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4McNamara's Fortress Wall9Nearing Completion at DMZhit it and get through before we could mount a sufficient reaction.”Reds Keep Cominga mesh with flattened barbs. Seismic intrusion devices can be planted ‘‘like pop bottles” and I are so sensitive they’ll tell if aCON TH1EN. Vietnam (AP)— U.S. Marine engineers are battling monsoon rains and enemy gunners to build and jout by Marine bulldozers last strengthen key outposts aling; spring. Workers are clear tar-the first link of “McNamara's i gets for enemy gunners but cas-tween Con Thien and the allied jtion force to meet any enemy ef-artillery position at Gio Linh. is fori lo penetrate the barrier.centered m a clearing scraped 1 ~ „ tt .. . Mm.t k,- Mri«k L, To be fully effective, the wallultimatedly would have to cutacross Laos or be continuedwall” between the warring Viet-!ualties generally have been|about 100 miles south along the nams. ‘light because of the engineers’-o-.-.u „ . . .Defense Secretary Robert S.’own bonkers and rapid U-S-1 block routes of the^ Ho CMMiiJhMcNamara announced plans fori reaction fire, the wall last summer. 1Work Nears Completionj All four forts are within two!through Laos and Cambodia.; miles of the southern edge of u „Work is nearing completion on|the demilitarized zone and are! a11 s Drobab,e e^t.vp-! trailthe last of four front-line forts.!within easy range of enemy ar- innPi!?-*S 3 mattCrTba frtvtf Kont-orl K\» *•* eoonrirl 1. mi « * . ■ - • •• 01 QOUDl 3lT10ng HlllltflrV 11100.The forts, backed by a secondjtillerv dug in along a ridge line ... , w line of combat support bases. ijn the northern half of the DMZ. . 11 ,s ^ Magmot Line think-will form the strongpoints of a| Th f .. • • mg all over again,” one Marinebarrier .hat eventuaf.y will ^ eVe SiS! fit rete‘cross the northern nm of South !in|and from .j, s A2 „ Gi„ ™* w °!n\ ietnam with the aim of block-;, ■ , - .. :nlanri. *• ,.y Germans m World,_____________ing infiltrating North Viet-™“ ,s *‘dmi** ’iles in- War !I\“The NVa. (Korth Viet- The barbed wire planned fornamese troops. 1 S3fa” orX Thien, 13 could pick their point,!the wall is called German Tape,The f wall^itself. Jmking _ Uie,miles from the sea_ Backing up’ -Another Marine officer said [rock is thrown nearby, one offi-the 600-yard strip of fandjer said. Countermortar radar cleared between Gio Linh and i n use at Con Thien and Gio Con Thien last spring has not Linh can range up to 8,00 Ofeet, stopped infiltration bv North but improved ground radar sys-Vietnamese units. “We've terns are expected to be used at stopped them by putting three the front-line forts, battalions of Marines along the Civilians already have been strip,” he added. None of the moved out of the area because electronic devices planned for 0f heavy fighting. During Oper-the wall has yet been installed ation Hickory last May, U.S. in the strip, however. Marines and government troops. A third Marine officer, a bat- moved in force into the demili-t 7etnam talion commander, said: “We tarized zone for the first time have the technology, we and evacuated more than 10,000 shouldn’t knock it until we’ve civilians. The DMZ and the area tried it.” between the zone and the allies’He added that the various “wall” are considered no man’s electronic devices plus aerial land.reconnaissance and patrolling! A refugee camp at Cam Lo would alert allied forces if (holds some 10,500 displaced per-North Vietnamese gathered for sons, most from the DMZ area, an attack.closest thing to conventional war being fought in Vietnam.Bunkers are built of 10-by-12-inch planking precut at the rear. They are connected by trench lines that lead to fighting emplacements on the outer perimeter.Various military sources dell.4COth.onotlroimiSpiswcl?roim;forThe Ha Thanh camp south of Gio Linh has 5,000.The war along the DMZ is thecine to speculate on when installation of the wire, minesand sensors will begin along the first stretch of the wall, but work continues through the monsoon.“It isn’t pleasant to work in mud up to your hips, but it’s also tough for Charlie (the enemy) to hump the artillery down” one engineering officer said.It's certain that the allies would like to have most of the first 13 miles of the wall operating by April. The rains taper off then and, if the North Vietnamese generals perform as they have the past two y-ears, they’ll make another thrust I Th south. fha’liem;thira.1thefront-line forts, will consist ofitKc ^razor-sharp barbed wire, mines.I?! ’ ,,1^ r, !«Turadar and seismic devices that; f ™_ j r t . ej oi (jio Linn ana L2 ana Co,record a footstep, lnsta la..on of somh of c Camthe wire and electronic equip-! bo ment for 13 miles awaits com-!pletion of A3, last of the four. Orders From U.S.forts. j Washington has passed downThe bulk of 200 mortar and ar- orders that allied commanders tillerv rounds fired daily bv: are not to discuss any aspects of North Vietnamese gunners |Lhe wall, but there are indica-along the demilitarized zone j tions that it is planned to extend falls on the engineers struggling!along the Cam Lo River valley through the mud to complete!and highway and west to Khe A3. i Sanh and the Laotian border.At Con Thien. now labeled A4,j Combat support bases with mass-only five rounds fell during a|ed artillery would be set up four-day period last week, com-j along the highway', pared to thousands of rounds inj The wall is to be about 40 September. J miles long. It will dip into South“Pressure on A3” : Vietnamese territory below the“They (the enemy artillery-!DMZ from about miles at men) are putting the pressure,Gio Linh to six or seven miles on A3; they don’t want it north of Khe Sanh.there.” said Lt. Col. Marcus J.11lt would be virtually impos-Gravel of San Diego._ Calif si5Ie to build and maintain thecommander of the Marine battalion at Con Thien.A3, located about halfway bewail rightalongthe DMZ beAPPLES CIDER(No preservatives added)SUNDAYAT THERED TRUCKRIVER ROAD SHELTONOPP. THE NEW SHOPPING CENTERcause of the mountains in the northwest,” one officer said.Plans call for South’ Vietnamese army units to man the front-line forts.Soldiers of the government’s 1st Division already staff Al. They are expected to replace U.S. Marines and soldiers at A2 | within several weeks and to ; move into A3 as soon as it is [ completed.The Marines probably will [stay in Con Thien, A4, anchoring the west end of the wall for some time.Mobile ForceOnce withdrawn, the Marines would serve as a mobile reac-SHOP AHEAD FOR THE HOLIDAY 9 WEEK-END SPECSW SardinesBONELESS • SKINLESSSAVE UP TO 25cteg.cans89Lincoln DeliciousFruit Juice DrinkPUNCHGRAPEORANGEVs Gal.Jug39lb.canSAVE UP TO 60c CASH • GALLlt;
Newspaper Details
Bridgeport Telegram
Bridgeport, Connecticut, US
Fri, Dec 29, 1967
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Gerald F.
NA, 16 Apr 2018
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