Semper
Fi! Marines in Vietnam DVD
Six films featuring the US Marines in Vietnam on one DVD
The
Battle: Operation Piranha (1965, Color, 13:00)This short but dramatic
color films shows one of the first Marine offensive operations in the
Vietnam War, in September 1965 --Operation Piranha. A combined amphibious assault and
airborne vertical envelopment search and destroy mission, it was a
follow-up to operation STARLITE aimed at the remnants of the 1st VC
Regiment. MAG-16 used 40 UH-34D's to insert inland the 1st Battalion,
7th Marines into LZ OAK, four miles inland from the amphibious
landing of 3rd Marines. Then 16 UH-34D's went to Quang Ngai shuttled
two South Vietnamese battalions into LZ BIRCH and PINE escorted by
four Army gunships. The next day, the Marines found a large VC force
in a cave, one of the Marine's first cave clearing
operations of the war. After the cave was blown, 66 VC bodies were
found. Two Marines were lost.
Despite the body count, the main VC force proved elusive.
Marines
'66 (1967, Color, 26:00) This excellent quality color film,
introduced by Lt. Gen. Lew Walt, Commanding General, III Marine
Amphibious Force, gives a broad outline of Marine Corps activities in
1966, focusing on the rapidly expanding Vietnam War. Marines are
shown in a wide variety of roles, including winning civilian hearts
and minds, amphibious landings, air assaults, and Marine A-4 Skyhawk
air support. The highlight of the film focuses on the two major
Marine offensive thrusts in the summer of 1966, operations "Hastings"
and "Prairie." Marine commanders Generals Lowell English
and Wood B. Kyle give an overall explanation of strategy and
tactics, but the standout moments are toe-to-toe fire fights filmed
and narrated on the spot by Marine Corps combat cameramen, including
Lima company, 3rd Marines relieving India company who was trapped on
a hilltop by a large NVA force. You'll see and hear the battle as it
occurred.
The
Battle of Khe Sahn (1968, Color, 28:00) During the Spring and Summer
of 1967, North Vietnamese commander General Giap targeted III Marine
Amphibious Force and South Vietnamese Army units stationed in and
around Khe Sanh, in Northwestern Quang Tri province, with 2-3 NVA
divisions. His goal was to create a second Dien Bien Phu by
destroying the base and dealing the US a psychological knock out
blow. Khe Sanh was besieged for 77 days by a series of desperate
attacks. Marines fought back, despite a devastating enemy artillery
barrages. General William Westmorland gives a political and strategic
overview of the battle showing why it was a US victory and Marine
Col. David E Lownds, Commanding Officer at Khe Sahn discusses
tactics. Surviving copies of this film have a dramatic pink/blue
color cast that we have been able to almost entirely eliminate
through digital color correction.
The
Ordeal at Con Thien (1967, B&W, 28:00) A CBS News Special
Report, originally shown as "Breaking News" in October
1967, hosted by Mike Wallace. We have digitally restored this print.
This is "you are there" reporting from the battlefield. By
the fall of 1967, Marine forces at Con Thein, just south of the DMZ,
were under continuous bombardment from "protected" enemy
artillery positions in the North. In September the NVA started
major shelling. 152mm howitzers, 120mm and 82mm mortars and 122mm
rockets hit the base daily. During the climax of the attack
(September 19–27, 1967) over three thousand rounds of artillery
pounded the fire base. 2nd Battalion 4th Marines was involved in
three major battles with NVA forces. Con Thien was an exposed
position that not of high military importance. Rather, as Gen.
Westmorland points out in an interview, it was seen as a test of will
and resolve between North Vietnam and America. It had overriding
"political" significance, which, as you'll see and hear,
was a hard sell to the Marines who had to sit and take the pounding,
not a role they were designed for or accustomed to. Perhaps just as
significantly it was becoming harder to sell a distant conflict to
the American people where casualties were mounting and military
objectives were not as clear as they had been in World War 2.
A
Day in Vietnam (1968, Color, 28:00) This film, produced by the
Department of the Navy, was specifically designed to counter
increasing "anti-war" activity in the US by showing "the
real war" in Vietnam, highlighting the accomplishments of
America and her allies. Passionately narrated by "Dragnet"
TV star (and former Marine Corps DI) Jack Web, it shows a wide
variety of Marine Corps and Navy operations on an average day across
the country. You'll see and hear about major Marine Corps bases
across Vietnam and there areas of operation including search and
destroy missions, Navy and Marine air support, civilian aid, river
patrol and more.\
USAF 20th
Helicopter Squadron CH-3C "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters
support Marine Delta Force amphibious landing during "Operation
Double Eagle" (1966, Color, 15:00) New, Exclusive documentary
assembled from recently released raw archival footage. Excellent color. Operation
Double Eagle in late January, 1966 was the largest Marine amphibious
assault since the Korean War and the largest conducted during the
Vietnam War. 5,000 marines from 1st
Marines, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and
2nd Battalion, 9th Marines landed by ship and helicopter in southern
Quang Ngai Province near Duc Pho. Great quality color footage shows
20th Squadron "Jolly Green Giant" CH-3C helos operating out
of Danang supporting the amphibious landing in a variety of roles including
ferrying 105mm howitzers from "Red Beach" inland to forward
fire bases, transporting causalities and captured VC, bringing in
spare parts and ferrying civilians from the combat zone to safe
havens.
OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR MACHINE GUN, 7.62-MM, M60, 220 pages in Adobe
Acrobat .pdf file format. Everything you need to know about the
iconic M60 machine gun including operation and maintenance. The M60
was everywhere in Vietnam, supplying instant fire power to grunts on
the ground, helicopters and river patrols.
Manual viewable and printable on computer DVD player. Don't have a DVD player on your
computer? We can put the manual on a separate CD-ROM that will play on
any home computer. Click
here for info.