OPERATION BUFFALO

                                                    USMC FIGHT FOR THE DMZ

                                                            Keith William Nolan

On the mornibg of 2 July, 1967 two undermanned Companies from the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, were ambushed in the shadow of Vietnam's DMZ by a Regiment of the North Vietnamese Army. Only a single platoon survived that meat grinder.

Before nightfall, the remainder of the 1st Battalion had been committed and another battalion rushed in by helicopter. Within two days,two more Marine Battalions had assumed positions and Operation Buffalo, as the campaign was officially known, ground on for another week.

In his fifth book on the Vietnam War, Nolan presents the definitive account of one of the Marine Corps' most blood - soaked battles: a tale of snipers and ambushes in the blinding elephant grass; of tanks firing poin-blank into tree lines swarming with enemy troops; of air strikes called in within yards of friendly positions, and of individual Marines fighting isolated and outnumbered.

Nolan interviewed Marines who won the Navy Cross and multiple Purple Hearts as well as grunts so numbed with fatigue that they faked patrols. There are the gung-ho, hard - charging

lieutenants here, as well as war-weary commanders. Operation Buffalo may well be the most detailed and vivid description of any operation in the Vietnam War- a rare glimpse into the brutal, frustrating action on the DMZ that inflicted more casualties on the Marine Corps than did their famous island-hopping victories  in the Pacific.Next to names like Tarawa and Peleliy should stand Operation Buffalo.

*****

                     About the author

With a BA in history from Webster University, Keith William Nolan is a full - time student of the Vietnam War. He is the author of Into Laos; The story of Dewey Caynon II/Lam Son719, Vietnam 1971, Death Valley: The Summer Offensive,I Corps, August 1969,Battle for Hue: TET 1968,and Into Cambodia: Spring Campaign,Summer Offensive,1970. He, at the time of publication of Operation Buffalo, was researching the Battle of Dong Ha (30 April-16 May 1968).

Historians notes: Operaton Buffalo was one of the first books I read regarding the Vietnam War. I must say I could not put it down. Keith did a terrific job depicting the hell and brutality of close in fighting.

Echo Company was a part of the SLF Bravo that landed by helicopter just north of Cam Lo and swept northward toward the"Four Gates to Hell Church". On 5 July, just south of the church, Echo received her first casualty of the operation. SSgt Morningstar was felled by a sniper from only about 200 meters from our west. The Company Commander, Captain Robert Bogard and I were standing right beside him. It could have been any three of us.

This story underlines the nickname given to Bravo, 1/9.........The Walking Dead. Only one Platoon of that Company survived.  One can read of the brutality, as well as the heroism,  and wonder what Marines are made of.

On the morning of 6 July, a good size element either attacked or stumbeled into our defensive position. A slice of pie had been taken out of the perimiter where it was thought the enemy might approach. That's precisely where they tried to come in. They got waxed. While we of Echo had 11 wounded and 1 KIA. Only 3 of our wounded were evacuated. We killed approxiamately 29 NVA with many pieces of bloody 782 gear and drag marks found. We did well.

The reader will be proud of his Corps as he reads how Alpha Company's Captain Slater took revenge on advancing NVA from the North.

Operation Buffalo is a good read from cover to cover.  I highly recommend it.

              

Paul Marquis

Web Master

Jim Cannon

Historian

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