On the 2nd of May elements of the 3rd Battalion 33rd North Vietnamese Regiment (3/33rd Regt) were located in Phuoc Tuy Province.
We launched an air assault on the area but the North Vietnamese withdrew north into Long Khanh Province. We continued patrolling in the area.

On May 10 we moved south to Xuyen Moc which was being threatened by D445. We searched and ambushed around the village, and although we found signs of the enemy, we could not close in battle with them. Two days later some of our mates started going home, as the 3rd Intake of 1969 National Servicemen started returning home.

We continued to get reports that 3/33rd Regt was training D445 on the Long Khan/Phuoc Tuy border, east of Route 2. Headquarters 3 RAR returned to Nui Dat to plan our next operation.

We continued patrolling through the Jungle for the rest of May.

We were starting to settle pretty much into a routine now ... we had met the enemy a number of times ... twice in large numbers ... and we were doing all right. We were starting to get comfortable with this Jungle warfare. We had learnt a few tricks to make life easier:

C4 explosive could boil your water in about 3 seconds, great for a quick brew... although it had a tendency to explode if you rolled it into a ball;
silk hammocks, although banned by the Army, made sleeping more comfortable than lying in the mud;
Boodgie could make little bamboo table and chairs ... he studied the construction in the Nog Bunkers;
Rice, curry powder and jam made great sweet and sour curries to supplement our rations, along with the odd fish and lizard.

We had settled in and felt right at home in the Jungle. But we would soon get a wake up call! There was still a war to be fought out there and the Nogs were still determined to be a force in Phuoc Tuy.