Chronicles of a Marine Rifleman: Vietnam, 1965-1966

By Herb Brewer

This is a captivating account of a Marine Rifle Squad as it prepared for deployment to Vietnam, and establishing the enclave south of Da Nang, Vietnam. Mentored by Korean Veterans, the Marine Riflemen become veterans tested in the rice paddies at Da Nang, Phu Bai, and the highlands of Khe Sanh. They walked from Khe Sanh to Dong Ha, Vietnam, one of the first units to do so since the fall of the French at Dien Bien Phu, 1954. They become Marine Riflemen ready to pick up their rifle and accomplish their mission under any physical conditions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453510759

Herb Brewer

Herb Brewer completed two tours as a drill instructor and retired as a first sergeant after serving for twenty-seven years. Upon retirement, he continued his work as a public servant with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. He is now retired and living in Oklahoma. As a veteran of the Vietnam War, Herb Brewer retired as a first sergeant in August 1988, after completing twenty-seven years in the Marine Corps. During those twenty-seven years, he completed two tours as a drill instructor at MCRD, San Diego, California. He graduated from numerous schools in the Marine Corps, including the US Army’s Sergeant Major Academy. After retirement, he earned a bachelor of arts in history and an associate of arts in business management. As a correctional officer and case manager, Herb retired from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in June 2002. He now spends his time fishing and enjoying the wonders of Mother Nature. He currently resides in Oklahoma.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the Marines I served with, the men and women of the Armed Services, and especially the wives, families, and Country that supported our servicemen and women overseas. I pay the highest respect to the families of the men and eight women who gave their lives defending Vietnam from communist aggression. I am humbled in the presence of those who paid with their blood and loss of limbs fighting an unpopular war as the years wore on. To the Veterans of all wars, past and present, who fought against aggression defending our freedom: I salute all you.

Herb Brewer

Chronicles

of a

Marine Rifleman

Vietnam, 1965-1966

Herb Brewer

Copyright © 2010 by Herb Brewer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Book Cover created by:

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Editor:

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Rev. date: 05/19/2021

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Contents

PRELUDE

Vietnam War Strategy

Deployment Schedule of the Third Marine Division

Establishing Enclaves

Da Nang Enclave

Phu Bai Enclave

Chu Lai Enclave

Qui Nhon Enclave

ASSEMBLY AREA

Camp Pendleton, California

STAGING AREA, OKINAWA

THE FOUR PHASES OF OFFENSIVE COMBAT

Movement to Contact Phase

Contact Remote

Contact Probable

Contact Imminent

Conduct Phase

Operation Golden Fleece

Lessons Learned

Brewer’s Patrols

Hill 22

Consolidation and Reorganization Phase

Hill 22

Hill 327

Hill 44

Operation Taut Bow

Exploitation Phase

Phu Bai Enclave

Operation Virginia

Operation Cherokee

Operation Wayne

Da Nang

LONG TRIP HOME

EPILOGUE

Notes

https://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.645977.1600757511!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_900/image.jpg

Cover Photo was taken by

Gunnery Sergeant USMC Steve Stibbens in 1965

At the age of 17, he joined the Marines, who put him through journalism school. He was a writer who carried a camera in Vietnam for the Leatherneck and Pacific Stars & Stripes, then with the Associated Press. His photographs won the President’s Choice award more than once, and some of his photos ended up in the Ken Buns Documentary, Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star with a V device while chasing down some of those photos. He passed away 19 Sept 2020.

image003.jpg

Iconic Marine Rifleman

SGT Vince Rios USMC

On his second tour in Vietnam, February 6, 1969, six days before the end of his tour in Vietnam, Sergeant Rios was on patrol over a mile-long paddy when he set off an enemy explosive device which immediately vaporized both his legs, left arm dangling from his shoulder, and partially amputated his left index and ring finger.

Vincent spent ten months in military hospitals recovering from his injuries. His treatment was three-prong, consisting of occupational therapy, surgeries to close and later graft wounds, and occupational therapy. Interestingly Vincent was told by the military doctors the he would never walk again because of the grievous nature of his injuries.

He did not accept that he would never walk again and, using considerable initiative and tremendous persistence, he devised a new concept for his prosthetic right arm and crutch that allowed him to stand and walk within ten months of the loss of both his legs and right arm. He daily utilizes his self-designed prostheses and crutch to stand from his wheelchair and walk.

