:>ecember 19, 1968, tbe first of two beli......

--,::>rc:- cairyinq SEAL Team 1 approacbes village that will be tbe target of their raid.

The navy's Seal (Sea, Air, and Land) teems are an elite force of highly trained commandos skilled in underwater, airborne, and ground combat. In Vietnam, they carried out a variety of exotic and usually classified missions. Seal Chip Maury photographed this operation in December of 1968as Seal Team 1 carried

out a surprise daylight raid on a village on the Cua Lon River in Vietcong-controlled territory on the Ca Mau Peninsula. The objectives were to capture and bring back for interrogation as many civilians as could be found and to destroy any structures being used by the VC. The operation was carried out under

Above. The SEAL team begins its assault. Right. Two SEALs fire at VC positions across the Cua Lon River.

fire from several armed VC who had fled into the woods at the approach of the helicopters. While part of the team returned and suppressed the VC fire, the other Seals raced through the small settlement, rounding up the women, children, and old men and herding them to the LZ. The huts were burned, documents

Above. After setting fire to the hut, a team member carries away a bag of Vietcong documents that he had found inside of it. Left. A boy who had been hiding from the SEALs in a canal is captured for interrogation.

Above. A SEAL yells "fake-off' as tlie helicopter comes under sniper fire. Left. Captured civilians aboard copter. the heli-

Following pages. After the mission, SEAL Team 1 shows"bff a VC flag captured in the village. Photographer Chip Maury is in the back row at far right.

and a VC flag were seized, the choppers were called in, and the team took off,still under fire but with no casualties. The entire raid had taken only minutes. The civilians were flown to Hai Yen, then taken aboard a navy ship for interrogation. They were finally taken to a resettlement camp in a government-controlled area. Several of the civilians said they had been kidnaped by the VC and put to work in the rice fields in the little village where the Seal Team had found them.
..... __A helicopter arrives to lift out the .;:::.;.. . .:earn and the villagers it captured.

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