In the air, the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing would continue to roam farther afield with its fixed-wing aircraft, strike and reconnaissance operations continuing under the single managership of the Seventh Air Force.14 For the time, also, MAG-13 would continue to be based at Chu Lai. The research for this After Action Report included OPERATIONAL REPORTS, DAILY STAFF JOURNALS and DUTY OFFICER S LOGS at the Battalion, Brigade and Division levels located in the National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. It was a year that also saw the first battle for Khe Sanh fought in April and heavy fighting around Con Thien. The rest is history. In all, as of mid-summer 1969, the Wing inventory totalled about 225 helicopters and 250 fixed wing aircraft. Resistance was minimal, and as usual when operating in populated rural areas, most casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines. This meant drawing in a little tighter towards Da Nang, The 1st Marines turned over their old CP on Hill 55 (which had been a Marine regimental command post since being occupied by the 9th Marines in the spring of 1966) to the 51st ARVN Regiment and moved to the CP vacated by the 26th Marines close to the Division headquarters. The 5th Marines was south of the Vu Gia and Thu Bon rivers operating from its combat base at An Hoa. During the spring and summer of 1970, its most important contribution was in Pacifier operations, quick-response helicopter operations of platoon or company size. Elsewhere in South Vietnam the other two prongs of the NVA general offensive were making themselves felt. The Wing also continued to operate Air Support Radar Teams (ASRTs) at five sites: Quang Tri, FSB Birmingham in Thua Thien province, Da Nang, An Hoa, and Chu Lai. Backing the ground troops, Major General Charles J. Quilter's 1st Marine Aircraft Wing had fixed wing groups at Da Nang and Chu Lai and helicopter groups at Marble Mountain, Phu Bai, and Quang Tri. There was much evidence of low morale. The 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, and an artillery firing battery had stood down on the 13th, so the brigade had actually lost a third of its ground combat strength a day before it became operational. Enemy strength in Quang Nam province had declined, by Division estimates, from 15,500 in January 1969 to 25 in January 1971. The 1st Marine Division was asked to provide extra security along Route One, particularly in the Hai Van pass area, to prevent harassment of the north-south lines of communication, and a company of five-ton trucks from the 11th Motor Transport Battalion along with some forklifts and operators was to go north. The Hoang Dieu series of operations, which had already moved the ARVN toward an increased responsibility for territorial security, had continued, although at somewhat reduced vigor. Few, however, would take exception to the judgment of Keyes Beech (himself a Marine Combat Correspondent in World War II) leaving Vietnam after ten years of reporting on the war: "In closing I would like to offer a salute to that skinny little Viet Cong somewhere out there in the jungle shivering in the monsoon rains. Prime movers for the program were the Rural Development (RD) teams. Something new was added in the way of sea-based tactical air on 20 June when a detachment from HMA-369 began operating its AH-1J Sea Cobras from the decks of the USS Denver (LPD-9) off the North Vietnamese coast.
John Coleman Obituary 2005,
L'ombre Du Tout Puissant Te Couvrira,
Articles OTHER
