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By Richard V. Oliver
SAIGON (UPI) - About 2,000 U.S. troops have captured "key terrain" in the A Shau Valley, North Vietnam's main infiltration route into the south. Heavy American losses and strong enemy resistance in the early going of the major offensive were reported Sunday by U.S. commanders.
UPI correspondents with the plunge into Communist heartland said at least 30 American helicopters were shot down by Communist gunners in the first day of fighting that started 10 days ago.
The American general in charge said the anti-aircraft fire was as wilting and deadly as any ever encountered over North Vietnam.
Saigon spokesmen Monday said allied troops Sunday killed 76 Communists on the capital's northwest doorstep. Seven Americans died.
In the air war, U.S. Navy pilots from the Ticonderoga blasted Communist sampans on a canal 23 miles northwest of Vinh in Sunday's northernmost raids over North Vietnam's panhandle.
American B52 bombers blasted Communist assembling areas south of Hue twice Sunday, hitting terminal points of roads leading out of the A Shau Valley which the U.S. Air Cavalry invaded April 19.
"My mission in the valley is to destroy anything I see, kill any enemy and gather intelligence," Maj. Gen. John Tolson said. He is the commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, the airmobile force carrying the brunt of the push.
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News of the operation was withheld for security reasons until Sunday, and Saigon headquarters prevented correspondents from filing details of any events that have occurred since April 21.
A brief one-paragraph announcement released by U.S. headquarters Sunday night said the offensive, called Operation Delaware, was "proceeding successfully." It said the mission began April 19 and involved elements of the 1st Cavalry Division "working in conjunction" with South Vietnamese forces.
Tolson told UPI shortly after the start of the offensive that it was designed to deprive the Communists of an infiltration funnel they have used with impunity for the past 25 months.
"Considering the degree of enemy resistance, the operation thus far has been highly successful," Tolson told UPI correspondent Ray Wilkinson. "We now have key terrain in the valley under our control.
"We've had some heavy losses, but considering we are here we are in a fine position."
There had been indications that a big offensive was either being planned or was already under way in the A Shau Valley earlier this week when wave after wave of U.S. Air Force B52s unloaded hundreds of thousands of pounds of bombs on the area. Such strikes normally are a prelude to a major search-and-destroy mission.
The A Shau Valley push dominated war communiqués Sunday, but headquarters reported another series of air raids into North Vietnam's panhandle Saturday.
Headquarters said pilots flew 93 missions that included destruction of a complex of five strategic bridges 11 miles north of the coastal city of Vinh. Airmen told of heavy antiaircraft fire but there were no reports of plane losses.
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