phuloi
05-04-2002, 05:32 PM
The following article appeared in THE ARMY REPORTER (Long Binh, Vietnam) on January 13, 1968:
Engr Bde Operation Clears 50,000 Acres
Since the start of Operation Paul Bunyan in July 1967, land clearing teams of the 20th Engineer Brigade have cleared more than 50,000 acres of jungle.
The Ong Dong Jungle, for years a Viet Cong stronghold, no longer exists.
Engineers have completely cleared all the covering jungle from these former VC controlled areas depriving the enemy of his home and supply bases. Many highways no longer have a ?Claymore Corner? or and ?Ambush Alley?.
Clearing one to three hundred yards on either side of the highway, engineers have removed all the cover that the VC formerly used for ambush and tax collection.
Grenades, fire, booby traps, anti-tank mines, mortar and ground attacks against the land clearing units show the enemy is being hurt.
One VC said he surrendered because land clearing operations had destroyed his bunkers three times.
In this battle against the jungle, the engineers are using an old standby weapon, the bulldozer. The dozers are equipped with a Rome Plow land clearing blade.
This knife-edge blade is equipped with a long, sharp ?stinger? and makes short work of anything from light brush to six-to-eight feet (diameter) hardwood trees.
At times more than 600 acres per day of jungle have disappeared under the blades and tracks of the 20th Engr. Bde. Dozers.
When Rome plows proved too slow, an anchor chain was rigged between two dozers and up to eight or nine rows of rubber trees were cleared at one time.
Engr Bde Operation Clears 50,000 Acres
Since the start of Operation Paul Bunyan in July 1967, land clearing teams of the 20th Engineer Brigade have cleared more than 50,000 acres of jungle.
The Ong Dong Jungle, for years a Viet Cong stronghold, no longer exists.
Engineers have completely cleared all the covering jungle from these former VC controlled areas depriving the enemy of his home and supply bases. Many highways no longer have a ?Claymore Corner? or and ?Ambush Alley?.
Clearing one to three hundred yards on either side of the highway, engineers have removed all the cover that the VC formerly used for ambush and tax collection.
Grenades, fire, booby traps, anti-tank mines, mortar and ground attacks against the land clearing units show the enemy is being hurt.
One VC said he surrendered because land clearing operations had destroyed his bunkers three times.
In this battle against the jungle, the engineers are using an old standby weapon, the bulldozer. The dozers are equipped with a Rome Plow land clearing blade.
This knife-edge blade is equipped with a long, sharp ?stinger? and makes short work of anything from light brush to six-to-eight feet (diameter) hardwood trees.
At times more than 600 acres per day of jungle have disappeared under the blades and tracks of the 20th Engr. Bde. Dozers.
When Rome plows proved too slow, an anchor chain was rigged between two dozers and up to eight or nine rows of rubber trees were cleared at one time.