Short History Lesson

[Phantom Blooper]

At the beginning of 1969, 47 USMC officers and nine enlisted men were assigned to duty as advisors with the VNMC. Normally, two USMC advisors were assigned to each VNMC infantry battalion. VNMC strength in 1969 totaled 9,300 officers and men. 17

In February 1969, the VNMC engaged in joint operations with the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) near the Cambodian border. This forty day operation yielded one of the largest caches of enemy arms and ammunition of the war. Tons of captured supplies were transferred by CH-47 helicopter from the Parrot's Beak area to the VNMC support base near An Loc. Later that month the VNMC 5th Battalion engaged elements of the 5th NVA Division near Bien Hoa. In fighting that was so close it precluded the use of artillery support, the Vietnamese Marines claimed over 150 NVA killed in action, including an NVA battalion commander. For this action the 5th VNMC Battalion was awarded the U.S. Navy Unit Commendation.

During April a second artillery battalion was added to the Vietnamese Marines. In November, a third artillery battalion was formed; the following month, a seventh infantry battalion was authorized.

In April and May Vietnamese Marines underwent amphibious, riverine, and reconnaissance operations with ARVN and U.S. Navy River Assault forces in areas including the Cau Mau Peninsula and the U Minh Forest. During the summer a Vietnamese Marine brigade conducted reconnaissance-in-force operations with Vietnamese territorial units in Chuong Thien Province before being placed back in general reserve status. 1969 year's end saw the VNMC engaged in heavy combat in III and IV Corps.

In May, 1970, a VNMC brigade consisting of three infantry battalions plus a battery of artillery participated in the GVN incursion into Cambodia. At the end of May this brigade engaged in a six-day period of intense combat, including house-to-house fighting, against the North Vietnamese forces near the town of Neak Luong. 295 NVA were killed, while VNMC casualties totaled only seven KIA. 18 As U.S. Marine advisors were not permitted to accompany their Vietnamese counterparts, the Cambodian fighting was an important test of the ability of the VNMC to operate independently. Contact between VNMC and NVA forces continued until June 16.

In the summer of 1970, the Vietnamese Marines deployed northward into Quang Nam province, establishing fire support bases southwest of An Hoa Combat Base. In 1971, the VNMC underwent its first division-sized operation when it moved to the vicinity of the old Marine Corps combat base at Khe Sanh in Quang Tri province. Operation Lam Son 719, the GVN invasion of Laos, was one of the most important GVN operations of the war.

The purpose of Lam Son 719 was to sever the Ho Chi Minh trail at the Laotian city of Tchepone, thereby thwarting an anticipated NVA offensive and facilitating the redeployment of U.S. combat units during 1971. Two VNMC brigades entered Laos in March by helicopter insertion and overland movement. Their purpose was to occupy firebases that had been abandoned by the 1st ARVN Division. Beginning about March 18, Vietnamese Marines operating from Fire Support Base (FSB) Delta in Laos faced heavy concentrations of NVA forces. Enemy heavy artillery, mortar, and small arms fire brought airborne resupply and medical evacuation operations to a near standstill. On March 21, the NVA launched sustained regimental-sized attacks against the besieged Vietnamese Marine defenders at FSB Delta. The Communist weapons included tanks equipped with flamethrowers. After NVA forces penetrated the perimeter of FSB Delta the Marines were ordered to withdraw. Eventually the VNMC units, tasked with blunting the NVA counter-offensive, fought their way back into South Vietnam. The Marine division as a whole claimed over 2,000 NVA KIA while suffering approximately 1,000 KIA and WIA. The Vietnamese Marines were the last GVN troops to leave Laos during this operation. 19

The results of Lam Son 719 made evident serious command and control weaknesses within the GVN armed forces. Artillery support had been deficient. Personal politics between GVN commanders had a negative effect on tactical operations. The Vietnamese Marines had made the best of a difficult situation, however. A senior U.S. Marine advisor noted that the VNMC alone among the GVN Airborne, Rangers, and regular ARVN divisions achieved local battle successes and maintained their unit integrity. 20

