Combat· Vietnam War
Operation Swift
Operation Swift was a hard-fought engagement in the Que Son valley, the contested rice-growing region between Da Nang and Chu Lai that both sides regarded as vital.
It began when a Marine company was struck by a much larger North Vietnamese force near the hamlets of the valley floor, and the Marines committed additional battalions to relieve the pressure and destroy the enemy. The fighting swelled into a series of vicious actions across the open paddies and low hills, the Marines battling regiments of the 2d North Vietnamese Division in close combat under heavy supporting fire, calling in artillery and air strikes as they maneuvered to relieve surrounded units and break the enemy's hold. After days of intense fighting the North Vietnamese broke contact and withdrew, having again been driven from the valley at heavy cost to both sides. Swift marked the failure of the enemy's 1967 dry-season offensive in the southern part of I Corps.
Record no. 83