operation MALLARD information
From date 660110 to 660117
Primary service involved, US Marine Corps
Operation MALLARD
South Vietnam
Location, An Hoa
Description: Background Information: The An Hoa region lies 20 miles south of Da Nang in a fertile plain that hosted Vietnam's only coal mine. As early as 1962 the GVN had wanted to develop this into an industrialized area. Le Thuc Can, a Vietnamese engineer worked hard to trian the locals in the skills they would need to build and maintain machinery and a railroad spur was built into the area. The local VC unit, the R-20 Battalion, cut the roads but the airstrip at An Hoa kept the population loyal to the GVN from being cutoff.
The ARVN maintained a limited and non-aggressive permanent presence in An Hoa. Operation MALLARD sent two USMC reinforced infantry battalions on a sweep of the area when it was learned that the 5th VC Main Force Battalion had reinforced the R-20 Battalion. At the end of the operation, more than 300 villagers asked to be evacuated to more secure areas. The security and pacification of this area were a priority item for the USMC command from this time on.
The source for this information was USMC 1966 P. 18, 40-44
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
Please send additions or corrections to: Gary Roush Email address: webmaster@vhpa.org
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Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023