After 1968, the VNMC contained three brigade headquarters with the designations Marine Brigades 147, 258, and 369. These designations originally came from the numerical designations of the battalions under their control. After April, 1971, two brigades were operating in Quang Tri province while the third remained in Saigon. Many senior VNMC officers had been fighting the Communists for twenty years and often perceived little need for American advisors. Consequently, these U.S. Marines frequently felt more like fire support coordinators rather than advisors. These senior VNMC commanders were Northerners by birth and referred to their enemy as either Communists or Viet Cong, but never as "NVA" or "PAVN" (People's Army of Vietnam).

By 1971, South Vietnam had a peaceful appearance to it - few Marines felt the need to wear flak jackets or helmets and rarely carried a loaded magazine in their weapons. 21 In November, 1971, U.S. Marines in I Corps celebrated the birthday of the Corps with their Vietnamese counterparts. Birthday cakes were flown up from Saigon and washed down with large quantities of beer. The quiet and calm tactical situation allowed the regular rotation of the VNMC battalions in the north to Saigon, where the families of the Marines were located. After a period of leave, the rotated battalion participated in training exercises.

With the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam, much USMC equipment was turned over to the Vietnamese Marines. In 1972 one of the goals of the Marine advisory unit was aimed at fostering a greater sense of solidarity between the VNMC and Vietnamese Navy in order to create an efficient amphibious assault organization.

The tranquility in I Corps ceased near year's end. On December 21, the 5th VNMC battalion, newly arrived to replace the 4th, received more incoming enemy fire in one day than the 4th had received all fall. Enemy activity continued to increase in January and February of 1972. The NVA had organized a corps-level headquarters to carry out attacks against South Vietnam's Military Region 1 (MR1), the northernmost military region in the country, in order to challenge the U.S. policy of Vietnamization. The two VNMC brigades, 147 and 258, were deployed along the western portion of GVN defenses below the DMZ. Brigade 369 was deployed into the area to conduct mobile clearing operations. On March 30, 1972, the NVA fired 12,000 rocket, artillery, and mortar rounds all across the Quang Tri frontier, preparing the way for a force of 25,000 North Vietnamese soldiers supported by tanks and artillery. The outgunned 3d ARVN Division, responsible for the defense of the DMZ region, reeled under the attack. In just two days the NVA had overrun all twelve of the bases and outposts that U.S. Marines had turned over to the 3d ARVN. 22 VNMC Brigade 258 was moved northward to reinforce the crumbling ARVN defensive line and assume security of the vital Dong Ha region. The commander of the 3d VNMC Battalion, Major Le Ba Binh, broadcast on his command radio network that there were "Vietnamese Marines in Dong Ha. We will fight in Dong Ha. We will die in Dong Ha. We will not leave. As long as one Marine draws a breath, Dong Ha will belong to us." 23

Major Binh's promise proved impossible to keep - the invading North Vietnamese outnumbered the South Vietnamese three-to-one. However, along with ARVN Airborne units, the Vietnamese Marines fought a savage series of delaying actions, which finally stopped the NVA offensive north of Hue, and then counterattacked. U.S. Marine advisors never left the side of the Vietnamese Marine Division. Heavy fighting continued into June, with the Marines pushing back into Quang Tri province.

At the beginning of August most of Quang Tri City remained in NVA hands and it had become apparent that the ARVN Airborne Division, weakened by earlier fighting in the Central Highlands, would be unable to dislodge the NVA defenders. The Marine Division was given this mission and relieved the ARVN airborne troops. As September began, Marine units had been in constant street fighting for 35 days under steady enemy artillery attacks. On September 9 the Marines began their final assault. Shortly after noon on September 16, Vietnamese Marines raised the flag of the Republic of Vietnam over the Quang Tri Citadel. During the seven week battle to recapture Quang Tri City, the VNMC had suffered 3,658 casualties. This figure represented approximately 25 percent of the entire Vietnamese Marine Corps. 24

cont.