In the effort to rebuild his life Vincent dedicated himself to obtain an education and work to serve veterans. He earned four college degrees. He has an A.A. Degree in Behavioral Sciences, a B.A. in Psychology, a M.A. in interdisciplinary Social Science, and a M.A. in Public Administration.

I Am a Marine

I was born on the deck of a ship, below an eight-inch gun,

tying knots in a sailor’s swab was what I did as a kid for fun.

The Navy sails the seven seas hauling beans, bullets, and the Corps

firing their big booming guns as the Marine Corps take the shore.

I am mean, I am tough, I am, I are; I shave my face with a k-bar, and

I gargle with sand and dust.

I have fought in Sasebo, Olongapo, Barcelona Spain, and if you ask

me again, I will tell you again, I am a Marine.

Danny L. Henson

Master Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy (MCPO USN)

Seabees

1985

Changes%20to%20book%20Map-1.jpg

Map 1. Indochina

PRELUDE

Vietnam War Strategy

The mission of the Marine Corps in Vietnam was to gain control of the Vietnamese population through pacification and emancipation by providing security for the Vietnamese population, to enclave the population living in the surrounding area, and to search, locate, and destroy the enemy.

In 1965, the total population of Vietnam was about twenty-one million people. Most of whom, sixteen million eight hundred thousand, lived in the lowlands along the East China Sea. The Vietnamese people supported their families by working the fields and shops throughout the northern part of South Vietnam. Prior to the arrival of the U.S. military, 80 percent of the population was under the control of the National Liberation Front, better known as the Viet Cong.

This 80 percent of the population lived in a narrow strip of land, running from Quang Ngai Province in the south to Quang Tri Province in the north. The lowlands were used mostly for growing rice and agricultural products by the peasants living in the rural areas of the country. The metropolitan population made a living in the cities, villages, and small rural areas operating small shops that sold various goods.

About ten miles west of this small strip of land on the coast of the South China Sea, the terrain rose sharply to about three thousand feet. The Montagnards, who lived in the western mountains of Vietnam, made up the rest of the twenty million Vietnamese people. The mountains were of little value to agriculture, but provided sanctuary to the enemy as the war continued to expand.¹

The survival and salvation of the Viet Cong depended on the cooperation of the Vietnamese people. In order to achieve their goal, the Viet Cong were broken down into small groups of about eight men, who organized the local population within their area. They established rules to govern the local villagers, taxation of yearly crops, and recruited young men into the military system for indoctrination into the National Liberation Front. Those who refused to obey the laws, pay taxes, or to serve in the military were tortured or eliminated.

The South Vietnamese Army was unable to control and protect the local population against the Viet Cong. The Marine Corps strategy was to gain control of the population through pacification and emancipation without fear or intimidation.

Slowly occupying the coastal areas, village by village, the Marines would pacify the area by neutralizing and securing the peace and freeing the Vietnamese people from the bondage of the Viet Cong. This gave the villagers the right to freely assemble without fear and to elect their local political parties to establish a government.

To build the local government from the ground up, the Marine Corps utilized the three principles of providing security: to enclave an area, to search for the enemy, and destroy them.

The first principle of village security was defensive and limited in scope. The Marines would occupy a village, protect the village from the enemy, provide medical treatment for the sick and wounded, rebuild the habitats, and train the local villagers to protect their village from the Viet Cong.

The second principle to enclave began after the Marines occupied the village and secured the surrounding area, isolating the population from the enemy and denying them the vital resources needed to continue their war. Slowly moving forward like a blob of molasses, the Marines secured the countryside village by village, district by district, and province by province until the government had complete control of the population.

The third principle was to search for and destroy the enemy, enabling the government to continue to grow and survive. Patrols and combat operations conducted the search-and-destroy missions and attacked the enemy when found.

In order to accomplish this mission, the northern part of South Vietnam was divided into four enclaves (Map 2). The first enclave was located in the north at Phu Bia, Thua Thien Province; the second at Da Nang, Quang Nam Province; the third at Chu Lai, Quang Tin Province; and the fourth enclave at Qui Nhom, Quang Ngai Province. Within four months, the blob of molasses, the Third Marine Division, was poured over the northern part of South Vietnam.

