In Saigon 1970 (March April May) near the American Library Two VC
rockets slammed into the ground. This event was reported on AFNV
radio/tv. I need the details.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 08 Apr 2004 17:51 PDT

Hello again Sparky,

This particular attack did not, apparently, result in any deaths, and
as such, was not reported on in any great detail that I can find. 
Best I can offer is the date of the attack, the name of the library,
and a bit of context (e.g., other incidents on the same day).

Would that level of detail meet your needs?  If not, I may be out of
luck on this one.

Let me know what you think.  

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by sparky46-ga on 09 Apr 2004 14:55 PDT

The Date, the location , the name of the library, and any other detail
is acceptable, in order to collect the reward!

Thank you, Sparky.

On April 17, 1970, the NY Times ran an article entitled "War Deaths
Rise to 141 For Week" on page 9.

The full article, datelined April 16, can be accessed at the NY Times
archives website by searching for the article's title.  You can
conduct the search at:

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/advancedsearch.html

The relevant excerpt from the article is:

"The increase in enemy action included the firing of four rockets into
the heart of Saigon early this morning, the second rocket attack on
the city in three days.  An American Army library was damaged and 19
South Vietnamese were wounded."

The article also reports on the most costly attack of the week:

"...American soldiers operating near Ducpho in Quangngai Province
yesterday tripped an enemy booby trap made from a 105-mm shell.  The
resulting explosion detonated ammunition the soldiers were carrying,
killing 14 and wounding 32."

==========

A report of the same incidents in The Times Recorder (Zanesville,
Ohio) for April 16, 1970, adds some additional detail in an article
entitled "14 GIs killed in Viet Blast":


"...A second rocket hit a corner of the US Aid Special Services
Library, causing no casualties..."

The full article can be accessed at:

http://www.newspaperarchive.com

by searching on the article's title.

==========

By the way, on the date this attack occured, the world's attention was
riveted on an unfolding drama far from Vietnam...the failed Apollo 13
trip to the moon, and the efforts to bring the astronauts safely back
to earth.

I hope this information meets your needs.  Let me know if you have any questions.  

pafalafa-ga  


search strategy:  searched the NY Times archives and the
newspaperarchives.com sites for [ saigon and rocket ] in the time
period from March to May, 1970.

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Request for Answer Clarification by sparky46-ga on 10 Apr 2004 11:23 PDT

I need to know the time of day (Saigon time)of this rocket attack?

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 10 Apr 2004 13:15 PDT

Sparky,

As the NY Times article notes, the attacks occured "early this
morning" on April 16th.

The Time Recorder article adds a bit more detail:

"The rockets hit the capital shortly after 2 a.m..."

In addition, the article also notes that the rockets were 122mm.

I'm afraid there's no more than that...as I said earlier, the
information on this particular incident is pretty sparse.

Hope that helps, though.

paf

Thanks for the stars, Sparky.

If you post any more questions here, I'm sure I'm not the only one
who's curious about the sort of research you're doing.  If you care to
let us know, I'd love to hear a bit about it.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga