A lopsided American defensive victory during Operation Junction City, repelling a two-battalion Viet Cong assault with a kill ratio of roughly 66-to-1.
Key Facts
- Date
- March 10, 1967
- Operation
- Operation Junction City
- VC attackers
- Two communist battalions
- VC killed
- 197 personnel
- American killed
- 3 personnel
- Location
- Prek Klok, Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During Operation Junction City, U.S. forces established Artillery Fire Support Patrol Base II at Prek Klok in Tay Ninh Province as part of a search and destroy campaign against Viet Cong units operating west of Saigon. The base's presence drew a coordinated communist response aimed at overrunning it during the night of March 10, 1967.
Two Viet Cong battalions attacked the patrol base using mortar fire and anti-tank weapons against M113 armored personnel carriers, then launched infantry charges from the north, east, and southwest. American defenders, supported by air strikes, artillery, and helicopter-delivered supplies, held their positions throughout the assault.
The Americans repelled the attack decisively, killing 197 Viet Cong while suffering only three fatalities. The engagement became the second major battle of Operation Junction City and demonstrated the effectiveness of combined arms defense—air support, artillery, and armored infantry—against massed Viet Cong assaults on fixed positions.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent