operation report information
for 4 INF DIV
2/8 INF
From date 670430 to 670501
4 INF DIV was a US Army unit
2/8 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation FRANCIS MARION
Pleiku Province, II Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Ia Drang Valley
Description: As part of FRANCIS MARION, A/2/8th Inf, 4th Inf Div was sweeping along the Ia Muer River on foot. The 2/8th had recently been converted to a Mech unit. Early that morning one of its platoons scattered 30 surprised NVA from the 2d Bn, 95B NVA Regt then chased after them and the NVA had to drop their wounded. A Co continued the follow until they were stopped by heavy fire from a tree line. Artillery and air were applied and A Co retrieved their APCs. The next morning, reinforced with two tanks from B/1/10th Cav, they pushed through the tree line and into a bunker complex. So quick was the attack that the NVA could not organize their anti-tank weapons but attacked the vehicles with grenades. The American machineguns hosed the NVA from the vehicles and smashed through the NVA positions. Mechanized infantry and armored cavalry were very effective in the Ia Drang Valley area.
The source for this information was Rise & Fall P:155+; DAK TO by Murphy P:47
Rise & Fall = The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1963 - 1973 by Shelby Stanton.
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:
08/17/2025