11 Nov 2001 "If the Army and the Navy Ever look on Heaven's scenes, They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines." Final verse, Marine Corps Hymn From a childhood schoolmate and friend. E-mail address is not available.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall During the summer of 1966 the North Vietnamese Army's 324B Division had infiltrated south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with the clear intention of setting up a major presence in northern Quang Tri Province. The NVA 341st Division was positioned within and north of the DMZ and prepared to support the 324B Division and/or exploit opportunities arising from the 324B's operations. CG 3rd MAF, the senior US commander in northern South Vietnam, initiated Operation HASTINGS, aimed at discouraging the 324B Division and forcing it back into the DMZ (at the time, US forces could not enter into the DMZ - it was an NVA sanctuary). Heavy fighting continued through July 1966, particularly around the "Rockpile" between Khe Sanh and Camp Carroll. HASTINGS ended, and a series of recon-in-force operations - termed Operation PRAIRIE - began on 03 August 1966. Operation DECKHOUSE IV was conducted by the 7th Fleet's Special Landing Force Bravo (Battalion Landing Team 1/26) as an adjunct to Operation PRAIRIE. BLT 1/26's area was about 8 miles NE of Dong Ha, and began with an amphibious landing and a heliborne landing some six miles inland west of Highway 1. At about 1330 15 Sep 1966, a recon team made contact with an NVA company. That contact was the first in what became ten days of heavy fighting for BLT 1/26's Marines and sailors. Although DECKHOUSE IV officially ended on the 18th, BLT 1/26 stayed in support of PRAIRIE until the 25th. The operation claimed at least 200 NVA killed at a cost of 37 Marines and sailors killed in action and another 167 wounded. The dead were A Co, 5th Recon Bn: 1stLt Walter J. Spainhour, Lenoir, NC (Silver Star) Pfc Douglas R. Mowbray, Peekskill, NY A Co, 5th Tank Bn: LCpl Estill L. Childers, Slater, MO W Btry, 3rd Bn, 12th Marines: Pfc Charles E. Stokes, Santa Ana, CA A Co, 1st Bn, 26th Marines: 1stLt Glenn E. Insprucker, Glendale, CA LCpl Dennis K. Eaker, Duboistown, PA Pfc Richard S. Bates, Nutley, NJ Pfc Nicholson Brown, Washington, DC Pfc Sherman L. Ivey, Cleveland, OH Pfc Ronald Mc Cracken, Elmsford, NY Pfc Edward Ramos, Clyde, TX B Co, 1st Bn, 26th Marines: Cpl James R. Griffin, Plymouth, FL Cpl Olin R. Thrush, Lockport, NY HN Gollie L. Grant, Old Fort, NC (Navy Cross) Pfc Joseph D. McNulty, Roxbury, MA Pfc Jimmy R. Waldrep, Logan, AL C Co, 1st Bn, 26th Marines: LCpl Jack E. Crouch, Mount Vernon, IL (Silver Star) LCpl Carlton Griffin, Putney, GA LCpl James L. Pettiford, Clairton, PA Pfc Garry D. Davis, Elizabethtown, IL Pfc Joseph A. Friel, West Roxbury, MA (Silver Star) Pfc John H. Fulcher, Arlington, VA Pvt Thomas J. Kane, Dorchester, MA D Co, 1st Bn, 26th Marines: 1stLt Gerald D. Geoghegan, Verona, NJ Cpl Stephen P. Miller, Philadelphia, PA LCpl Micky J. Johns, Levittown, NY Pfc Bruce B. Backeberg, Helena, MT (Silver Star) Pfc David R. Beattie, Neptune, NJ Pfc Elmer L. Boatman, Wayland, MO Pfc Ronald C. Dexter, Milbank, SD Pfc Herschel P. Helm, Coffeeville, MS Pfc Thomas C. Jonozzo, Bedford, OH Pfc Danny R. Rundle, Whittier, CA Pfc Florentino J. Santana, Elgin, IL H&S Co, 1st Bn, 26th Marines: 1stLt Dennis D. Bradley, Marysville, WA Sgt John F. Sewell, Severn, MD HM3 John O. Oquendo, Campbell, OH

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