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Operation Thayer (13 September 1966 - 1 October 1966), Operation Irving (2 October 1966 - 24 October 1966) and Operation Thayer II (25 October 1966 – 12 February 1967) were related operations with the objective of eliminating communist North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong (NVA/VC) influence in Binh Dinh province on the central coast of South Vietnam. The operations were carried out primarily by the United States 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) against NVA and Viet Cong regiments believed to be in Binh Dinh. South Korean and South Vietnamese forces also took part in the operation. The sustained operations were deemed a success by the United States which claimed that more than 2,500 communist soldiers were killed by American forces at a loss of about 300 American dead. Many areas under communist influence were abandoned by the rural population as non-combatants fled the fighting or were forced by American and South Vietnamese forces to leave their homes. ==Background== Binh Dinh province, on the central coast of South Vietnam, was a long-time communist stronghold with the Viet Cong, and increasingly the North Vietnamese army, controlling most of the rural areas. Binh Dinh, with a population of about 875,000, was characterized by a heavily-populated narrow coastal plain out of which rose several mountain massifs. Inland, the many rivers ran through narrow valleys separated by heavily-forested mountains.〔Garland, pp. 201-202〕 The area of the province was . The South Vietnamese army controlled little more than the larger towns and Highway 1, the main north-south thoroughfare of South Vietnam, and Highway 19 which led from the coast to the highland city of Pleiku. The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) began operations against communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces in Binh Dinh shortly after its arrival in South Vietnam in September 1965. From its base at Camp Radcliff near An Khe, the First Cavalry had launched operations several operations into nearby Binh Dinh province which resulted in large numbers of communist soldiers being killed in search and destroy missions, but, with the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the province after each incursion, the communists quickly reestablished their control or influence over many rural areas in the province. On the night of 3 September 1966 a Vietcong platoon launched a mortar attack on Camp Radcliff. The base was hit by 119 mortar rounds over a 5-minute period, killing 4 soldiers and wounding 76, while 77 out of the 1st Cavalry's 400-plus helicopters were damaged. The Viet Cong were believed to have escaped. In early September, the NVA and Viet Cong also attacked several South Vietnamese army (ARVN) military bases and ambushed an ARVN convoy. The attacks illustrated the fragility of the control of the area by the South Vietnamese government and the need to suppress the communist forces.〔Garland, John M. (2000) ''Combat Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966'' United States Army in Vietnam, Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C. pp 219-220〕 Operation Thayer and follow-on operations Irving and Thayer II were called the "Binh Dinh Province Pacification Campaign" and had the objective "to clean up, once and for all, all regular VC and NVA units in the area as well as uprooting the long established VC infrastructure."〔"Publication, 1st Cavalry Division Association - Interim Report of Operations, First Cavalry Division, July 1965 to December 1966", ca. 1967, Folder 01, Box 01, Richard P. Carmody Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. Accessed 17 Apr. 2015. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Thayer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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