Cordon and search of Binh Gia DPR/TV/762

Australian troops of the 2nd and 7th Battalions of The Royal Australian Regiment, assisted by Vietnamese national police, recently cordoned and searched the village of Binh Gia north of the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, Vietnam. The search revealed that there were 1258 people in the village, and of these 50 were apprehended as Viet Cong suspects or sympathizers. Recent cordon and search operations by the Australians can be divided into four distinct phases. The cordon of the village is made at last light, at first light the following day the search of the village begins. Screening of everyone in the village is then carried out by the Vietnamese police, after which medical or dental treatment is available to anyone who may require it. Apart from searching for the Viet Cong in the villages a thorough search is also made among woodpiles, earthen jars, ashes, gardens and any other likely places where weapons, ammunition, documents and other items of value to the Viet Cong may be hidden. At Binh Gia medical and dental treatment was readily sought by the villagers and kept the doctor and dentist with 2 RAR, Captains Graham Maynard and Steve Kruger, busy all day. But for most members of the 2nd and 7th Battalions the cordon and search of Binh Gia was jsut one of many in a constant attempt to seek out and destroy the Viet Cong in Phuoc Tuy Province. (Also identified: Private Kim Ramsay of East Victoria Park, WA; Task Force Commander, Brigadier Stuart Graham of Stafford Heights, Qld