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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.