That was proposed by the Marine Corps in 65, I believe."
That was proposed by all of us snuffies back then but I don't think the upper leadership ever really got behind that plan. While it would have certainly caused the NVA to head for home as rapidly as possible, we also faced really lousy interior trafficability in North Vietnam - since like in the South, there was really only one north-south road near the coast and tall mountains and triple-canopy jungle not far inland. We also faced the near-certainty of Chinese intervention like we did in Korea a little earlier. The only pluses to the plan were that the South would have had a bit of a break while all the action went north and of course, everything in the North was enemy, so we could shoot a bit more enthusiastically.
I was a Marine back then and fought in Vietnam from early '66 to mid-'67. I went over with the enthusiastic support of the American public and came back to the Leftist-led hatred of us and our war. I am proud of us. always will be but I will never look at the American public the same way again.