The First Fight U S Marines In Operation Starlite August 1965

On 18 August 1965, U.S. Marines of Regimental Landing Team 7 (RLT 7) and Viet Cong soldiers of the 1st Viet Cong Regiment met each other in a ferocious struggle that would continue for several more days. Operation Starlite, as the Marines called it, took place on the Van Tuong Peninsula, about 10 miles south of the Marine base at Chu Lai. It was a significant battle for many reasons. Though the Marines and Viet Cong had encountered each other in small-sized patrols and ambushes before, Operation Starlite was the first time they met in open battle in regimental-sized formations. Both sides learned several lessons about how the enemy fought, and each came to appreciate the other as a formidable foe. In the short term, the tactical victory won by the Marines validated such operational concepts as vertical envelopment, amphibious assault, and combined arms that had not been put into practice on a large scale since the Korean War. It proved that Marine ground troops and their junior officers and noncommissioned officers, as well as Marine aviators, were just as tough and reliable as their forebears who had fought in World War II and Korea. In the long term, Starlite foreshadowed the American military's commitment to conventional warfare in Vietnam and showed how difficult it would be to defeat Communist forces in South Vietnam.

A Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War brings together interviews with fellow Marines and with men who fought with the 1st Viet Cong Regiment to provide a firsthand chronicle of Operation Starlite, which, in 1965, became the first major clash during America's involvement in Vietnam. Reprint.

A graphic account of the first major clash of the Vietnam War

The U.S. Marine Corps' war in Vietnam was a mixtureof large-scale conventional battles against mainViet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA)units and smaller pacification operations designed to securethe South Vietnamese population from Communist insurgents.During the latter half of 1965, Marine forces foughtrepeated engagements against large Viet Cong units, mostnotably the 1st Viet Cong Regiment. The first battle, a fight inAugust to secure the area around Chu Lai called OperationStarlite, inflicted significant casualties upon this force. However,within just a few months, the Communist unit reconstituteditself, forcing the Marines to launch another operationto destroy the formation in December. The Marines codenamedthis action Operation Harvest Moon.Operation Harvest Moon has largely been overlooked inhistories of the Vietnam War. While Operation Starlite wasconsidered a major success and a clear demonstration of thesuperiority of America's conventional military forces comparedto the Viet Cong, Harvest Moon was less decisive.The following year, the Marine Corps' attention also beganto shift north toward the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as moreregular North Vietnamese combat forces put pressure on theMarines' area of operations. Consequently, the battle wasovershadowed by larger engagements.Nevertheless, the operation was important for a numberof reasons. Harvest Moon was the Marines' last large-scale,conventional operation of 1965 in Vietnam. Fought in thevalleys and hills between the city of Tam Ky and the inlandoutpost of Hiep Duc, it was the largest combined operationbetween Marine units and the South Vietnamese militaryto that date. Perhaps most importantly, the battle demonstratedmany of the frustrations and problems faced by allthe American forces in South Vietnam as they tried to defeatthe Viet Cong-led insurgency. The disparity in the fightingabilities between the Marines and South Vietnamese Armyunits hindered combat effectiveness. The lack of coordinationbetween the two forces, and between the Marine Corpsand U.S. Air Force, also led to heavy losses on the allied side.Enjoying logistical support from North Vietnam, the 1st VietCong Regiment was able to defeat South Vietnamese forceswhile largely evading American units.

The U.S. Marine Corps' war in Vietnam was a mixture of large-scale conventional battles against main Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units and smaller pacification operations designed to secure the South Vietnamese population from Communist insurgents. During the latter half of 1965, Marine forces fought repeated engagements against large Viet Cong units, most notably the 1st Viet Cong Regiment. The first battle, a fight in August to secure the area around Chu Lai called Operation Starlite, inflicted significant casualties upon this force. However, within just a few months, the Communist unit reconstituted itself, forcing the Marines to launch another operation to destroy the formation in December. The Marines codenamed this action Operation Harvest Moon.Operation Harvest Moon has largely been overlooked in histories of the Vietnam War. While Operation Starlite was considered a major success and a clear demonstration of the superiority of America's conventional military forces compared to the Viet Cong, Harvest Moon was less decisive. The following year, the Marine Corps' attention also began to shift north toward the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as more regular North Vietnamese combat forces put pressure on the Marines' area of operations. Consequently, the battle was overshadowed by larger engagements.Nevertheless, the operation was important for a number of reasons. Harvest Moon was the Marines' last large-scale, conventional operation of 1965 in Vietnam. Fought in the valleys and hills between the city of Tam Ky and the inland outpost of Hiep Duc, it was the largest combined operation between Marine units and the South Vietnamese military to that date. Perhaps most importantly, the battle demonstrated many of the frustrations and problems faced by all the American forces in South Vietnam as they tried to defeat the Viet Cong-led insurgency. The disparity in the fighting abilities between the Marines and South Vietnamese Army units hindered combat effectiveness. The lack of coordination between the two forces, and between the Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force, also led to heavy losses on the allied side. Enjoying logistical support from North Vietnam, the 1st Viet Cong Regiment was able to defeat South Vietnamese forces while largely evading American units.The battle revealed a number of problems in how Marines coordinated counterguerrilla operations and used helicopters to lift formations into combat zones. In the course of the operation, the commanding general was relieved due to his inability to provide clear direction to his units. Although the Marine forces involved in Operation Harvest Moon were able to exact a heavy price from their Viet Cong adversaries, 2 | Marines in the Vietnam War Commemorative Series nevertheless, the main enemy units were able to retreat and regroup, leaving the valley far from secure. Marines would return to the valley complex two months later to fight the same Viet Cong unit. Thus, although the engagement did not produce the seemingly decisive result of Starlite or later battles like Hue City, Harvest Moon was arguably more representative of the American experience in Vietnam as a whole.

This is the second volume in a series of chronological histories prepared by the Marine Corps History and Museums Division to cover the entire span of Marine Corps involvement in the Vietnam War. This volume details the Marine activities during 1965, the year the war escalated and major American combat units were committed to the conflict. The narrative traces the landing of the nearly 5,000-man 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade and its transformation into the ΙII Marine Amphibious Force, which by the end of the year contained over 38,000 Marines. During this period, the Marines established three enclaves in South Vietnam’s northernmost corps area, I Corps, and their mission expanded from defense of the Da Nang Airbase to a balanced strategy involving base defense, offensive operations, and pacification. This volume continues to treat the activities of Marine advisors to the South Vietnamese armed forces but in less detail than its predecessor volume, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1954-1964; The Advisory and Combat Assistance Era.