1.
LV PAN Helicopter flying in supplies.
0.14

2.
CU & SV Soldier in camp.
0.27

3.
GV & SV Soldiers playing chess. (2 shots)
0.38

4.
CU & SV Soldiers sitting in camp. (2 shots)
0.56



Initials VS/17.37 VS/17.44


TELERECORDING original on 9516/72 54ft

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The last American ground troops on combat duty in South Vietnam (apart from advisers attached to ARVN units) are one thousand men of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry.

They patrol the 'rocket-belt' around the big base of Da Nang.

The men have a boring existence as they wait for their orders to go home.

There has been little action and in the past eleven months the unit has not lost a man. Nonetheless, the men say they are being very careful.

They pass the time reading, writing letters or playing chess. A helicopter brings in regular supplies of beer and ice cream.

Some of the men have misgivings about the United States pulling out of South Vietnam with the war continuing.

SYNOPSIS: Each day a helicopter flies in cold beer, soft drinks and sometimes ice-cream to men of the 21st Infantry camped in the jungle surrounding Da Nang.

The regular supplies are part of the easy life for the last American infantrymen on combat duty in South Vietnam.

The one thousand men of the First Battalion are assigned to patrol a jungle belt around Da Nang to prevent enemy rocket attacks on the base.

It's a quiet duty. Nobody in the battalion has been killed in the last eleven months.

As the time to go home draws near the men of this unit say they are being very careful and taking no chances. A lot of the time they spend reading, writing letters or playing chess.

Some of the men have misgivings about the United States pulling out with the war not yet won. One tried to explain why,, but gave up, saying the Americans who did not have relatives in South Vietnam would not understand.