A FLASH TO THE PAST. . . COPTERS ENFORCE BLOCKADE Lo$ Angeles Times, l )72 SAIGON (UPI) U.S. Marine helicopters plugged holes in the blockade of North Vietnam by attacking nine boats unloading an offshore freighter, military sources said Thursday. At Quang Tri, the embattled provincial capital 435 miles north of Saigon, UPI corrsspondent Donald A. Davis said it appeared the Communists had begun an attempt to cut off the 20 , 000 South Vietnamese troops in Quang Tri from Hue and rear area supplies . A full regiment of tank-backed Saigon soldiers - about 2,500 men in all - took to the low rolling hills 15 miles northwest of Hue today in an attempt to stall the Communists, Davis said. In other action, U.S. warplanes spearheading a South Vietnamese drive to recapture the district capital of Bong Son, 290 miles north of Saigon, destroyed three irrigation dams Thursday, field reports said. UPI reporter Edward Basset said the dams were knocked out intentionally to lower the level of the Lai River so South Vietnamese tanks could drive against Bong Son. Military spokesman said the use of Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopters against barges Wednesday marked the first time U.S. choppers took an offensive role in North Vietnam, except for the raid on the Son Tay prisoner of war camp in November, 1971. Officials said the 20mm guns and rockets of the Marine craft were fired at nine North Vietnamese sampans unloading a freighter 28 miles north of Dong Hoi, and about 66 miles above the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Vietnams. The 7th Fleet office in Saigon said the choppers are based on the aircraft carrier DENVER in the South China Sea. The helicopters were ordered into the battle to maintain the blockade when it became obvious that U.S. Navy destroyers were unable to stop the flow of sampans, junks, and barges between the freighters - believed to be Chinese - and the North Vietnamese coast . UPI reporter Basset, based in troubled Binh Dinh province, said he had been told by field officers that the dams on the Lai River were knocked out by laser-guided smart bombs. He said the destruction of the dams would not have any immediate affect on the population of the province because the rice crop was harvested almost two months ago . The officers who requested that the dams be knocked out were conducting a 7,500 man drive on Bong Son and two other district capitals in northern Binh Dinh province . The towns were captured by the Communists in April . The tank-backed push has met with little resistance, Bassett reported. Refugees fleeing Bong Son said all Viet Cong forces pulled out of the area three days ago. 18
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