Combat· Vietnam War
Da Nang Landing
The landing at Da Nang marked the arrival of the first United States ground combat troops in Vietnam.
With the air base at Da Nang considered vital to the bombing campaign against the north and South Vietnamese forces deemed unable to guarantee its security, Marines were ordered ashore to protect it. A battalion landing team came across the beach just north of the city while a second battalion arrived by air at the airfield, the whole brought under the control of a Marine expeditionary brigade. The Marines established defensive positions around the base, beginning what was framed at first as a limited security mission. That mission would expand rapidly in the months that followed, drawing the Marines outward from the airfield and into offensive operations across the surrounding region. The Da Nang landing is remembered as the symbolic beginning of the American ground war in Vietnam.
Engagements in this conflict (1)
Record no. 665