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Operation Starlite - Hotel Company

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Title
Operation Starlite - Hotel Company
Description
In the first major clash of the Vietnam War, three battalions of Marines under Colonel Oscar Peatross fought the 1 Viet Cong Regiment under Nguyen Dinh Trong southeast of the new Marine Base at Chu Lai. Hotel Company, 2 Battalion, …
Publisher
Date
1965-08-18
Scenario#
FH17
Scenario Description
In the first major clash of the Vietnam War, three battalions of Marines under Colonel Oscar Peatross fought the 1 Viet Cong Regiment under Nguyen Dinh Trong southeast of the new Marine Base at Chu Lai. Hotel Company, 2 Battalion, 4 Marine Regiment landed at LZ Blue and was given the task of capturing Nam Yen. During that attack, a platoon had to be sent to the flank to counter fire from Hill 43. Fighting all day, Hotel Company had to fall back to LZ Blue at nightfall. They did not take Nam Yen that day
Location
Van Tuong Peninsula, South Vietnam
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
Operation Starlite (also known in Vietnam as Battle of Van Tuong) was the first major offensive action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War from 18 to 24 August 1965. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Major general Nguyen Chanh Thi, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) I Corps commander. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) commander Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt devised a plan to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Viet Cong (VC) 1st Regiment to nullify their threat to the vital Chu Lai Air Base and Base Area and ensure its powerful communication tower remained intact. The operation was conducted as a combined arms assault involving ground, air and naval units. U.S. Marines were deployed by helicopter insertion while an amphibious landing was used to deploy other Marines. The VC used a variety of tactics to counter the Marine assault, fighting from prepared positions and then withdrawing as the Marines gained local superiority and ambushing a lost supply column. The VC were unable to withstand the weight of the Marine assault and U.S. firepower losing 614 killed and nine captured for U.S. losses of 42 killed.
Narrative Source
Combatants
American
North Vietnamese

Geolocation