5 New Zealand SAS Fought 90 Viet Cong For 44 Minutes

On November 24, 1968, deep in the elephant grass of Phuoc Tuy province, Sergeant Ted Row and his four-man patrol froze. Twelve North Vietnamese Army regulars were walking within 20 meters of their position. The New Zealanders remained undetected, believing the danger had passed.

They were wrong. Those twelve soldiers were merely the vanguard. Three hundred meters away, a Viet Cong Main Force company of 90 men was digging in. In minutes, the five men of NZSAS patrol "20 Alpha" would be fighting for their lives in a ratio of 18-to-1, initiating a 44-minute storm of fire that would become a legend of special forces survival.

This video provides a tactical breakdown of how a five-man reconnaissance team neutralized a company-sized enemy force. It analyzes the "force multiplication" effect of the M60 machine gun, the terrifying precision of "Danger Close" artillery called within 50 meters of friendly lines, and the coordination required to stack helicopter gunships over a shrinking perimeter.

Beyond the ballistics, this story explores the psychology of the Special Air Service. It examines how elite training overrides the instinct to panic when ammunition runs dry, and how a patrol leader manages the "math of survival"—balancing rate of fire against the ticking clock of an extraction helicopter.

The engagement of Patrol 20 Alpha challenges the standard narrative of the Vietnam War. It wasn't just a chaotic jungle skirmish; it was a synchronized application of industrial firepower controlled by five men who refused to accept the odds.

🎖️ FEATURED UNITS & PERSONNEL:

1st Ranger Squadron, NZSAS (Patrol 20 Alpha)

105 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery

No. 9 Squadron RAAF ("Bushranger" Gunships)

US Army Light Fire Team ("Cobra" Gunships)

Viet Cong Main Force Company (Phuoc Tuy)

#VietnamWar #NZSAS #SpecialForces #DangerClose #CombatAnalysis #MilitaryHistory #CloseAirSupport #Survival #Anzac #SpecialAirService

📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

New Zealand V-Force Operational Logs (1968)

"Phantoms of the Jungle" - History of the NZSAS

Official After-Action Report: Contact of 24 Nov 1968

Oral Histories of the Royal Australian Artillery in Vietnam

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