SEMPER FI VIETNAM

FROM DANANG TO THE DMZ

MARINE CORPS CAMPAIGNS,1965-1975

EDWARD F.MURPHY

The United States Marine Corps is America's premier military force, always the first to fight, and always faithful, as their motto  Semper Fidelis attests. And nowhere in the Corps' two-hundred-years - plus history was this dedication more apparent or more challenged than in their six - year war in South Vietnam. To the familiar refrain "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" of the Marines' Hymn should now be added "from the streets of Hue to the jungles of Khe Sanh", for the Marines fought a varied and multi-faceted war in South Vietnam.

Semper Fi -Vietnam presents the full story of U.S.M.C. ground operations in South Vietnam for the first time in one volumn. From their early days in 1965 trying to drive the insurgent Viet Cong  out of the villages around Danang to the valiant efforts of a handful of determined men trying to help the the South Vietnamese Army halt the onslaught of North Vietnamese troops pouring across their borders in 1972, the whole gutsy, glorious saga of the Marines in Vietnam is told in stark, riveting detail.

From the start, the Marines fought two different, distinct wars. From their bases around Danang the men of the First Marine Division primarily fought local Viet Cong guerillas as they tried to bring peace to the lives of the South Vietnemese peasants. But the Divisions' troops also met and mastered tough North Vietnamese Army regulars as the foes battled over rice paddies and mountaintops. A major battle occurred in  1968

during the Tet Offensive when the NVA and VC

forces invaded the hiostoric city of Hue. In street fighting that rivaled any combat of WW II or Korea, the young Marines of the First Marine Division defeated a tenacious enemy in brutal, close-quarters combat that raged for weeks.

Along South Vietnam's northern border the 3rd Marine Division fought bravely in mountainous, jungle-clad terrain to halt the flow of enemy troops across the border. The war's climatic battle at Khe Sanh in 1968, where a single regiment of Marines clung to precarious mountain bases against constant enemy attacks, helped turn back a multi-division NVA invasion force.

Semper Fi-Vietnam not only details the war as seen from the eyes of the "grunts" on the ground, but also examines the strategies used to fight the war. From the start, conflict arose between the Marine Commanders and the U.S. Army's senior officers over how to conduct the war. In the end the Army's view prevailed and the Marines fought a conventional war, suffering over  13,000 killed and almost 90,000 wounded: more than their total casualties in WW II.

From the  major well-known battles at Con Thien, Chu Lai, Hue, Khe Sanh, and Dong Ha to the brief but violent clashes on long forgotten jungle trails and mountainsides, the whole heroic tale of the valiant bMarines' desperate struggle to win the war in South Vietnam is presented in vivid narrative style.  Semper Fi-Vietnam is a must for students and veterans of America's most devisive war.

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Historian's Note.  Of the three books that I have read authored by Edward F.Murphy, this one is by far the best, followed closely by "Dak To". and lastly "The Hill Fights" in which I fought.

The reader will find this narrative informative, well written and extremely interesting.

Paul Marquis

Web Master

Jim Cannon

Historian

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