Operation Chicago Peak
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| Operation Chicago Peak | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Vietnam War | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 United States South Vietnam |
 North Vietnam | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
John J. Hennessey Sidney Bryan Berry Ngô Quang Trưởng | |||||
| Units involved | |||||
|
1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 3rd Regiment, 1st Infantry Division | |||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
|
3 killed | US body count: 97 killed | ||||
Operation Chicago Peak was a joint U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) military operation during the Vietnam War designed to keep pressure on the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units in the A Sầu Valley and prevent them from mounting any attacks on the neighboring coastal provinces.
The A Sầu Valley was an important corridor for the PAVN and Viet Cong (VC), who used it to transport supplies from Laos into South Vietnam as well as a staging area for attacks. Previous sweeps of the valley in Operation Delaware (19 April – 17 May 1968), Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January – 18 March 1969), Operation Massachusetts Striker (28 February - 8 May 1969) and Operation Apache Snow (10 May - 7 June 1969) in the preceding years had temporarily disrupted PAVN operations, but were unsuccessful at removing the PAVN/VC from the valley.[1]
The operation was scheduled to commence with the end of the monsoon and U.S. forces launched Operation Texas Star on 1 April to establish firebases to support the operation. However the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord and the engagement of PAVN forces on the Khe Sanh plateau in Operation Clinch Valley forced the postponement and scaling back of the operation.[2]: 291 [3]: E-18 One of the objectives of the operation, the Co Pung Mountain area, 4 km northeast of the A Sầu was found to be heavily defended by PAVN with 11 helicopters damaged by anti-aircraft fire and the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division, Brigadier general Sidney Bryan Berry, was instructed to avoid heavy U.S. casualties.[2]: 418–20
