Combat· Korean War
Operation CHARLIE
Operation CHARLIE was a planned daylight raid by the 5th Marines on 25 February 1953 against Hill 15, the height where the Chinese had overrun Outpost Detroit the previous October, modeled on the earlier Operation CLAMBAKE and its tank-infantry method.
After detailed planning and careful rehearsal, the raid went in with tanks and artillery firing as scheduled, but bad weather grounded the planned air strikes. The assault platoons reported that the supporting fire had isolated the objective as intended, yet when they reached the enemy works they found most of the fortifications relatively undamaged, the Chinese bunkers proving too solidly built to be readily destroyed. The raid pressed its attack but could not achieve the wholesale destruction CLAMBAKE had managed against softer defenses. CHARLIE showed both the value of the tank-infantry method and the limits of even a well-rehearsed raid against deep, hardened positions.
Record no. 887