[Phantom Blooper]

Following the NVA 1972 offensive, the Vietnamese Marine Division remained in the northernmost part of MR1. Here it faced three North Vietnamese divisions. The VNMC maintained aggressive long-range reconnaissance patrols into NVA-held territory in northern and western Quang Tri province. In March, 1973, the U.S. Marine advisory unit was deactivated. After repelling a battalion-sized attack in September, enemy activity in the north fell off except for sporadic mortar attacks on VNMC positions. A 4th brigade was added to the VNMC in December, 1974.

During March, 1975, the Vietnamese Marines were deployed south from Quang Tri to provide for the defense of Danang. By April the GVN began to collapse in the face of the NVA final offensive. ARVN units in Danang disintegrated and only the Marine brigades maintained tactical integrity. For two days the Marines engaged in an attempt to defend the city, fighting the North Vietnamese near VNMC headquarters at Bo Tu Linh west of Danang. When this proved futile, they deployed aboard evacuation ships. Now split into two forces, during the GVN's final hours Vietnamese Marines were reported fighting NVA forces near the presidential palace in Saigon.

Less than 250 Vietnamese Marines ultimately escaped to the US after the fall of Saigon. This group included their two commandants, twenty officers, and 180 enlisted men who ended up in refugee camps in the U.S. For one last time, American Marines who had served as advisors to the Vietnamese Marines were on hand to assist them. 25

The special relationship between the Vietnamese and American Marines was summed up best by the last VNMC Commandant. According to General Khang, U.S. Marines never tried to command their Vietnamese comrades; rather, they served with them as friends and advisors. U.S. Marine advisors frequently worked outside their military fields to provide assistance to VNMC wives and children. American Marines were the only ones to share the food of the Vietnamese Marines - they did not carry their own rations into the field. Instead, they ate food procured in local markets and from individual farmers according to the methods of the Vietnamese Marines. The American Marines made no distinction between the U.S. Marines and the Vietnamese Marines. 26

Notes

1. The best source for information on the early years of the Vietnamese Marine Corps is Victor J. Croizat, "Vietnamese Naval Forces: Origin of the Species," U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, (February, 1973), 48-58.

2. Major Charles D. Melson and Lieutenant Colonel Curtis G. Arnold, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1971-1973, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1991), 23n.

3. Quoted in Graham A. Cosmas and Lieutenant Colonel Terrance P. Murray, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1970-1971, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1986), 370.

4. Cosmas, 370.

5. G. H. Turley, The Easter Offensive: Vietnam, 1972, (New York: Warner, 1985), 7.

6. Captain Robert H. Whitlow, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1954-1964, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1977), 32.

7. Whitlow, 35.

8. Whitlow, 138.

9. Jack Shulimson and Major Charles M. Johnson, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1965, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1978), 204-205.

10. Shulimson, 206.

11. Major Gary L. Telfer, Lieutenant Colonel Lane Rogers, V. Keith Fleming, Jr., U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1967, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1984), 248.

12. Telfer, 251.

13. Telfer, 253-254.

14. Telfer, 254.

15. Don Oberdorfer, Tet!, (N.Y.: Avon, 1971), 219.

16. Jeffrey J. Clarke, Advice and Support: The Final Years, 1965-1973, (Washington, D.C.:Center for Military History, United States Army, 1988), 325, 327.

17. Charles R. Smith, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1969, (Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1988), 311.

18. Cosmas, 373.

19. Keith W. Nolan, Into Laos, (Novato, CA: Presido, 1986), 344. Cosmas, 378.

20. Cosmas, 377.

21. Melson, 24.

22. Melson, 38; Turley, 145.

23. John G. Miller, The Bridge at Dong Ha, (N.Y.: Dell, 1990), 80.

24. Melson, 126.

25. Turley, 305.

26. Quoted in Smith, 1969, 313. Also Melson, 26


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http://chss.montclair.edu/english/fu...vnmarines.html | furrg@alpha.montclair.edu | HTML'd 29 May 99

[echo3mike]

Phantom, Thanks for the history lesson and references. Great reading. Happy 228th Semper Fi