Combat· Vietnam War
Operation STARLITE (Van Tuong Peninsula)
Operation Starlite was the first major American ground offensive of the Vietnam War and the first regimental-size action fought by United States forces in the conflict.
Acting on intelligence that the 1st Viet Cong Regiment was massing on the Van Tuong Peninsula south of Chu Lai to strike the base, the Marines launched a coordinated assault to trap and destroy it. In a combined amphibious and heliborne attack, Marine battalions landed by amphibian tractor across the beach and by helicopter into landing zones inland, closing on the enemy in a hammer-and-anvil maneuver supported by tanks, artillery, naval gunfire, and close air support. The fighting was fierce, the Viet Cong standing and fighting from fortified hamlets and trench lines before the regiment was shattered. Starlite was a clear tactical victory that validated the Marines' amphibious and vertical-envelopment doctrine, and it foreshadowed the large conventional battles to come.
Record no. 667