High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Battle of Ong Thanh was fought on the morning of October 17, 1967, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam. During the first few months of 1967, the Viet Cong absorbed heavy losses as a result of large-scale search and destroy missions conducted by the United States Army, and it prompted North Vietnamese leaders to review their war strategy in South Vietnam. In light of the setbacks which North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces had experienced early in 1967, North Vietnamese General Tran Van Tra suggested that North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces could still be victorious if they inflicted as much casualties as possible on U.S. military units, until America got tired and pulled out from Vietnam. Thus, towards mid-1967, the Viet Cong 7th and 9th Divisions returned to the battlefield again, with the objective of inflicting casualties on U.S. military formations in III Corps Tactical Zone. On June 12, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division launched Operation Billings to destroy elements of the Viet Cong 9th Division, which had built-up strength around northern Phuoc Vinh.