CHAPTER II

Positioning the Anvil- Operations Fitchburg and Niagra Falls

The U.S. 25th Division would form the anvil for CEDAR FALLS using one organic and one attached brigade positioned along the Saigon River on the southwest leg of the Iron Triangle to conduct search and destroy operations and to prevent enemy forces from escaping. Other elements of the 25th were not directly involved in the operation. The U.S. 1st Infantry Division, employing two organic brigades and one attached brigade, had a threefold mission. Before D-day the division would position elements along the Thi Tinh River, conduct search and destroy operations, and assume screening and blocking positions to keep the enemy from escaping to the east. Commencing D-day (8 January), one brigade would seal, search, clear, and destroy the village of Ben Suc. The third task would be to swing the hammer element of this hammer and anvil operation; that is, to attack west and south with one brigade through the triangle and with another through the Thanh Dien forest. One organic brigade of the division would not be employed in CEDAR FALLS.

On 5 January (D-3), the two U.S. divisions began the deception deployment of the elements which were to participate in CEDAR FALLS.

25th Infantry Division

For Operation CEDAR FALLS, the 25th Division employed its 2d Brigade and the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. Elements of the South Vietnamese 7th Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, were also placed under the control of the division.

The area of operations of the 25th extended on a line generally parallel to the Saigon River from the southern portion of the Boi Loi woods southeast to a north south line four kilometers east of Phu Hoa Dong. This area was some twenty five kilometers long and was designated Blocking Position YANKEE. The division's area of operation encompassed former Viet Cong havens in both the Boi Loi and Ho Bo woods and in the Filhol Plantation. The 25th Divi-