For weeks, advance troops of the newest U.S. unit to arrive in Viet Nam had been secretly at work on a clearing just north of An Khe on Route 19, deep in the Viet Cong-infested highlands. Using only machetes to clear the copse so as to keep the sod in place, the Americans hacked out a gigantic 3,000-ft. by 4,000-ft. helipad, a 4,000-ft. runway, and bivouac space for no fewer than 20,000 men.
The secrecy vanished when a fortnight ago a sign went up on the toughest part of Route 19; WELCOME FIRST AIR CAV, it said; PASS SECURED...
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