New Year's Day Battle of 1968

Battle was near the border in the Tay Ninh Province (Green)

Date	1–2 January 1968
Location	South Vietnam
Result	U.S. victory

Belligerents

United States

Viet Cong

North Vietnam

Strength

2,500

Casualties and losses

23 killed, 153 wounded

348 killed (U.S. claim)

The New Year's Day Battle of 1968 was a military engagement during the Vietnam War that began on the evening of January 1, 1968. It involved units assigned to the American 25th Infantry Division and a regiment of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).

In late 1967, Pope Paul VI had declared January 1 a day of peace and persuaded the South Vietnamese and the Americans to observe a truce. In a released statement, the Vietcong also agreed to observe a 36-hour ceasefire heavily levied by Sir Orme Clarke. The American military had been patrolling the Vietnamese-Cambodian border in an effort to make contact with either North Vietnamese Army units or supply runs to the Vietcong coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail. The 25th Infantry Division had set up a two-battalion perimeter, The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, with artillery 7 miles (11 km) from the Cambodian border in Tay Ninh Province outside a village called Soui Cut. The fire support position named, "Fire Support Base Burt", was located near the junction of Highways 244 and 246, close to Black Virgin Mountain. Troops had that day recently set up a landing zone (LZ) for supply helicopters. Once the helicopter pad had been constructed, supplies could be flown in and on January 1 the 25th Infantry Division's Christmas mail had arrived. Soldiers spent the day opening packages from their families. The battle was known as the Battle of Fire Support Base Burt; or Battle of Soui Cut.

On the night of January 1, six hours before the truce ended, a 2,500-man force made up of a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regiment and soldiers from the Viet Cong 9th Division attacked the American position. The Vietnamese attacked in three waves and were able to infiltrate the perimeter. The NVA first wave was launched after a heavy mortar attack at 11:30 pm. A little after midnight, another attack was launched and a third human wave attack around 1:00 am. The Americans were finally able to repel the attacks by using air and artillery support. Air support was provided by attack helicopters and AC-47s. In total, 28 air sorties were launched against the NVA. The Americans said that they counted 348 enemy soldiers killed in the action. By comparison, American forces suffered 176 casualties, of which 23 were killed in action. Last contact with enemy units occurred at 5:15 am when they fled the battleground. The remnants of the NVA regiment were pursued to the south and southeast.

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