The 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, had already been alerted for a possible relief mission to Tan Son Nhut. When the call came through, the squadron commander, Lt. Col. Glenn K. Otis, was ordered to immediately commit his Troop C. As the armored cavalry troop, under the command of Captain Leo B. Virant, raced down Highway I in the dark, Otis flew overhead in his command-and-control helicopter, harassing Viet Cong ambush sites from the air and guiding the troops around the danger zones by means of flares dropped nearby. One platoon of Troop C was left to secure the Hoc Mon Bridge, just north of the base. Colonel Otis then returned to Cu Chi to rearm and refuel, and the rest of Troop C crashed into the rear of the three VC battalions at about 6 a.m. The VC responded with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG). About one-third of the armored column was destroyed and Captain Virant was seriously wounded, but the cohesion of the VC attack was badly disrupted.

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American troopers from the destroyed vehicles were fighting from the ditch alongside the highway and rapidly running out of ammunition. Unable to establish contact with Allied forces inside the base, Troop C radioed back to Cu Chi for help. Colonel Otis got the call and immediately headed back for Tan Son Nhut. The platoon guarding the Hoc Mon Bridge was committed first and arrived at 7:15 a.m. Otis then called in his air cavalry troop. Ammo was brought in by air, and the wounded were evacuated. Otis directed the air troop’s gunships against the attackers.

Troop B was then called in from its alert position about 30 miles away. It raced down Highway I and reached Tan Son Nhut in about 45 minutes. Otis positioned the new arrivals across the enemy’s north flank, effectively putting the VC in a right angle between two armored columns. More gunships and artillery pounded the enemy, now firmly fixed in the ‘L.’ By 10 a.m., the VC attack folded. Many Viet Cong fled back into the textile mill, which was later leveled by air strikes. Around the base perimeter, mop-up operations continued well into the night.

The 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, was later awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the fight. Four members of the squadron, including Otis, received the Distinguished Service Cross. Twenty years after the fight at Tan Son Nhut, Glenn K. Otis retired from the Army as the four-star general in command of the U.S. Army in Europe.

Thirteen miles to the east, the Long Binh-Bien Hoa complex was simultaneously attacked by the 5th VC Division. There, too, the battle was decided by armored and mechanized forces. The previous night, the 9th Division’s 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized), under the command of Lt. Col. John B. Tower, had moved into alert positions outside the cities ties. At 4:45 on the morning of the thirty-first, General Weyand ordered the battalion forward.

Company A was sent to relieve the attack on a large Allied POW compound maintained between the two cities on Highway 1. Company B was sent to reinforce the already breached perimeter of the Long Binh ammo dump. Company C, commanded by Captain John Gross, was sent to relieve the attack on the ARVN III Corps headquarters in Bien Hoa City.

Company B arrived at the ammo dump at 6:30, a.m. Some of the soldiers joined in the fight to eject the intruders, while others helped ordnance personnel remove and disarm satchel charges already placed in many bunkers by VC sappers. Company A, meanwhile, attacked from the Long Binh base across Highway I into elements of the 275th VC Regiment in Ho Nai Village and ‘Black Widow Village’–so called by U.S. troops because many widows of VC officers were thought to live there. To reach the ARVN III Corps headquarters, Company C had to fight its way through the middle of the 275th VC Regiment astride Highway I and through the flank of the 274th VC Regiment attacking Bien Hoa Air Base. At 5:45 a.m., it plowed into the rear of the 238th VC Battalion attacking the III Corps compound. Company C attacked from the march column and overran the besieged ARVN position.

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