Transcript MARINE CORPS HISTORY 5, VIETNAM

MARINE CORPS HISTORY 5, VIETNAM
| Instructor: Staff Sergeant Gilreath |
TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE
• Terminal Learning Objectives
• (1) Without the aid of the reference,
given a list of alternatives, identify
significant events in Marine Corps
history, in accordance with the
reference. (MCCS.02.02)
ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•
(1) Without the aid of the reference, given
a list of alternatives, select significant
events from the Gulf of Tonkin Incident,
in accordance with the reference.
(MCCS.02.02z)
•
(2) Without the aid of the reference, given
a list of alternatives, select significant
events from Da Nang, in accordance with
the reference. (MCCS.02.02aa)
•
(3) Without the aid of the reference, given
a list of alternatives, select significant
strategies in the beginning of offensive
operations, in accordance with the
reference. (MCCS.02.02ab)
•
(4) Without the aid of the reference, given
a list of alternatives, select significant
events from Operation Starlite, in
accordance with the reference.
(MCCS.02.02ac)
ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVES (2)
•
(5) Without the aid of the reference,
given a list of alternatives, select
significant events from Khe Sanh,
in accordance with the reference.
(MCCS.02.02ad)
•
(6) Without the aid of the reference,
given a list of alternatives, select
significant events from the Tet
Offensive, in accordance with the
reference. (MCCS.02.02ae)
•
(7) Without the aid of the reference,
given a list of alternatives, select
significant events from the post
Vietnam era, in accordance with
the reference. (MCCS.02.02af)
A FORCE IN READINESS
•
Following the Korean War, the Marine
Corps' reputation as a "force in readiness"
made them the quick-response agency
for the United States. The Corps has been
involved in many actions and conducted
many operations, in both combat and noncombat roles.
•
With the cease-fire in Korea, the Marine
Corps focused on further developing the
Fleet Marine Force as the force-inreadiness sanctioned by the passage of the
Douglas-Mansfield Act/Public Law 416.
The vertical assault doctrine was
improved and the Navy began building
ships capable of carrying Marines, landing
craft, and helicopters to distant shores.
OPERATIONS PRIOR TO VIETNAM
•
In the time period between the Korean
armistice in July 1953 and the Marines'
landing at Da Nang, South Vietnam in
March 1965, Marines' faced a series of
crises around the world.
•
Protection of American citizens in
Guatemala.
•
Disaster relief in numerous countries
•
Evacuation operations in China.
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Marines landed in Lebanon on 15 July
1958.
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Marines deployed to the Dominican
Republic in April of 1965.
PRE-1965 U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM
•
American military advisors were
deployed to South Vietnam as part
of the Military Assistance
Advisory Group.
– 1954: VietMinh capture 8,000
French troops after 8-week
siege in Dien Bien Phu.
– The Geneva Accords ended the
war, splitting the country along
the 17th Parallel and France
withdraws forces.
THE VIETNAM WAR
•
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
•
1962: Marine helicopter squadron was
ordered into Vietnam with the mission to
support the Vietnamese in their struggle
against the Viet Cong.
•
1964 there were approximately 16,000
Americans in Vietnam, in both advisory
and support positions.
•
North Vietnamese PT boats fired upon the
destroyer USS Maddox on 2 August 1964.
•
Two days later, North Vietnamese forces
attack another American war ship, the USS
Turner Joy. This became known as the Gulf
of Tonkin Incident.
USS Maddox
USS Turner Joy
GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION
• Passed by Congress in August
1964, authorized the President
to "take all necessary
measures to repel any armed
attack against the forces of
the United States and to
prevent further aggression."
THE VIETNAM WAR
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First tactical Marine units went into Vietnam
in March 1965 as the 3rd Battalion 9th
Marines landed unopposed on the beach
north of Da Nang.
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9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade follows
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Mission was to provide security to the Da
Nang Airbase and the Marine squadrons
operating from the base.
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By mid-June, they had taken over 200
casualties. More than 51,000 Americans,
including 16,500 Marines, were in Vietnam.
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The policy of advising and securing coastal
bases fails to halt VC attacks, and U.S. forces
were ordered to go into the jungle to root
them out.
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Marine and Army tactics change.
BEGINNING OF OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS
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Army Policy: Search and Destroy. Units
patrolling the countryside destroyed and
burned any structures, occasionally entire
villages, that appeared to be used by the
Viet Cong.
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Marine Policy: Clear and Hold: Relied on
clearing coastal enclaves, such as Da Nang,
of enemy presence and then gradually
moving out into the countryside to "clear
and hold" villages one by one.
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Neither of these strategies met particular
success
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The Marines then tried a new approach:
"win the hearts and minds" of the
Vietnamese and defuse the emotional
attraction of Communism.
MARINE PACIFICATION
•
One of the most effective tactics the
Marines also called the Combined
Action Program (CAP).
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The concept created companies
of "Marines and Vietnamese, known
as Combined Action Companies.
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Each platoon held three squads of
local Vietnamese militiamen, and
a U.S. Marine rifle squad with a
medical corpsman.
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CAPs lived in the villages and
gained confidence of locals.
OPERATION STARLITE, 18 AUG 1965
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1st Viet Cong Regiment, some 2,000
strong, had concentrated its forces on a
narrow peninsula just 15 miles from the
large city of Chu Lai
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Regimental Landing Team 7 launched
a three-pronged attack with one
battalion on foot from the north,
another battalion conducted a heliborne assault from the west, and a
third conducting an amphibious
assault from the southeast.