Deployment Schedule of the Third Marine Division

• March 8, 1965, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, landed at Red Beach 2, Da Nang, to provide internal security of the Da Nang Airfield.²

• March 8, 1965, First Battalion, Third Marines, arrived at Da Nang via C-130s to provide external security for Da Nang Airfield.³

• April 10, 1965, Second Battalion, Third Marines,² and elements of the First Battalion, Twelfth Marines (Artillery Battery) arrived at Da Nang.⁴

• April 14, 1965, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, made an amphibious landing at Red Beach 2, Da Nang.²

• By the end of April 1965, there were almost nine thousand Marines deployed to Vietnam.

• May 7, 1965, First and Second Battalion, Fourth Marines, supported by Third Recon Battalion,² and Third Battalion, Twelfth Marines (Artillery),⁴ landed at Chu Lai.

• May 12, 1965, Third Battalion, Third Marines, landed at Chu Lai.²

• June 11, 1965, First Battalion, Ninth Marines, landed, at Green Beach, Qui Nhon.²

• July 6, 1965, Second Battalion and Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, and Fourth Battalion, Twelfth Marines (Artillery), landed at Green Beach, Qui Nhon.²,⁴

• July 7, 1965, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, and Second Battalion, Twelfth Marines, landed at Da Nang.⁴

At the end of July 8, 1965, most of the Third Marine Division, over thirty thousand Marines, were deployed in Vietnam, including supporting arms, air wing groups, service support groups, and heavy equipment support. ⁵

Establishing Enclaves

Da Nang Enclave

• March 8, 1965, the first two Marine battalions arrived in Vietnam. The Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, made an amphibious landing at Red Beach, Da Nang, Vietnam, and the First Battalion, Third Marines, was flown in by C-130 from the island of Okinawa.⁴ The Third Battalion, Ninth Marines’, mission was to provide internal security for the Da Nang Airfield, while the First Battalion, Third Marines, was to provide external security to include Hill 327, west of the Da Nang Airfield.

• April 10, 1965, Hotel Company, Second Battalion, Third Marines, occupied the high ground north of Hill 327.

• April 20, 1965, external security was extended to patrols beyond the airfield and surrounding areas.

• June 15, 1965, authorization to conduct a search-and-destroy mission around Da Nang Airfield was approved.

• July 7, 1965, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, made an amphibious landing on Red Beach, Da Nang, and secured the area south of Hill 327, Da Nang.

Phu Bai Enclave

• April 10, 1965, Fox Company and Golf Company, Second Battalion, Third Marines, and elements of Twelfth Marines (Artillery Battery) made an amphibious landing on Red Beach, Da Nang. The two companies were airlifted to Phu Bai, while Hotel Company occupied Hills 278 and 312 at Da Nang. Echo Company remained aboard the ship as a reserve.

• April 14, 1965, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, made an amphibious landing on Red Beach and was airlifted to Phu Bai to relieve the Second Battalion, Third Marines who was moved back to Da Nang.

Chu Lai Enclave

• May 7, 1965, all of the Second Battalion, Fourth Marines, landed at Chu Lai. In addition, Companies C and D, First Battalion, Fourth Marines, and Third Recon Battalion made an amphibious landing at Chu Lai. Companies A and B remained aboard the ship as reserves.

• May 12, 1965, Third Battalion, Third Marines, and elements of the Twelfth Marines (Artillery Battery) arrived at Chu Lai and made an amphibious landing.

Qui Nhon Enclave

• June 11, 1965, First Battalion, Ninth Marines, made an amphibious landing on Green Beach.

• July 1, 1965, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, made an amphibious landing on Green Beach.

• July 7, 1965, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, made an amphibious landing on Green Beach.

Image7864.jpg

Map 2. The four Marine Corps enclaves

Peleliu

September 1944

Bloody Nose Ridge

We had lost heavily, ever since the beach, but I had not realized how bad the losses were until our companies moved out on the cliff. Clawing and crawling up the cliff went platoons that were no more than squads and Companies that were no larger than large platoons. I counted one platoon. It mustered eighteen men on that push. But they went up.

From the base of the cliff, we could pick out each man and follow him until he got hit, went to ground, or climbed to the top. Not many made the top. As they toiled, caves and gullies and holes opened up and Japanese dashed out to roll grenades down on them, and sometimes to lock body to body, in desperate wrestling matches. Knives and bayonets flashed on the hillside. I saw one man bend, straighten, and club and kick at something that attacked his legs like a mad dog. He reached and heaved, and a Japanese soldier came end-over-end down the hill. The machine gunners yelled encouragement.

