10 a month looked
up from his muddy foxhole on
the bank of the Sekong river
and said: "The Pathet Lao al
ways attack just before dawn.
ii makes the night seem very
long."
All along the river bank
were similar foxholes occu..
pied by soldiers idly oiling
their bright American rifles
and .30 caliber machine guns.
To the rear of the foxholes
was a mud and log dugout
with a .50 caliber machine
gun emplacement,
Col. K h o n g Vongnarath,
commander of the Isolated
and surrounded garrison here,
pointed across the dirty,
brown river and said he had
companies deployed on the op
posite side, where nothing
appeared to be stirring among
the banana trees in the twi
light of early evening.
It had been taining most of
the day and darkness came a
little earlier than usual.
Khong said an estimated
three battalions of Pathet Lao
troops had the town virtually
surrounded. In event of a ser
ious attack, he said, he would J
radio to the regional military
headquarters at Pakse, 75 air
miles away, for help.
Battalions in Hills
The situation was made
more disturbing for the town's
defenders by the presence in
the hilly region to the south
of two battalions of North
Vietnamese regulars.
Their location had been pin
pointed by information sup
plied by refugees from vil-
lages in the arca-mostly loin
cloth-clad Kha tribesmen-and
by aerial reconnaissance.
This meant that the Com
munist Pathet Lao forces
would have another 900 to
1,000 troops to back them up
in any determined battle to
take control here, Khong re
marked. Arms were being passed out
to a delegation of tribesmen,
who had come into the town
to volunteer to fight against
a feared Pathet Lao attack.
Of 10 tassengs (villages)
comprising Attopcu district,
only four remain free from
Communist control. All others
have been taken over by the
Pathet Lao, who recruit sol
diers and requisition food to
take away to their forces in
the jungles.
In the center of a dirt com
pound is a heavy bunker
made of stout logs and mud
and protected from the fre
quent tropical rain by a cor
rugated tin roof.
Next door is a smaller
bunker containing the garri
son's heavy armament-a sin
gle American 81 millimeter
mortar-with boxes of ammu
nition stacked beside it. The
mortar is zeroed in on an un
disclosed target across the
river.
Soldiers, carrying their ri
fles across their hips or on
their shoulders, straggle in
from swimming in the river
or from a meal of stick rice
and bamboo shoot soup.
There are about 500 men in
all inside the town. But last
Tuesday night a battalion of
the Royal Army's 16th mo
bile group from a plateau
northwest of Attopeu reached
here after a four-day, 50-mile
forced march. It is camped at
the edge of the vital airstrip,
about a mile outside town.
The battlion is under the
command of a Col. Bounchan
Svadphaiphane, who got his
training at Ft. Bragg, North
Carolina.
The colonel led his battal
ion on the forced march,
which included a single file
descent down an almost per
pendicular 500-foot cliff with
the aid of rope ladders. This
was necessary because the
Pathet Lao control the passes
through which regular routes
leading off the plateau go.
Attopeu is cut off from
normal land transportation
because the Pathet Lao con
trol the roads leading into the
town. It is dependent on air
transportation for bringing in
supplies. That is what makes
control of the airstrip so im
portant. When night falls here it is
uneasy and uncomfortable. It
is humid and even brushing
flies away from one's rice is
an exertion which brings
more sweat.
This night there were lew
stars. It was black and silent
in the surrounding jungle, but
the silence is broken by oc
casional dull thumps of mor
tar fire in the distance.
There's no electricity
which mean's there's little to
do at night but sleep.
This night's sleep was inter
rupted by a rifle shot down by
the river. This was followed
by two more shots in quick
succesion. Then silence. The
luminous dial of my watch
showed it was five minutes
before three.
Suddenly, there was a burst
of machine gun fire. It was
closer. This was answered by
shots from our side of the riv
er. The whir of ricocheting
bullets can be heard. They're
coming from across the river.
Then the mortar wakes up.
It fires four rounds. The small
arms fire ceases.
All is quiet again.
Khong Explains
Over breakfast, Col. Khong
explains what it was all about.
The Pathet Lao made their
normal probing patrol during
the night to test the town's de
fenses. They do it by sending two
or three men to infiltrate the
outer perimeter. They then
fire a burst of machine gun
lire. Tne response they pro
voke tells them how alert and
how strong the defenders are
in that sector.
If they think the defenses
are weak, they attack, Khong
said.
The mortar fire of the de
fenders is to let the Pathet
Lao know that any attack
will be met with stiff resist
ance. The uneasiness ends with
daybreak.
"They (the Pathet Lao)
sleep in the daytime," ex
plained one officer. "But
they're wide awake and mov
ing about out there at night."
One of the first things the
Pathet Lao soldier learns is
how to move quietly through
the jungles at night and how
to conceal himself by day un
der the cover of bushes.
The Pathet Lao gets ready
for a large-scale attack by
having coolie labor carry their
mortars into position. Move
ments or companies and pla
toons are coordinated by blow
ing whisiles.
This is what they did last
week when they tried to at
tack but were beaten off.
They carried away an esti
mated 43 dead and wounded
in pirogues (native boats)
down the muddy Sekong.
There's little doubt about a
new attack. It probably will
come when the Pathet Lao
think the defenders are lax,
tired or demoralized or when
they think they have enough
strength to overwhelm the de
fending force.
For the men defending the
town, it is not a pleasant pros
pect. There's no place to re
treat, only 50 miles of inhospi
table jungle.
So they're determined to
hold on. They have no choice.
M
1
"0 J'
JX.
DRESS GETS SEAT-Actress Jane Russell and dress designer
Mr. Blackwcll bought a seat on an airliner for one of the
gowns Miss Russell wears In her show at a Las Vegas, Nov.,
hotel to avoit) soiling or folding the garment, valued at
$18,000. The dres, shown being unloaded in Lax Vegas, is
made of 14 karat gold chiffon and has six miles of white
ostrich down. (UPI)
ML
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-n,
.W- v' v. K
..... f.. -
t
FIRE REFLECTED-A pillar of flame from a raging three
alarm fire at a country club in Pikesvllle, Md., is reflected
in the club's pool. Firemen and volunteers from several
nearby communities were called in tn help fight the blaze.
(UPI)
Articles Reported Gone
A number of articles, valued
at $102, have been reported
missing from the Jackson
House, according to city police
records.
Included in the list were
from Jackson
two transistor radios and sev
eral items of clothing. All
were the properly of hotel
residents, out of town when
Ihe Items were missed on Aug.
8. The report was made to
police by Billie Mae Case.
I
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