Operation Hastings

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Operation Hastings and the follow-up Operation Prairie are military operations of the US Marine Corps against North Vietnamese units from July 7 to July 25, 1966 in the province of Qu Provinzng Trị during the Vietnam War .

prehistory

Development in Indochina 1964 to 1967

In May 1966, smaller North Vietnamese units began to infiltrate through the Demilitarized Zone (EMZ) into the South Vietnamese province of Quảng Trị . They were supposed to prepare the penetration of Division 324 B of the North Vietnamese People's Army (NVA) into South Vietnam. This first large-scale intervention by regular North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam should send a clear political signal. With the capture of the Quảng Trị province, General Võ Nguyên Giáp hoped to bring about a quick decision in the Vietnam War.

At the end of May, the 324th NVA B Division under General Nguyen Vang successfully infiltrated via the permeable border area of ​​the EMZ to South Vietnam and established itself in the densely wooded and inaccessible chain of hills south of the border by building infantry positions. The 324th NVA B-Division infiltrated completely into South Vietnam, the 342nd NVA-Division should follow it later to attack the positions of the Marines around Đà Nẵng .

The American aerial reconnaissance determined the North Vietnamese troop presence south of the EMZ in June. Remote scouts deployed thereupon reported strong enemy activity in the area south of the EMZ. Numerous fires and bivouacs could be seen on infrared images.

Operation Hastings

Start-up phase

Map of the area south of the EMZ

As a result of the strong threat posed by the NVA units, the commander of the US troops in the I Corps Tactical Zone , General Lewis William Walt , decided on July 7, 1966 that the US Marine infantry units and the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) units were subordinate to him. to contract at Cam Lo south of the Demilitarized Zone. The occupation of the region around Cam Lo in the northern Quảng Trị province is characterized as Operation Hastings , a Search and Destroy mission against enemy forces from North Vietnam. In this up to then largest operation of the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, the NVA Division 324 B was to be pushed out of its positions and thrown back over the border.

Brigadier General Lowell E. English received orders to secure the landing zones for the advancement of the US Marines and ARVN units. A total of seven US marine battalions (8,500 men) and five infantry and paratrooper battalions of the ARVN (3,000 men) were used.

terrain

The 324th NVA B-Division had crossed the border on the Ben Hat River to South Vietnam at the end of May and dug hedgehog positions, locking and bunker systems around the "Rockpile" and "Razorback" hills in the jungle . The terrain was very difficult to access for the enemy ground attack due to the dense vegetation of elephant grass and tropical mountain forest . The dense tree cover made the air raids and bombing of NVA positions by B-52 bombers largely ineffective, so that the enemy could only be defeated by a ground offensive. To the east, the mountains ran into hills and sand dunes along the coast.

The rocky "Rockpile" offered an overview of the Cam Lo River and the plains to the north. Two offshoots of the Ho Chi Minh Trail led to the "Rockpile". The dense mountain forest delayed the advance of the US marines and hid the well camouflaged and cleverly arranged NVA positions. Air strikes and napalm operations were supposed to expose the positions, but at the same time deprived the marines of natural cover in their forward movement.

Battles for the Razorback

U.S. Marines during Operation Hastings

On July 15, the troops were deposited in the "Helicopter Valley", the first wave landed unmolested, the second came under sniper fire and in the third several helicopters collided with each other and the first marines died. This severely hampered the schedule and the operational goals could not be met. Extreme tropical heat, humidity and initial disorientation made the Marines hard. The starting point for the deployment of the US soldiers was "Camp Carrol", in which a field artillery fire base was also set up.

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 4th Marine Regiment ( 3rd US Marine Division ) had the strongest contact with the enemy and suffered the highest losses in their disengagement zone, the Song Ngan Valley. The initial firefight developed into the hardest battle in the Vietnam War to date, which lasted 10 days. The 3rd Battalion (3/4) was cut off behind enemy lines and was caught in mortar fire for several days, supported by nightly infantry attacks.

On July 18, 1966, two platoons from the K Company of 3/4 Marines came under heavy fire from a 1,000-strong NVA unit. The proximity to the enemy resulted in heavy losses on both sides. Nevertheless, artillery fire and air strikes succeeded in detaching the “leather necks” from the pincer attack. The marines had 60 victims to mourn. Later, Captain Robert J. Modrezejewdki and Staff Sergeant John J. McGinty received the highest American Medal of Honor for bravery .

