Combat· Vietnam War
Op NEW CASTLE
Operation New Castle was a Marine operation conducted in the coastal lowlands of I Corps, one of the numerous search-and-destroy efforts the Marines mounted to clear enemy forces from the contested districts around their bases.
The Marines swept the assigned area to root out Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units and their fortifications, fighting the scattered, evasive actions typical of the lowland war against an enemy who relied on concealment and the cover of the populated terrain. Operations such as New Castle were part of the continual Marine effort to extend and secure control in the densely settled coastal region, contesting ground the enemy used to threaten the bases and the population. Though not among the great named battles of the year, it contributed to the relentless pressure the Marines maintained on the enemy in the lowlands, the steady, unglamorous work of clearing and screening the approaches to their principal positions.
Record no. 870