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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 12/27/2002 12:01:53 AM PST by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 A mud-covered hill, 158 meters in height, anchoring the northeast corner of Leatherneck Square, the quadrilateral of Marine combat bases – Gio Linh, Dong Ha, Cam Lo and Con Thien – South of the DMZ (demilitarized zone), Con Thien loosely translated means “place of angels” of “hill of angels.” But no angels were in evidence there during the terrible summer and fall of 1967 when the base came under heavy ground and artillery attack by the invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Situated less than two miles from the DMZ, elements of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, nervously eyed the hostile terrain in front of their perimeter at Con Thien. The date was May 8, 1967. At approximately 0300, the all-too-familiar sound of a flare popping broke the eerie silence. Soon, the surrounding landscape was bathed in an artificial light, giving the battlefield a surrealistic touch. Suddenly, the deafening roar of rockets stabbed the night air, and the Marines dove for any available cover to escape injury. As the artillery fell, NVA units jockeyed to prepare a ground assault on the compound. Armed with flamethrowers and using Bangalore torpedoes, two NVA battalions managed to breach the wire. It was the first reported use of flamethrowers by the enemy since American troops had engaged NVA regulars. Company D was hit extremely hard and the leathernecks were engaged in hand-to-hand fighting as a platoon from the 11th Engineers raced into the line to plug the gap. After desperate fighting that lasted until dawn, the defenders were able to repel the attackers. During the firefight, Lance Cpl. Michael P. Finley, a grenadier with Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, vaulted from his position and accurately lobbed two rounds from his M-79 “blooper,” destroying an enemy machine-gun emplacement. Despite being wounded, he dashed to another Marine’s aid. After finishing with him, he raced to administer medical treatment to his mortally wounded squad leader. Killed in the attempt, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest medal for bravery. When the attack ended, 44 Marines had been killed and 110 wounded. The NVA lost 197 killed and 8 captured. Why had the enemy pressed so hard at Con Thien – an undersized knoll a “stone’s throw” from the DMZ? What was so important here? Burdened with construction of the strongpoint obstacle system, pejoratively called “McNamara’s Line” by the Marines, Con Thien overlooked enemy supply routes from the north and its capture would constitute an enemy foothold in Quang Tri province. As Colonel Richard B. Smith, commanding officer of the 9th Marines, put it: “Con Thien was clearly visible from the 9th Marines Headquarter on the high ground at Dong Ha 10 miles away, so good line-of-sight communications were enjoyed. Although Con Thien was only 160 meters high, it tenants had dominant observation over the entire area. If the enemy occupied it he would be looking down our throats.”  And the NVA wanted to be the new tenants. Consequently, several attempts would be made to seize Con Thien. Until mid-1967, the northern section of the DMZ had been a safe haven for the Communists. Here, they reorganized and prepared their plans for future assaults in Northern I Corps, including the strongpoint of Con Thien. The first of these thrusts was in the spring of 1967, as recorded above, and coincided with the anniversary of the battle of Dien Bien Phu. The second would be made in the summer, when the NVA utilized heavy artillery, for the first time, in support of ground units. The third would be made, during the months of September and October; the enemy fired punishing artillery barrages on the occupants of Con Thien. After the May 8 offensive on Con Thien, Washington directed the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) to enter the southern portion of the DMZ. Previous to this, the NVA was using this area as a sanctuary and U.S. Forces were expressly prohibited from penetrating this region. Code-named Operation Hickory for the 3rd Marine Division, Lam Son 54 for the 1st ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) Division, Beau Charger for Special Landing Force (SLF) Alpha, and Belt Tight for SLF Bravo, the Allies wasted no time in making contact with the enemy.  The Operation Hickory phase of the three-pronged advance into the DMZ began on May 18. By late morning, Lt. Col. Charles R. Figard’s 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines, ran head-on into two NVA battalions. Fighting from well-camouflaged bunker complexes, the enemy delivered a hail of automatic weapons fire upon the leathernecks’ right flank. Realizing his squad was unable to maneuver, Corporal Richard E. Moffit of Company G lunged forward at the hedge-row where the shooting was coming from and let loose a steady stream of rifle fire. Once there, he killed two NVA soldiers manning the trench. The following day, the intrepid Moffit braved another enemy machine-gun nest. Again, he rushed the fortification, this time hurling fragmentation grenades. He would miraculously survive to be awarded the Navy Cross for his actions. During the intense combat, Lt. Col. Figard and his operations officer were hit by mortar fire. Soon, Lt. Col. John J. Peeler’s 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, was also heavily committed. Meanwhile, Operation Lam Son 54 was initiated by two ARVN battalions from the 1st ARVN Division. Making no contact, the South Vietnamese units proceeded to the Ben Hai River, located in the center of the DMZ itself, and started sweeping southward. While these two battalions were advancing on the east side of Highway 1, three ARVN airborne battalions did so on the west. On May 19, the 31st and 812th NVA regiments met the ARVN multibattalion sweep and fighting ensued that would continue for more than a week. The ARVN, while losing 22 killed and 122 wounded, dealt the Communists a greater blow: 342 dead, 30 enemy soldiers captured and 51 assorted weapons seized. Beau Charger was another story. Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, the assault element for SLF Alpha, was greeted with a hot reception at its destination, Landing Zone (LZ) Goose. As the fifteen UH-34s (“Sea Horses” from Squadron HMM-263) prepared to land, enemy machine-gun fire blasted the vulnerable choppers.  The lead helicopter, flown by squadron commander Lt. Col. Edward K. Kirby, was struck by a broadside as it hovered less than 50 feet off the ground. The initial burst rendered the chopper’s radio inoperable and injured the copilot, crew chief, door gunner and three Marines from 1/3. Another leatherneck was killed outright and tumbled from the “bird.” Upon hearing of the “hot LZ,” SLF commander Colonel James A Gallo, Jr., scrubbed all further heliborne assaults into Goose and opted instead to disembark his Marines at LZ owl, 800 meters to the south. However, A 1/3, already on the ground, was isolated. With the enemy so intertwined with the Marines, urgent requests for naval gunfire from warships just offshore had to be aborted. By 100, other units, plus a force of M-48 tanks, reached the trapped men a LZ Goose. The infantrymen met the enemy in hand-to-hand combat as fixed-wing aircraft hammered NVA trenches. After 11 jets pounded the positions, Companies A and B of 1/3 jumped off to continue the planned attack. While attacking the enemy’s bulwarks, Corporal Russell F. Keck, a machine-gun squad leader with Alpha Company, dispersed his guns to deliver accurate fire upon the trench line. Coming under a heavy barrage, Keck ordered the automatic weapons moved to another location to prevent their being destroyed. Although wounded, Keck remained in his position to administer covering fire for another Marine, knowing this action would surely result in his death. Corporal Keck received the Navy Cross posthumously. All told, the various operations carried out in the southern portion of the DMZ by the Marine and ARVN units snagged 789 enemy killed, 37 captured, and 187 weapons confiscated. Allied casualties would attest to the intensity of fighting as 142 Marines and 22 ARVN soldiers were killed, and 896 and 122 respectively, were wounded. But the Marines were not idle either, In July the leathernecks counterattacked with another multibattalion operation code-named Buffalo.
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In time..Con Thien would become a memory for 3/9...their world turned upside down again..in a place known as the A Shau Valley
3rd Marine on "Tiger Mountain"...20 Feb 1969...in the A Shau 
Little known fact: USAF Tactical Ops Intell was actually not a designated AFSC during the majority of that war.It was an additional duty for Admin.
Damn...just damn.
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