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Danang's 25-mile perimeter is patrolled by the so-called "Special Sector," made up of Vietnamese Rangers and U.S. Special Forces, which on two occasions in the past month has surprised Viet Cong units within mortar range of the airstrip. Last week one flustered patrol reported "enemy" activity, and Danang's artillery opened up—on a herd of 15 wild elephants.
The Doom Club. Danang itself is ominously quiet. The white sand beaches on Tourane Bay are deserted; pedicabs and taxis have given way to Jeeps and deuce-and-a-half trucks. Danang's populace doesn't bother to look up at the Skyraiders and jets bellowing off the runways en route to another strike north. Military men stick to their posts. Bars and brothels go dead at night, leaving girls to play cards and dance with each other; little children with wild eyes pick one another's pockets. Even in the "Doom Club," a hangout for U.S. officers, there is no singing. The busiest spot in town is a shop that sells lucky charms to G.I.s. Its slogan: "No V.D., No V.C., Buy from Kim Chi."
The main topic of conversation in Danang last week was the impending arrival of two battalions of U.S. marines to help defend the airbase perimeter. But with the stepped-up Viet Cong offensives throughout the country, especially around Bongson and Danang, even they may not be enough to keep the strategically vital northern third of the country from falling to Communist arms. The U.S. air strikes to the North —no longer tit-for-tat but now steady, measured assaults on Viet Cong supply lines—must be backed up by success on the ground within South Viet Nam if Washington's policy is to succeed. After all, hitting the North loses its meaning if the South falls.