Combat· Vietnam War
Cambodia Incursion
The Cambodian incursion was the 1970 allied offensive across the border into Cambodia, aimed at destroying the long-standing North Vietnamese and Viet Cong base areas and supply sanctuaries that had operated with impunity in the supposedly neutral country, sheltering the forces that struck into South Vietnam. The main effort was conducted by United States Army and South Vietnamese forces driving into the border regions to overrun the enemy's headquarters, depots, and staging areas. The operation uncovered and destroyed enormous quantities of weapons, ammunition, and supplies, disrupting the enemy's logistics and buying time for the continuing American withdrawal and the strengthening of South Vietnamese forces. The Marine role in the incursion itself was limited, the bulk of the fighting falling to other forces, but the operation formed a significant episode in the period of Vietnamization. The incursion was militarily productive yet politically explosive, provoking intense controversy in the United States.
Record no. 703