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After the clash of US forces and North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin and the North Vietnamese' subsequent phantom attacks on the USS Maddox and USS XXX, the United States Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions. The Resolutions 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.

The aerial bombardment seemed to have worked as the 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. 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, just south of LZ Blue. Though the airstrikes were effective, they did not wholly 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 fightings 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 coordinated 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.

In addition to learning more about the Viet Cong's combat methods, several other lessons were taken from Operation Starlite. First, it was determined after the operation was over that the standard allotment of water, two gallons per day per soldier, was not enough in the oppressive Vietnamese heat. Second, the standard field rifle, the M-14, was not conducive to fast deployment, specifically helicopter insertions. The soldiers on the ground found them too bulky. The search and development for a lighter, streamlined weapon became an important concern for the United States military. Finally, for the Viet Cong, it was an important battle as well. Though the overall tactical philosophy of surprise and mobility was still paramount to the Viet Cong, they learned that even that was limited when fighting the American military. The amount of firepower the United States brought to any battlefield could make any ambush, like the one during Starlite, into a shooting gallery once American artillery gained its bearings.

The United States military considered Operation Starlite a success. A Viet Cong stronghold was reduced, many of the enemies were killed, and US losses were limited. However, as one US general noted, much of the Viet Cong force was able to retreat, did not lose any major weapons, and maintained the tactical advantage of surprise throughout the battle. In what would become a common refrain of the war, the US claimed victory, but the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese could fight another day.

====References====

Lawrence, Mark Atwood. The Vietnam War: A Concise History. New York: Oxford Press, 2008.

[[Category:United States History]] [[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:Vietnam War]] [[Category:Military History]] [[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Vietnam History]]