US Marines in the Vietnam War | Operation Piranha | 1965 | “The Battle” | USMC Documentary

★ CHECK OUT OUR T-SHIRTS: https://bravestgeneration.com/collections/all ✚ Watch our "Vietnam War" PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaGAbbh1M3Im8vzAvSlZfRXfEnkkP6GK3 ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►Google+: https://plus.google.com/+TheBestFilmArchives ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestFilmArch Operation Piranha was a US Marine Corps operation against the Viet Cong Stronghold on the Batangan Peninsula southeast of Chu Lai (Vietnam), lasting from 7 to 10 September 1965. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Operation Piranha: Prelude Following the conclusion of Operation Starlite, on 24 August 1965, Marine intelligence concluded that the 1st Viet Cong Regiment had withdrawn into the Batangan Peninsula. The plan of operations was for a Battalion Landing Team of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines to land across White Beach north of the Peninsula and push south, while 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, would be helilifted in by MAG-16 to set up blocking positions 4 km inland. 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines would remain available as a floating reserve. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment and the 3rd Vietnamese Marine Battalion would be helilifted into the south of 3/7 Marines to clear and search the An Ky Peninsula. Operation The operation was launched on 7 September 1965, the amphibious landing was unopposed, while the landing of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam force received some minor ground fire. On 8 September, Company B 1/7 Marines discovered a Viet Cong field hospital in a large cave near the center of the Peninsula. The Marines captured four prisoners, but then came under fire from other Viet Cong in the cave. The Marines returned the fire and attempted to convince the Viet Cong to surrender. Marine engineers then placed explosives in the cave. After the detonation, the Marines counted 66 Viet Cong dead inside. Aftermath Operation Piranha concluded on 10 September, 178 Viet Cong had been killed and 360 enemy and suspected enemy had been captured. Allied losses were two Marines and five South Vietnamese killed. The operation failed to wipe out the 1st Viet Cong Regiment, villagers told the Marines that Vietcong units had been in the area but had left, some less than 24 hours before Operation Piranha had commenced. Intelligence reports later indicated that the 1st Viet Cong Regiment began leaving the peninsula on 4 September, coinciding with the increased movement of the amphibious ships at Chu Lai Base Area. About the Vietnam War: The Vietnam War (aka the Second Indochina War) was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam - supported by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China - and the government of South Vietnam - supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. The communist Viet Cong, a South Vietnamese political organization and army aided by North Vietnam, fought a guerrilla war against the United States and the South Vietnamese forces. The Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. The U.S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the Vietnam War as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam with the aim of stopping the spread of communism. American military advisors arrived in South Vietnam in 1950. U.S. combat units were deployed in 1965. Operations crossed international borders: Laos and Cambodia were heavily bombed by the U.S forces as American involvement in the war peaked in 1968, at the time of the communist Tet Offensive. After it the U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn as part of the Vietnamization policy, which aimed to end American involvement in the Vietnam War while transferring the task of fighting the Communists to the South Vietnamese themselves. In the United States a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed during the 1960s. Despite the Paris Peace, signed in 1973, fighting continued between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case-Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war. North and South Vietnam were reunified. US Marines in the Vietnam War | Operation Piranha | 1965 | “The Battle” | USMC Documentary