Changes

After the clash of US forces and North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin and the subsequent phantom attacks by the North Vietnamese on the USS Maddox and USS XXX, the United States Congress passed [official name] more commonly known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions which gave the president far greater latitude to coordinate and carry out military strikes without an official declaration of war. The United States and the Johnson administration put those new powers to use in 1965.

By 1965, with the election won and, however tenuous, a justification for increased military activity, Johnson approved Rolling Thunder. It was a massive display of US firepower. Over the course of the next three and a half years, the United States would drop over 100K pounds of explosives on North Vietnam, devastating much of the infrastructure of the country. The preliminary targets were the factories manufacturing war materiel and other resources, like refineries, that allowed the North Vietnamese to make war on their southern neighbor. The other, more psychological aim of the operation was to crush the morale of the North Vietnamese. This effort was a failure. Though the destruction brought on by Rolling Thunder was costly, it made much of the population more resilient. The North Vietnamese knew they were no match for US air power, so they didn’t commit a great amount of resources to opposing it. Instead, the communist government devoted their energies to moving troops and supplies to the south and defended against the bombers as best they could. It was clear that the airstrikes were almost unstoppable. However, when a bomber was shot down, what seemed to be against all odds, it provided the defenders of the North Vietnamese skies with a boost to their morale. They were never expected to stop the bombings so even the smallest challenger was seen as a victory.

As part, at least at first, of Operation Rolling Thunder, General William Westmoreland, the US commander of US forces called for a greater presence in South Vietnam. In March of 1965 the United States Marine Corps took up positions in and around Da Nang Air Base. This was the first full scale deployment of US ground forces in South Vietnam. The original, limited objective was to secure the airfield in the region making it available as a launching spot for the sorties to the north. The area soon became one of the main strongholds of the USMC. Over the course of 1965, multiple Marine air squadrons were positioned in Da Nang. As the US presence grew, it also attracted the attention of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. In July of 1965, the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong attacked Da Nang Air Base, destroying multiple aircraft.

The aerial bombardment seemed to have worked as the first first helicopters dropped off their passengers with no incident. However, subsequent landings were met with much stiffer resistance. In a tactic already practiced, the Viet Cong allowed the first wave to land, only to open fire as more soldiers arrived, thus attacking a larger target. In order to blunt this approach, American air support was called in to further bombard the Viet Cong positions, the most notable atop a hill, code named Hill 43, which was just south of LZ Blue. Though the air strikes were effective, they did not completely dislodge the Viet Cong. The marines attacked the hill and eventually took it, reducing a substantial Viet Cong stronghold.

The relative ease of the amphibious landing gave way to some of the heaviest fighting of the battle. As the marines were moving northward, they took fire from the village of An Cuong. The company commander was killed in the initial engagement, but the second in command was able to coordinate a successful attack on the Viet Cong position. During the battle Corporal Robert E. O’Malley distinguished himself in the fighting and became the first marine to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor in Vietnam.