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SIXTHE BRIDGEPORT TELEGRAM, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29,4967‘McNamara’s Fortress Wall’Nearing Completion at DMZCON TH1EN. Vietnam (AP) jtween Con Thien and the allied! tion force to meet any enemy ef-- U.S. Marine engineers are artillery position at Gio Linh. is fort t0 penetrate the barrier. Vietnamese units “We've battling monsoon rams and ene-!centered m a clearing scraped! T uims. nevemv o.innprc Kn.iH anriim.t hv Mat-ino Met io Wily effective, the wall stopped them by putting threeultimatedly would have to cuthit it and get through before we could mount a sufficient reaction.”Reds Keep Cominga mesh with flattened barbs. 1 closest thing to conventional Seismic intrusion devices can be war being fought in Vietnam.planted ‘‘like pop bottles” and are so sensitive they’ll tell if aAnother Marine officer said the 600-yard strip of landrock is thrown nearby, one offi-er said. Counterniortar radarcleared between Gio Linh andjinuse at Con Thien and Gio Con Thien last spring has not Linh can range up to 8,00 Ofeet, stopped infiltration by North but improved ground radar systems are expected to be used atacross Laos or be continued!”llJ!!a^!-t!LS°U?LV’ietnam 'alien commander, said: “Wehave the technology, we shouldn’t knock it until we’veof doubt among military men.It’s the Maginot Line thinking all over again,” one Marinemy gunners to build and iout by Marine bulldozers laststrengthen key outposts ateng: spring. Workers are clear tar-the first link of “McNamara’s !gets for enemy gunners but cas-wall” between the warring Viet-!unities generally have beeniabout 100 miles south along the nsiTis. -light because of the engineers*• cAllth , ,Defense Secretary Robert S.!own bunkers and rapid U-S.L1 k t nf thei Un uMcNamara announced plana fori read ion fire. ibloCk nmtes ,he Ho Chl Minhthe wall last summer. ! ^11 four f0Work Nears Completion j mi|es of the southern edge of '\^ork is nearing completion on| the demilitarized zone and are alma fhf mt? ® effectjye*the last of four front-line forts, t within easv range of enemy ar- g e ,s 3 matterThe forts, backed by a second j tilierv dug'in along a ridge” line line of combat support bases. jjn the northern half of the DMZ. will form the strongpoints of a. Th f . . .barrier that eventually will? f ’ndv bluff’three “«*• refer*cross the northern rim of Soutni._L._j nt r- r,n8 t0 the French defenses ov-Vietnam with the aim of block-;, - , - mi,plt; Ci-,nri- half errun the Germans in Worlding infiltrating North Viet-; ,nland’ A,3- half|War II. “The NVA (North Viet-* ^completed and nine miles 1namese troops. :land and A4 Con Thi 13 natmre) could pick their point.The wall Itself, linking the|mi|es trom the sea Backi ■front-line tons will consist of| the forls at , arerarer-sharp barbed wire. «.|mmba| 5 orP, bas«_c] soulhLi,'.51 , fir,5- if Gi° Linh and C2 and C3. record a footstep. Installation of Co„ Thien cthe wire and electronic equip-!ment for 13 miles awaits com-!pletion of A3, last of the fourj Orders From U.S. forts. | Washington has passed downThe bulk of 200 mortar and ar-;orders that allied commanders tilierv rounds fired daily by: are not to discuss any aspects of North Vietnamese gunners; the 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,| Combat support bases with mass-only five rounds fell during a|ed artillery would be set up four-day period last week, com- along the highway.battalions of Marines along the strip,” he added. None of the electronic devices planned for the wall has yet been installed in the strip, however.A third Marine officer, a bat-the front-line forts.Civilians already have been moved out of the area because of heavy fighting. During Operation Hickory last May, U.S.Marines and government troopsBunkers are built of 10-by-12-inch planking precut at thej rear. They are connected by |c trench lines that lead to fighting k emplacements on the outer peri- o meter. . joVarious military sources de-cine 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’starized zone for the first time and evacuated more than 10,000 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 *and-reconnaissance and patrolling A refugee camp at Cam Lomoved in force into the demili-jalso tough for Charlie (the ene-hump the artillerywould alert allied forces ifmy) to 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 offNorth Vietnamese gathered for an attack.The barbed wire planned for the wall is called German Tape,holds some 10,500 displaced per-(then and, if the North Viet-sons, most from the DMZ area.|namese generals perform asThe Ha Thanh camp south of Gio Linh has 5,000.The war along the DMZ is thescrnlintlr;tlthey have the past two v«rs, they'll make another thrust iT south. ihCOLE, AMERICA'S 7t. tille corner* of 3KT03R.pared to thousands of rounds in September.“Pressure on A3”The wall is to be about 40 miles long. It will dip into South I Vietnamese territory below the“They (the enemy artillery- DMZ from about 1 ft miles at men) are putting the pressure, Gio Linh to six or seven mites on A3; they don’t want it j north of Khe Sanh. there.” said Lt. Col. Marcus J.(iIt would be virtually inipos-Gra/el of San Diego,_ Calif., sible to build and maintain thecommander of the Marine battalion at Con Thien.A3, located about halfway be-APPLES CIDER(No preservative* added)SUNDAYAT THERED TRUCKRIVER ROAD SHELTONOPP. THE NEW SHOPPING CENTERwall right along the DMZ because 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 j within several weeks and to ; move into A3 as soon as it is ! compieted.The Marines probably will .'stay in Con Thien, A4, anchoring the west end of the wall fur some time.Mobile Force* Once withdrawn, the Marines would serve as a mobile reac-SHOP AHEAD FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEK-END SPECSW SardinesBONELESS • SKINLESSSAVE UP TO 25cteg.cans89Lincoln DeliciousFruit Juice Drinklb.canPUNCHGRAPEORANGEVa Gal. Jug39SAVE UP TO 60c CASH • GALI
Newspaper Details
Bridgeport Telegram
Bridgeport, Connecticut, US
Fri, Dec 29, 1967
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Gerald F.
NA, 31 Dec 2018
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