Combat· Vietnam War
Op OKLAHOMA HILLS
Operation Oklahoma Hills was a multi-battalion Marine offensive into the rugged mountains southwest of Da Nang, mounted to clear the enemy base areas in the hills that overlooked and threatened the vital coastal region around the great base.
The 7th Marines pushed into the difficult upland country, the broken ridges and valleys the enemy had long used as sanctuaries from which to strike at the lowlands, and ranged through the area in a sustained campaign of patrols, sweeps, and sharp engagements. The operation sought to disrupt the enemy in his mountain refuges rather than merely react to his forays into the populated coast, and the Marines spent weeks fighting through the terrain and destroying the base areas they found. Oklahoma Hills was part of the continuing effort to push the war away from Da Nang and into the enemy's strongholds in the surrounding highlands, a grinding operation in punishing country.
Record no. 698