 The estimate of 101 enemy dead officially provided by the U.S. military was likely much inflated to emphasize the scale of the 'American victory'.For retired U.S. Army Brigadier General James E. Shelton, who was then a major and served as an Operations Officer with the 2/28th Infantry, the lack of reliable intelligence and overconfidence on the part of Allen as the battalion commander, were some of the factors that led to the disastrous outcome in the Ong Thanh battle.Furthermore, the soldiers under Allen's command lacked fighting experience, whereas the VC of the 9th Division were tough and experienced light infantry.