Combat· Vietnam War
Battle of Dai Do
The Battle of Dai Do was a savage close-quarters fight near the Demilitarized Zone, where a Marine battalion landing team collided with a far larger North Vietnamese force entrenched in a complex of fortified hamlets along a river east of Dong Ha.
The Marines, the battalion that called itself the Magnificent Bastards, assaulted across open rice paddies under heavy fire to clear the enemy from the village strongpoints, fighting house to house and bunker to bunker against determined regulars dug into the hamlets. The fighting was intense and costly, the outnumbered Marines storming successive positions with the help of tanks, artillery, naval gunfire, and air support, driving the North Vietnamese from the complex over several days of brutal combat. Dai Do inflicted heavy losses on the enemy division attempting to push toward Dong Ha, blunting the threat to the vital base. It became renowned as one of the hardest battalion fights of the war.
Engagements in this conflict (1)
Record no. 688