Combat· Vietnam War
Operation PRAIRIE
Operation Prairie was the sustained Marine campaign to hold the Demilitarized Zone in the wake of Hastings, a prolonged effort to detect and defeat North Vietnamese forces continuing to push across the border into Quang Tri Province.
Running for months across the same difficult country of hills, ridges, and river valleys near the zone, Prairie was less a single battle than a series of connected engagements, with Marine battalions sweeping the border region, manning observation posts, and reacting to enemy concentrations located by reconnaissance patrols. The campaign saw repeated sharp fights against North Vietnamese regulars, fought with heavy support from artillery and aircraft, as the Marines sought to keep the enemy from establishing himself south of the zone. Prairie deepened the Marine commitment to the northern border, drawing the Corps into the static, attritional defense of the DMZ that would consume so much of its strength in the years that followed.
Record no. 672