Campaign
Campaign
During
Operation Lam Son 719, American forces supported Vietnamese forces in their attack across
the Laotian border. Designed to cut enemy infiltration routes and to destroy North
Vietnamese staging areas in Laos, Operation Lam Son 719 began on February 8 as the 101st
and other American aviation units airlifted South Viet namese troops into Laos.
For many
years, the enemy had controlled the area of Laos adjacent to South Vietnam and had built
up extensive defenses. When the operation ended on 9 April 1971, less than one Allied
aircraft for every thousand sorties was lost, despite the increased enemy use of
anit-aircraft weapons, artillery, and armor.
In the
aftermath of Operation Lam Son 719, combat operations were conducted in areas of Cambodia
adjacent to the South Vietnamese border.
Like Lam Son,
air transport and cover were provided by U.S. forces, while SVN Army forces conducted the
ground operations
