Tonle Cham Camp | |
Type: | Army |
Built: | 1967 |
Used: | 1967-74 |
Battles: | Vietnam War |
Tonle Cham Airfield | |
Elevation-F: | 33 |
R1-Length-F: | 3000 |
R1-Surface: | laterite |
Tonle Cham Camp (also known as Tonle Cham Special Forces Camp or Tong Le Chon Special Force camp) is a former U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base southwest of An Lộc in southern Vietnam.
The 5th Special Forces Group Detachment A-334[1] first established a base here in 1967 to monitor communist infiltration from base areas in the Fishhook (Cambodia).The base was located beside the Saigon River on Route 248 8 km southeast of the Fishhook and approximately 14 km southwest of An Lộc.[2]
On 28 November 1968 Lockheed C-130B Hercules #61-2644 of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron was damaged beyond repair after its nose gear failed while landing at Tonle Cham[3]
Following the Battle of An Lộc the base was transferred to the 92nd Ranger Battalion in late 1972.[2]
On 25 March 1973, less than 2 months after the Paris Peace Accords went into effect, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) began a siege of the camp.[4] The Rangers held out for more than a year before they abandoned the base to the PAVN on 12 April 1974.[5]
The base has been turned over to farmland and housing.