operation PIPESTONE CANYON information
for 1 MAR DIV
1 MARINES
MAG-16
From date 690526 to 691108
1 MAR DIV was a US Marine Corps unit
1 MARINES was a US Marine Corps unit
MAG-16 was a US Marine Corps unit
Primary service involved, US Marine Corps
Operation PIPESTONE CANYON
South Vietnam
Location, Go Noi
Description: This was a major land clearing operation in the Dodge City and Go Noi Island area 10-20K south of Da Nang for units of the 1st Marine Div, primarily the 1st Marines, plus SLF Alpha, the 51st ARVN Reg, and 2d Korean Marine Bde. Prior to the war about 27,000 people lived in this area but by 1969 it was a tunneled, cave infested VC haven. Most of the island's residents had fled to other areas in Quang Nam Province. This operation was in the same areas as ALLEN BROOK in May and MEADE RIVER in Dec, 1968. The objective was to clear the seven to nine enemy bns out of the area and reopen Route 4 from Dai Loc to Dien Ban once and for all. The operation had many phases and Inf units moving to phase lines and blocking positions. Joint Army and Marine landing clearing companies cleared 250 acres at a time to a depth of 6 inches completely destroying the area for military use by the enemy. In all 852 enemy were killed, 58 captured plus 410 weapons and some impressive food caches. USMC losses were 71 KIA and 498 WIA; mostly to mines. During 1970, the GVN would start a huge resettlement into this area.
The source for this information was USMC H 1969 P 174+
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