| Operation Beaver Cage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Vietnam War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  Viet Cong | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| COL James A Gallo Jr. | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 55 killed | 181 killed 66 captured | ||||||
Operation Beaver Cage was a U.S. Marine Corps operation in the Que Son Valley that took place from 28 April through to 12 May 1967.
Operation Beaver Cage was an operation by Special Landing Force Alpha comprising 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines and HMM-263 against the Viet Cong (VC) base areas in the Que Son Valley south of Danang [1] : 158
The operation commenced with a helicopter assault into the valley at 07:00 on 28 April. Contact was minimal until the night of 2 May when a VC unit attacked Company C's night defensive position and was forced back by artillery and AC-47 Spooky gunfire. [1]
On 5 May as the Battalion headquarters was being withdrawn by helicopters it was attacked by VC mortar and small arms fire, the assault was repulsed without loss. [1] : 158–9
On 9 May Beaver Cage was joined with Operation Union. On 10 May Companies B and C engaged a large VC unit killing 86 VC. [1] : 159
The operation concluded on 12 May, Marine losses were 55 dead and 151 wounded, while VC losses were 181 killed and 66 captured. [1] : 159
Operation Swift was a military operation in the Vietnam War, launched by units of the U.S. 1st Marine Division to rescue two Marine companies which had been ambushed by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The operation took place in the Quế Sơn Valley, beginning on 4 September 1967. In the ensuing battles, 127 Marines and an estimated 600 PAVN were killed.
Operation Union was a search and destroy mission in the Que Son Valley carried out by the 1st Marine Regiment from 21 April to 16 May 1967. The object of the operation was to engage the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 2nd Division.
Operation Union II was a search and destroy mission in the Quế Sơn Valley carried out by the 5th Marine Regiment. Launched on 26 May 1967 the operation ended on 5 June. U.S. reported the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) lost 701 killed and 23 captured, while U.S. casualties were 110 killed and 241 wounded.
Operation Masher, also known as Operation White Wing, was the largest search and destroy mission that had been carried out in the Vietnam War up until that time. It was a combined mission of the United States Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and Republic of Korea Army (ROK) in Bình Định Province on the central coast of South Vietnam. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 3rd Division, made up of two regiments of North Vietnamese regulars and one regiment of main force Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas, controlled much of the land and many of the people of Bình Định Province, which had a total population of about 800,000. A CIA report in 1965 said that Binh Dinh was "just about lost" to the communists.
The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. The longest-serving commander was Lieutenant General Le Nguyen Khang. In 1969, the VNMC had a strength of 9,300, 15,000 by 1973, and 20,000 by 1975.
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Phase Two of the Tet Offensive of 1968 was launched by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) against targets throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon from 29 April to 30 May 1968. The May Offensive was considered much bloodier than the initial phase of the Tet Offensive. U.S. casualties across South Vietnam were 2,169 killed for the entire month of May, making it the deadliest month of the entire Vietnam War for U.S. forces, while South Vietnamese losses were 2,054 killed. PAVN/VC losses exceeded 24,000 killed and over 2,000 captured. The May Offensive was a costly defeat for the PAVN/VC.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps .
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .| Authority control: National |
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