Operation ABILENE Begins

March 30, 1966

Overview

The U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division begins Operation ABILENE in Phuoc Tuy Province, east of Saigon. The 16-day search-and-destroy operation employs the 2d and 3d Brigades of the 16th Infantry Regiment in coordination with the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) and Number 161 Battery Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA).

The major engagement of the operation—The Battle of Xa Cam My—takes place from April 11-12, when 2d Battalion’s Company “C” finds themselves fully encircled outside of a main-force Viet Cong battalion base camp. Lasting 14 hours, the battle sees American forces successfully hold off three human-wave assaults, killing 41 men and wounding up to 100. The 134-man Charlie Company suffers an 80% casualty rate, with losses including 37 dead and 71 wounded. Among those killed are two Medal of Honor recipients: Sergeant James W. Robinson and Airman First Class William H. Pitsenbarger, the latter having arrived to help with medical evacuations.

The operation lasts until April 15, with multiple supply caches captured and more than 50 Viet Cong bases destroyed. ¹

¹ John M. Carland, Combat Operations: Stemming The Tide: May 1965 to October 1966 (Washington, DC: Center for Military History, 2000), 305-306; William E. DePuy, "Combat Operation After Action Report: Operation Abilene" (Washington, DC: US Army, 1966), 17-18; Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 1; Shelby L. Stanton, The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973 (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1985), 99-100.