The 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marines was ambushed by the NVA and, due to the strong enemy fire, was only able to dig small foxholes in which many wounded and few uninjured were overrun by the North Vietnamese army in close combat . Only massive air strikes prevented their complete destruction.

On July 16, General English ordered the capture of the strategically important hill "Rockpile" in order to drop artillery observers there. "Rockpile" was taken in a commando operation.

At the end of July, the North Vietnamese began their retreat. The pursuing Marines captured a base camp where large amounts of ammunition, rice supplies and a 100-bed field hospital were discovered. Operation Hastings was not completed until August 3, 1966 with partial success.

The End

After the end of the operation, six of the seven battalions had to be re-equipped and strengthened, and the operation was considered a success by the US High Command. It was possible to inflict heavy losses on the 324th NVA B-Division and to push them back to North Vietnam. 882 North Vietnamese were killed in action, 17 were captured, and over 200 rapid-fire rifles were seized. General Walt described the soldiers of the 324th NVA B Division as very well trained, well equipped and aggressive on the cusp of fanaticism . 126 Marines were killed and 448 seriously injured in Operation Hastings. Since the area could not be pacified and the permanent threat from the North Vietnamese army remained, there were a number of subsequent military operations.

Operation Prairie

Following Operation Hastings, Operation Prairie started on August 3, 1966 . The 4th US Marine Regiment came into contact with the enemy with troops from the 324th NVA B Division, which could not be destroyed in Operation Hastings and which survived the air strikes in their bunker positions. The battles took place on the Nui-Cay-Tre ridge ("Mother's Ridge"), the "Razorback" and the "Rockpile". On August 27, 1966, Colonel Alexander D. Cereghino, commander of the 4th Marines, gave the marching orders to Lt. Col. John J. Roothoff and the newly arrived 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marines with the aim of taking the "razorback".

The hardest fight in Operation Prairie developed in mid-September 1966 against the fortified positions of the 324th NVA B Division on "Mutter's Ridge". The name "Mutter's Ridge" on the Nui-Cay-Tre ridge came from the radio signal of the 3rd Battalion of the 4th US Marines. On the night of September 22, 1966, the marines began an aggressive enemy reconnaissance against the NVA soldiers who had not yet been located. In the morning hours of September 23, 1966, the US Marines reached the slope of Hill 400 and found large quantities of ammunition and the bodies of fallen North Vietnamese in hastily excavated graves. K Company quickly came under enemy fire and was kept on the ground by snipers from the trees. The hill could only be taken in the late afternoon. The resistance of the NVA at Hill 484 was considerably stronger, a frontal attack was repulsed on October 4, 1966 by shell fire by the NVA.

A series of skirmishes developed around the "Rockpile", with F and G companies suffering the greatest losses. The 4th Marines withdrew to Camp Carroll base camp and were replaced by the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marine Infantry Regiment, which patrolled the Nui-Cay-Tre ridge and was constantly attacked by the NVA.

Heavy monsoon rains hampered the US troops' ground offensive and forced them to abandon the conquered hills. Only the "Razorback" could be held successfully and the NVA had to postpone the conquest of the Quang Tri Province until next year. Between 1,200 and 2,000 NVA soldiers were killed in Operation Prairie and over 200 US Marines lost their lives in the fighting. The NVA gave up its massive attacks and, like the Viet Cong , adopted guerrilla tactics.

The End

After the skirmish on September 24, 1966, the 7th Marines' participation in the operation ended. The G Company hid the fallen in the bombed and burned mountain forests and looked for missing people, while they were constantly attacked by NVA snipers. The Marines withdrew completely from the Rockpile-Razorback complex to Đông Hà . Lt. Col. John J. Hess and the newly arrived 2nd Battalion / 9. US Marines replaced Colonel Rootloff's severely decimated companies that were reorganized in Chu Lai . The marines stopped patrol for the time being and withdrew to Camp Carroll. Operation Prairie was not restarted until October 1966, when 1,000 North Vietnamese from the 341st NVA division, which replaced the 324th NVA B division, were killed.

From 1966 to 1968 the defense of the border by the US marines was continuously expanded and a large-scale invasion by North Vietnamese infantry units was prevented. In the course of the Tet Offensive , heavy fighting broke out again in early 1968 ( Battle of Khe Sanh ). The bitter and bloody battles south of the EMZ are still glorified by numerous veteran associations of the US Marines to this day.

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