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RLT-7 trapped the 1st Viet Cong
Regiment and for six days, mauled
them. Almost 1,000 Viet Cong were
killed.
KHE SANH, APRIL - MAY 1967
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The Marines built an airstrip on the
plateau and established a firebase at Khe
Sanh.
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The NVA could not control the province
without destroying the base.
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In late April 1967, a North Vietnamese
Army regiment seized three hills
overlooking the base.
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From the hills they began pouring rocket
and artillery fire into the valley below.
Another NVA regiment then surrounded
and attacked the base.
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The battle that followed is called “The Hill
Fights."
KHE SANH, APRIL - MAY 1967
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3rd Marine Regiment airlifted into
Khe Sanh and drove the NVA off the
high ground in a series of brutal,
hand-to-hand night battles during
the Hill Fights. The 3rd Marines
took over 600 casualties.
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The Hill Fights cost the NVA 940
well trained troops.
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During the rest of 1967, the III MAF
squared-off against four NVA
divisions along the DMZ. The war
developed into a stalemate.
THE TET OFFENSIVE
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1968.
•
General Giap, commander of the
North Vietnamese armies, and Ho
Chi Minh sought a means of
turning the tide of the war.
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They needed a stirring victory;
one that would destroy ARVN and
American morale the way Dien
Bien Phu shattered the French
stomach for battle.
•
Large-scale operation which
coincide with the Vietnamese
Lunar New Year celebration called Tet.
THE SIEGE OF KHE SANH
21 JANUARY - 6 APRIL 1968
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The Marines were tasked with
preventing NVA forces from
infiltrating south and destroying
those enemy forces already in I Corps.
The Khe Sanh Combat Base secured
the left flank of these Marine units.
•
For 77 days enemy artillery pounded
the base.
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At the height of the siege, over 1,200
rounds struck inside the Marine
perimeter each day.
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In the first week of April, the NVA
quietly melted into the mountains.
HUE CITY
21 JANUARY - 14 FEBRUARY 1968
• The NVA easily seized the city,
and began systematically
slaughtering its civilian
inhabitants.
• Marines fought house-tohouse for the first time since
the Korean War.
• By 14 February, the last NVA
were driven from the old city.
Marines counted over 1,000
enemy bodies in the rubble.
VIETNAMIZATION
•
1969: President Nixon announced
his plan for "Vietnamization" of the
war.
•
He intended to gradually phase U.S.
troops out of the country as the war
effort was turned over to the South
Vietnamese government.
•
1969: III MAF began its withdrawal
from Vietnam.
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By the end of June 1971, the last
Marine combat troops left Vietnam.
THE POST-VIETNAM MARINE CORPS
•
Operation Eagle Pull: Communist
forces fighting for control of Laos and
Cambodia.
•
In April of 1975, Communist forces in
Cambodia moved on the capital of
Phnom Penh.
•
Two companies from 2nd Battalion 4th
Marines were helo-lifted into Phnom
Penh.
•
In two hours, the Marines evacuated
several hundred civilians and left
Phnom Penh to the oncoming
Communists.
THE POST-VIETNAM MARINE CORPS
•
Operation Frequent Wind: March of
1975, the North Vietnamese Army
began their final offensive of the war. As
NVA artillery landed around the U.S.
Embassy, U.S. Forces launched
Operation Frequent Wind, the final
evacuation of Saigon.
•
Marine helicopters flew 530 sorties,
evacuating almost 7,000 people from
Saigon. Helicopters were pushed off the
flight decks of Navy ships in order to
make room so more could land.
•
Four Marines lost their lives in the
operation. They were the last Marines
to die in Vietnam.
THE POST-VIETNAM MARINE CORPS
•
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Marine Scout Sniper Program
Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a
Marine sniper with 93 confirmed kills,
gained notoriety for his outstanding
marksmanship.
•
He once recorded a kill from 2,250
meters (1.47 miles) using an M2 .50
caliber machinegun. North Vietnam
even put a bounty of $30,000 on his life.
•
He and other Marines clearly
demonstrated the worth of snipers as a
cost efficient and highly effective tool in
combat. As a result, sniper training
became a permanent part of the
United States Marine Corps.
CREDITS
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GMS 1044-1
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Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84665930@N00/488972324/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/santanuburagohain/1453482068/in/photostream/
http://www.hmm-364.org/c-130ks6.jpg
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/uh1_vietnam_nodate_02.jpg
http://www.vn-internationaal.nl/vnmissies/unogil.htm
http://www.vietplazatour.com/TreeAdmin/EBIZeditor/filemanager/browse/sample_
html/images/Dien-Bien-Phu-parachutiste.jpg
http://www.cortesisland.com/tideline/articles/articles_653/Life_Tonkin.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/santanuburagohain/1531850340/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcharding/45079522/
http://capmarine.com/
http://www.3rdmarines.net/STARLITE_MAP.jpg
http://www.echo23marines6569.org/files/hill881n_1_.jpg
http://pzzzz.tripod.com/I/zhill881corpsmen.jpg
http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/tet-viet.jpg
http://www.vwam.com/client/contentclient.php?intIdContent=22
http://grunt.space.swri.edu/images/vn/pjames/ammodump66.jpg
http://www.colddeadhands.addr.com/tactics/shoot/shoot.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/473157951/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phuongnguyen/140753909/
http://www.usskawishiwi.org/Vietnam/refugees.jpg
http://midwaysailor.com/midwayfreqwind/frequentwind-003b.jpg
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