| Red Beach Base Area | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 16°05′46″N108°08′35″E / 16.096°N 108.143°E |
| Type | Marines/Navy/Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1965 |
| In use | 1965-present |
| Battles/wars |  Vietnam War |
Red Beach Airfield | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 3 ft / 1 m | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Red Beach Base Area (also known as Camp JK Books, Camp Haskins, Camp Viking, Paddock Compound or Red Beach Camp) is a complex of former U.S. Marines, Navy and Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) logistics and support bases northwest of Danang.
The base was located along Highway 1, 8 km northwest of Danang at Red Beach, the site of the landing of the 9th Marine Regiment, the first US combat troops deployed to South Vietnam on 8 March 1965. [1]
The area comprised a number of separate adjacent bases as follows:
The base area was handed over to the ARVN in March 1972. Camp Viking was used by the ARVN 102nd Artillery Battalion. [1] :537
The area has largely been turned over to housing although part of it remains in use by the People's Army of Vietnam.
The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were two regiments of the United States Marine Corps supported by elements from the United States Army and the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as a small number of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
USS Tripoli (LPH-10), an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, was laid down on 15 June 1964 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 31 July 1965; sponsored by Jane Cates, the wife of General Clifton B. Cates, former Commandant of the Marine Corps; and commissioned on 6 August 1966 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Capt. Henry Suerstedt, Jr., in command. Tripoli was the second US Navy ship named for the Battle of Derna in 1805. It was the decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of US Marines and US Army soldiers against the forces of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas.
Operation Starlite 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 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 Battle of Huế, also called the Siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, and the battle negatively affected American public perception of the war.
The Battle of Lộc Ninh was a major battle fought during the Easter Offensive during the Vietnam War, which took place in Bình Long Province, South Vietnam between 4–7 April 1972. Towards the end of 1971, North Vietnamese leaders decided to launch a major offensive against South Vietnam, with the objective of destroying Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units and capturing as much territory as possible, in order to strengthen their bargaining position in the Paris Peace Accords. On 30 March 1972, two People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) divisions smashed through the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, marking the commencement of the Easter Offensive. They quickly overwhelmed South Vietnamese units in the I Corps Tactical Zone. With the rapid collapse of South Vietnamese forces in the northern provinces of South Vietnam, PAVN and Viet Cong (VC) forces began preparing for their next offensive, targeting Bình Long Province in the rubber plantation region north of Saigon. On 4 April, the VC 5th Division opened their attack on Lộc Ninh, defended by the ARVN 9th Infantry Regiment. After three days of fighting, the vastly outnumbered ARVN forces, though well supported by American air power, were forced to abandon their positions in Lộc Ninh.
The First Battle of Quảng Trị resulted in the first major victory for the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Easter Offensive of 1972. Quảng Trị Province was a major battleground for the opposing forces during the Vietnam War. As South Vietnamese soldiers were gradually replacing their American counterparts, North Vietnam's General Văn Tiến Dũng was preparing to engage three of his divisions in the province. Just months before the battle, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) deployed its newly formed 3rd Division to the areas along the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to take over former US bases. North Vietnamese forces deployed against the inexperienced ARVN 3rd Division included the PAVN 304th, 308th and 324B Divisions.
The Vietnamese Rangers, properly known in Vietnamese as the Biệt Động Quân (En:Commando) and commonly known as the ARVN Rangers, were the light infantry of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Trained and assisted by American Special Forces and Ranger advisers, the Vietnamese Rangers infiltrated beyond enemy lines in search and destroy missions. Initially trained as a counter-insurgency light infantry force by removing the fourth company each of the existing infantry battalions, they later expanded into a swing force capable of conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations, and were relied on to retake captured regions. Later during Vietnamization the Civilian Irregular Defense Group program was transferred from MACV and integrated as Border Battalions responsible for manning remote outposts in the Central Highlands.
The 3rd Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)—the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1955 to 1975—was part of the I Corps that oversaw the northernmost region of South Vietnam, the centre of Vietnam.
The 2nd Marine Division, also known as Blue Dragon Division, is an infantry division of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
Operation Hickory was a search and destroy operation conducted by the 3rd Marine Division in the area around Con Thien, Quảng Trị Province known as Leatherneck Square from 18 to 28 May 1967. Operation Hickory was the first authorized incursion into the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Happy Valley was the name given by US Marines to a valley southwest of Danang in Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam
The 304 Division is an infantry division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). It was established in January 1950 at Thanh Hoa.
The 325th Infantry Division is a division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), first formed in March 1951 from independent units in Thừa Thiên, it is likely that it only became fully operational in mid-1952. It was one of the 6 original "Iron and Steel" Divisions of the Viet Minh.
Đông Hà Combat Base is a former U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army base northwest of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam. The base was first used by the 4th Marines in late April 1966. In mid-July Đông Hà was used by the Marines as a helicopter base and logistics area. Numerous US marine and army units rotated through the base, and several artillery units were based there.
Quảng Trị Combat Base is a former United States Marine Corps, United States Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base northwest of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam.
Chu Lai Base Area is a former U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base in Chu Lai in central Vietnam.
Sa Huỳnh Base is a former U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base in southern Quảng Ngãi Province in south-central Vietnam.
Operation Double Eagle was a US Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) operation that took place in southern Quảng Ngãi Province, lasting from 28 January to 17 February 1966, during the Vietnam War. The operation was mounted in conjunction with Operation Masher in northern Bình Định Province. The operation was inconclusive as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Vietcong (VC) had largely slipped away.
Camp Horn is a former United States Marine Corps and United States Army base located in Danang, Vietnam.
Naval Support Activity Danang or NSA Danang was a United States Navy logistics support organization located in Danang, South Vietnam active from October 1965 to April 1972.