Operation Prairie II: Blocking Forces Along the Song Thu Bon
In February of 1967 the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines joined the six-month-old Operation Prairie I just as it was drawing to a close. The operation had utilized six Marine infantry battalions in a sweep across the northern sector of Quang Tri Province, and had racked up some impressive numbers killing 1,329 enemy troops in the subsequent fighting. It was only natural that Operation Prairie II would follow on the heals of a successful Prairie I.
Franklin Miller's Medal of Honor
While Capt. Vaughan Ross and other members of the 57th Assault Helicopter Company were in the air and responding to the Prairie Fire distress call, everything on the ground had gone to s**t for Recon Team Vermont (code name Cole Slaw).
The Ambush of Team Grasshopper
In the spring of 1970 L Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger), 101st Airborne Division found itself running more and more "heavy" teams deep into enemy territory. This was not due so much to the nature of the missions being assigned as it was to the areas where they were being conducted.
Viet Cong Good-Byes
22nd October 1968 - Sergeant Don Van Hook turned with a start in the darkness and brought up his rifle. There was very little light filtering through the cloudy windswept pre-dawn sky, and the surrounding I Corps mountainous countryside was a puzzle of shadows and contrasts. It made it difficult for Van Hook to clearly identify even the trees no more than a couple of metres away, let alone make them out to be Viet Cong.
Hamilton's Run
In February 1967, Luther Hamilton was a PFC in the United States Marine Corps assigned to Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment working out of An Hoa Combat Base in I Corps South Vietnam.
The Extraction
At 02.00 hours Captain Kit Beatton, Apache Three Zero, entered the darkened hooch, switched on his flashlight, and stopped short of the Blues Recon platoon leader's bunk, knowing that Lieutenant R.B. Alexander was probably already awake and likely had his hand on the grip of a .45 automatic.
A Shau Meatgrinder
If you're a six-man reconnaissance team deep in enemy territory, everything has to go right. When it doesn't, brave men die. This is a story about things going terribly wrong for a recon team of the 101st Airborne Division's famed Lima Company Rangers.
A Majority of One
The live grenade fell within the five man Lurp team's tiny perimeter. Amid the noise and fury of the jungle battle, one among the small Cav recon unit reacted quickly to the new threat.
Charlie Goes To School - The Hard Way
The following news release was issued on 7 December 1966 and details a fire fight in the Mekong Delta between armed helicopters of the 336th AHC and a force of 300 Viet Cong:
SOC TRANG, Vietnam (336th Avn. Co IO) Some 300 Viet Cong took a lesson in the "school of hard knocks" on a steaming Saturday morning near Ba-Tri in the Delta Region of South Vietnam recently.
The Ugly Face of War
When Advisory Team 27 was not working with ARVN troops we would be transported by elements of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion at An Khe to remote areas where we would try to recruit some of the Montanyard hill people to join us in the fight against the Viet Cong. As always payments had to be made to get their cooperation.