RCII

The Marines on Hill 881S faced challenges in addition to fighting the NVA: drenching rain, rats, lack of water, you name it. And, on one occasion, too much pistachio ice cream. Author: Bob Koury & Bill Ring Date: November 16, 2004 Greetings Marine- Almost exactly 36 years ago, I was feeling really, really sorry for…

Arriving at Khe Sanh was relatively easy. Leaving the combat base, even after the battle officially ended, was a lot more challenging. Date: Spring, 1997 Author: Chuck Dahm Getting into Viet Nam was easy. Getting out was expected to be the same.   The red clay of the area in and around Khe Sanh gave…

Author describes his enlistment in the Marines, recruit training, Marine Corps schools, deployment to Vietnam, and finally patrolling and engaging the NVA in 1967 along Route 9 near Khe Sanh Author: Bruce “T-Bone” Jones Date: July 21, 2025 Part One – Becoming a Marine During the early years of the Vietnam War, the military draft…

Describes the lives of Robert McNamara, the American Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, and Marine Lance Corporal Tom Mahoney, who were neighbors while growing up. On July 6, 1947, the Soviet Union began production of the Avtomat Kalashnikova-47 (AK-47), one of the world’s first operational assault rifles, a simple yet durable weapon that…

Spencer was a company commander at Khe Sanh during the 1968 battle. Here he describes his adjustment, including his antiwar activities, to civilian life after Vietnam. Author: Ernest Spencer Date: November, 1991 I’ve done three wars and I’ve had enough. I survived Vietnam. I was a founder of Nuremberg Actions out at the Concord Naval…

For nearly 80 days in early 1968, Marines on the hills surrounding Khe Sanh endured one of the war’s fiercest fights.   Date: 11/14/2017 The top of what became known as Hill 861-A was just virgin land covered with elephant grass and bamboo when I first saw it. My company, Echo 2/26, had to claw…

Tankers from Company B, 3rd Tank Battalion, fight their way through a NVA ambush on a road clearing operation on Route 9 near the Khe Sanh Combat Base in May, 1968. First Lieutenant Harris Himes stabbed holes around the side of an empty C-ration can. He ignited a heat tab inside and warmed his breakfast over…

A company grade officer’s memoir of duty in Vietnam and his reflections on how the Corps adjusted and responded to battlefield challenges. We are taught by the book. That is, we are taught the basics of individual and unit discipline and movement under combat conditions. But some have said that we do this so that…

Describes the role of Marine Corps armor at Khe Sanh INTRODUCTION I wrote this article at the suggestion of LtCol Raymond A. Stewart, USMC (Retired), president and founder of the Marine Corps Vietnam Historical Tankers Foundation. Ray Stewart and the foundation promote the study of Marine tankers in Vietnam. Ray spent many weeks giving me…

Article describes how artillery is directed to support infantry in the field. A fire missi on starts with a call on the radio. Picking up the receiver, the battery Executive Officer hears the words that never fail to excite an artillery man: “Contact fire mission, battery adjust.” The Exec repeats the order to the guns,…