Operation Starlite 1965
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1965 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Vietnam | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Vietnam War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 15.2990, 108.8400 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
Operation Starlite (also known in Vietnam as Battle of Van Tuong) was the first major offensive action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War from 18 to 24 August 1965. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Major general Nguyen Chanh Thi, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) I Corps commander. III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) commander Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt devised a plan to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Viet Cong (VC) 1st Regiment to nullify their threat to the vital Chu Lai Air Base and Base Area and ensure that its powerful communication tower remained intact.
The operation was conducted as a combined arms assault involving ground, air and naval units. U.S. Marines were deployed by helicopter insertion while an amphibious landing was used to deploy other Marines. The VC used a variety of tactics to counter the Marine assault, fighting from prepared positions and then withdrawing as the Marines gained local superiority and ambushing a lost supply column. The VC were unable to withstand the weight of the Marine assault and U.S. firepower.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Operation Starlite (revision 1377753640), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Vietnam War
- Battle of Ap Bac 1963
- Battle of An Lão 1964
- Battle of Binh Gia 1964
- Battle of Nam Dong 1964
- Gulf of Tonkin incident 1964
- Attack on Camp Holloway 1965
- Battle of Ap Bau Bang 1965
- Battle of Ba Gia 1965
- Battle of Gang Toi 1965
- Battle of Ia Drang 1965
All 54 battles of the Vietnam War →
Browse more: battles in Vietnam · Asia · Post-1945 battles