Harvest Moon, Lien Kit 18

Operation Harvest Moon/Lien Ket 18 was designed to drive the notorious 1st Viet Cong (VC) Regiment from the fertile Nui Loc Son Basin, also called the Que Son Valley, in I Corps' Quang Tin province. However, the operation did not begin on a victorious note.

With the 1st Battalion, 5th Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Regiment, on the left and the 11th ARVN Ranger Battalion on the right, the South Vietnamese units departed their headquarters at Thang Binh for the village of Que Son on December 8, 1965. Early that afternoon, the ARVN units were ambushed by elements of the 70th VC Battalion, which was attached to the 1st VC Regiment at that time. As the ARVN soldiers moved to within 20 meters of the ambush site, the enemy let loose a broadside of automatic weapons fire and rocket-propelled-grenade (RPG) rounds. The Rangers sustained heavy losses and were overrun. The 5th ARVN Regiment was hit hard as well. The South Vietnamese commanders had been told only that the operation was 'a routine sweep and clear along Highway 1 to the vicinity of Ky Lam'. The top ARVN leaders had kept their officers in the dark about the details of the operation.

Marine Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers were soon on the scene to render valuable air support to the beleaguered ARVNs. As the Skyhawks hammered Communist positions, Brig. Gen. Hoang Xuan Lam, leader of the 2nd ARVN Division, dispatched the 1st Battalion, 6th ARVN Regiment, to aid the battered Rangers.

In the early morning hours of December 9, the 60th and 80th VC battalions from the 1st VC Regiment struck the 1st Battalion, 5th ARVN Regiment. The regimental commander was struck down in the heavy fighting, and the South Vietnamese retreated. Meanwhile, Communist forces assaulted the lines of the 1st Battalion, 6th ARVN Regiment. Fortunately, they held against the onslaught of the enemy attack.

To help the besieged ARVN forces, Task Force Delta commander Brig. Gen. Melvin D. Henderson (succeeded on December 10 by Brig. Gen. Jonas M. Platt) ordered Lt. Col. Leon N. Utter's 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, reinforced by H Company, 9th Marines, to be helilifted approximately five miles west of the ARVN forces. At the same time, Lt. Col. Joshua W. Dorsey's 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, were choppered to a landing zone just a mile or so southeast of the ARVN soldiers. Both Marine battalions were ordered to push ahead and make contact with the ARVNs.

Dorsey's leathernecks moved in a northwesterly direction toward Hill 43, encountering a VC unit of considerable size. As the Marines fought their tenacious foes, airstrikes and artillery barrages drove the enemy back. An estimated 75 VC were killed, while 11 Marines were killed and 17 wounded. The next day, the battalion occupied Hill 43 and rescued 40 ARVN soldiers trapped there.

As the Marine battalions attempted to squeeze the VC into a tight pocket, Lt. Col. Robert T. Hanifin, Jr.'s 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1), the Special Landing Force battalion, was sent in to plug the gap and destroy the enemy. However, as Fox Company, 2/1, was inserted into the landing zone, it was subjected to heavy automatic-weapons fire. The battle raged for 10 hours before the hard-hit company was extracted from the area by Utter's Marines.

On December 11, the 1st VC Regiment withdrew to the Phuoc Ha Valley, north of Chu Lai. Major General Nyugen Chanh Thi, ARVN I Corps commander, warned the pursuing Marines 'to be very, very careful'. The enemy was known to be using the valley as a staging area. Before the Marines went into Phuoc Ha, Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses saturated the area. The Marines uncovered large caches of materiel in the valley but did not locate the 1st VC Regiment.

On December 20, Operation Harvest Moon/Lien Ket 18 was declared officially finished. In the end, 407 VC had been killed, 33 captured and numerous crew-served and automatic weapons confiscated. Also, 60 tons of supplies and equipment had been seized in the Phuoc Ha Valley. The leathernecks sustained 45 killed and 218 wounded. The ARVN forces had 90 killed, 141 wounded and 91 missing in action.

For the remainder of their tenure in South Vietnam, the Marines would continue to struggle for control of the important Que Son Valley and the surrounding area. The leathernecks realized its strategic value--and so did the enemy.