Operation Coronado IX

Part of Operation Coronado, Vietnam War

Date	1 November 1967– 22 January 1968
Location	Mekong Delta, South Vietnam
Result	Capture of communist supplies, anti-communist victory

Belligerents

South Vietnam

United States

Viet Cong

Commanders and leaders

William B. Fulton

Unknown

Strength

Three US battalions, two South Vietnamese battalions

Two battalions

Casualties and losses

76 KIA
374 WIA

434 casualties

Operation Coronado IX was a riverine military operation conducted by the Mobile Riverine Force of the United States and elements of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam from November 1967 to January 1968 in an attempt to dismantle communist strongholds in the Mekong Delta. In the middle of November, clashes resulted in the capture of communist supplies and hideouts. During this period, the communists lost 178 men but killed only 26. For the next few weeks there was little contact, although some abandoned communist bunkers were destroyed and supplies captured. On 4 December, large engagement occurred when a communist battalion encountered a battalion of South Vietnamese marines. There were 266 Vietcong killed, mostly by South Vietnamese marines. The South Vietnamese Marines lost 40 killed, while the Americans suffered 9 dead. Over the next month and the Christmas period, there was only sproadic skirmishes, but at the start of the new year, there were some medium size battles in which the Americans killed a few dozen communists. After this there was little contact.

It began with the movement of the Mobile Riverine Base from its late October anchorage off Vung Tau to an anchorage in the My Tho River near Đồng Tâm Base Camp. The series of actions in the operation was primarily conducted north of the My Tho River and directed against communist bases in Dinh Tuong Province.

The Mobile Riverine Force arrived off Dong Tam on 1 November 1967 and during early November concentrated on equipment maintenance and preparations for coming operations. The 3d Battalion, 60th US Infantry Regiment, disembarked and assumed the defense mission for Dong Tam Base. The battalion's waterborne replacement was the 3d Battalion, 47th US Infantry Regiment, which began tactical operations in the southeastern part of Giao Duc District in western Dinh Tuong Province at 1500 on 2 November. During the nine-hour operation, the battalion destroyed 141 communist bunkers and evacuated 500 kg pounds of rice and an assortment of Vietcong engineering and medical materials from a cache. The evacuated materials were delivered to Dinh Tuong Province Headquarters for distribution within South Vietnamese government programs.

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