As the riflemen climbed higher, they grew fewer, until only a handful of men still climbed in the lead squads. These were the pick of the bunch, the few men who would go forward, no matter what was ahead. There were only a few. Of the thousands who landed with a division and the hundreds who go up with a company of the line, there are only a few who manage to live, and have enough courage to go through anything. They are the bone structures of a fighting outfit. All the rest is so much weight and sometimes merely flab.

There aren’t more than a few dozen in every thousand men, even in the Marines. They clawed and clubbed and stabbed their way up. The rest of us watched. Watching them go up, Buck, the old rifleman, said, Take a look at that sight and remember it. Those are riflemen, boy, and there ain’t many like them. I was one, once.

MARINE AT WAR

RUSSELL DAVIS

⁶

ASSEMBLY AREA

Camp Pendleton, California

On January 12, 1965, I moved my family back to Oklahoma in preparation for deployment to the Island of Okinawa. As I was thinking about my deployment overseas, I could see the ominous clouds rising in the Far East that would lead my Marines to war in South Vietnam. Returning from Oklahoma on January 27, 1965, to Camp Pendleton, I had time to reflect on the events of the past, the present, and the future as the train continued its journey west to California.

In 1959, I became good friends with PFC Fred Briuer and Lance Corporal Wilbur Kirchoff, whom we called Bill. We were stationed at Marine Barracks, Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello, California. While working together at Point Arguello, our friendship grew, and later in June 1961, we were transferred to Camp Pendleton, California.

Fred and I had served together throughout our tour in the Marine Corps, and we were to be discharged on July 16, 1963. Fred was the career Marine; I was going to serve my time and leave. As young Marines, our plans didn’t work out as we had hoped. I stayed in the Marine Corps as a career Marine, and Fred went on to earn a doctorate in both anthropology and archeology at UCLA.

When we arrived at Camp Pendleton in 1961, Fred Briuer and I were assigned to the First Battalion, Fifth Marines. Bill Kirchoff became a member of the First Force Recon Company, First Marine Division.

On June 16, 1961, Fred and I checked into the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, Margarita Area, Camp Pendleton, California. My first tour with the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, wasn’t filled with pleasant memories, since Fred and I were replacements for the departing Marines who had completed their assignment with the battalion.

I was assigned to Company B as a rifleman, and Fred was assigned to Company C as a machine gunner toting a .30 caliber machine gun. During the twelve months we were stationed with the battalion, we were caught in what I called suspended animation.

The battalion was rebuilding to prepare for deployment in August 1962. Neither Fred nor I had enough time left on our enlistment to deploy with the battalion, and we were thrust into the company to fill the vacancies until other replacements arrived during the year. We were like stepchildren receiving little recognition for our efforts, and promotion was passed down to the Marines deploying with the battalion overseas. Eighteen months later, I would join the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, in December 1963, but this time it would be in preparation for deployment overseas to the Vietnam War.

In December 1963, I extended my enlistment for a second tour with the First Battalion, Fifth Marines. When I arrived in California December 1963, Bill’s wife Judy helped me and my family locate housing in Vista, California. Bill was deployed overseas at the time, and she provided health and comfort making the transition easier for my family. Both of us, married with children, began to realize the true meaning of the Esprit de Corps. The Spirit of the Corps not only thrives in the Marines, but it also thrives in the Marine Corp family as a whole.

When Bill returned from Okinawa late 1964, I remember visiting him and his family in San Diego. Even then, privately, he told me of covert operations that Recon had conducted near the Laotian border and the escalating presence of the North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by Congress on August 7, 1964. The military barracks in Saigon were bombed in December, and Vietnam’s national security was at risk by the Viet Cong and the invasion of the North Vietnamese Army. Both Bill and I knew that our involvement in the Vietnam War was becoming a reality.

Slowly as the train came to a stop in San Diego I realized that the future still lay ahead of me. Arriving back at Camp Margarita area on Thursday, January 28, 1965, I reported to the Duty Non-Commissioned Officer (Duty NCO). As I walked back to the squad bay, I could see that new Marines had been assigned to the battalion. The battalion had transformed into a lean, green, fighting machine. The old salts, short