Artillery for the bases was in the column and was dropped off as the column came to the appropriate fire base. In the column was also the armored company of the 173d Brigade which would revert to the brigade's control upon linkup. Although there were temporay delays in getting the column pushed through caused by mines, road repair, and the need to bridge some streams, the 1inkup with elements of the 173d just south of Katum occurred at 1500.1 The division engineer elements in the column had had a busy day in making Route 4 passable and in launching three AVLB's over streams.

The 2d Brigade, 25th Division, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-) moved to positions near the open (south) end of the horseshoe and poised for their attack to the north in the morning. The remaining brigade under the 25th Division continued search and destroy operations east of Route 22 and north of Trai Bi.

Eighteen battalions, organized into six brigades, and one cavalry regiment were now deployed around the horseshoe. Thirteen mutually supporting fire support bases also ringed the operational area.

Throughout the day enemy contact and casualties remained light with four Americans killed and twenty-three wounded; enemy losses were unknown. The Air Force had also had a busy day, having flown 216 preplanned strike sorties in direct support of the ground operation.

D Plus 1, 23 February

The combined elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (-) and the 2d Brigade of the 25th Division thrust northward through the open end of the horseshoe to trap the Viet Cong and locate and destroy COSVN and North Vietnamese Army-Viet Cong installations. The units immediately began to uncover significant caches of enemy supplies and equipment. Only four minor contacts, however, were made during the day's search.

Around the horseshoe the units continued to improve their defensive positions, to secure routes in their areas, and to conduct search and destroy operations. Contact remained light. One sig-

1When I landed at the 173d Brigade command post in late morning to make final coordination for the linkup of the 3d Brigade column, I was interested to observe both the sense of euphoria and the lassitude which obviously had enveloped many of the jumpers I saw. The former feeling, I understand, resulted from the jump having been most successful; the latter, I suspect, came as the aftermath to the severe jolt of adrenalin most of the jumpers must have received as they contemplated their first jump in months being made into a potentially "hot" drop zone located only four kilometers from the Cambodian border. Small wonder their glands were functioning!