The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (RVNMD, or ; ) was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. The longest-serving commander was Lieutenant General Le Nguyen Khang. In 1969, the VNMC had a strength of 9,300, 15,000 by 1973, and 20,000 by 1975.Tran Ngoc Thong, Ho Dac Huan, Le Dinh Thuy (2011). History of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam.
The Marine Division traced their origins to the Corps des Marines vietnamien founded in 1955 as French-trained Commandos Marine divisions recruited and placed under the command of the French Navy but officially incorporated in 1960. From 1970 onwards, the South Vietnamese Marines and Airborne Division grew significantly, supplanting the independent, Central Highlands based Vietnamese Rangers as the most popular elite units for volunteers. Along with the Airborne, the Marine Division formed the General Reserve with the strategic transformation under Vietnamization, with elite and highly-mobile units meant to be deployed in People's Army of Vietnam attacking points and incursions. By then, the level of training had improved considerably and U.S. Army General Creighton Abrams who oversaw Vietnamization stated that South Vietnam's Airborne and Marines had no comparable units to match them in the PAVN.
This division had earned a total of 9 U.S. presidential citations, with the 2nd Battalion "Crazy Buffaloes" earning two.See List of Non-US Presidential Unit Citations in Vietnam.
History The Vietnamese Marine Corps had its origins during French rule of Indochina. The 1949 Franco-Vietnamese Agreement stated that the Vietnamese Armed Forces were to include naval forces whose organization and training would be provided by the French Navy.
In March 1952, the Navy of Vietnam was established. In 1953, the French and Vietnamese governments agreed to increase the size of Vietnamese National Army, so an increase in the size of the Vietnamese Navy was also deemed necessary. As they debated whether the Army or Navy would control the river flotillas, French Vice Admiral Philippe Auboyneau proposed for the first time the organisation of a Vietnamese Marine Corps. When the French withdrew from Vietnam in 1954, the Vietnamese Marine Corps was a component of the Vietnamese Navy. The Marine Corps consisted of a headquarters, four river companies, and one battalion landing force. On 13 October 1954, Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem signed a government decree formally creating within the naval establishment a section of infantry, then of brigade strength, later to be designated as the Marine Corps (VNMC).
During late December 1964 in the Battle of Binh Gia the 4th Marine Battalion suffered 60% casualties as it attempted to rescue a trapped Ranger force.
1965 On 7 April in a five-hour battle, the Vietcong (VC) prevented an engineer company that was advancing north from Hoài Nhơn from linking up with a marine company garrisoning An Thai on Highway 1. As the battle unfolded, the marines reinforced An Thai with two additional companies and a battalion headquarters. The fighting only ended when howitzers and US Army UH–1B gunships suppressed the VC at 16:00. At midnight on 7/8 April, the VC attacked An Thai and were repulsed by the Marines in repeated attacks lasting until 05:00 when they succeeded in penetrating the western perimeter, and slowly pushed the marines back from one house or foxhole to another. At dawn the marine commander launched a counterattack using troops from the relatively quiet southeastern perimeter. The rest of the battalion joined in, and, by 07:00, the VC were in retreat. The VC attacked once more at 04:00 on 9 April. This time, they came from the south, using two companies backed by mortars probably to cover the withdrawal of the rest of their force. Marine losses were five dead, 36 wounded, and 20 missing. The VC lost 231 dead, 12 captured and six machine guns, a mortar, and 105 individual weapons. Half the prisoners were recently infiltrated Northerners. The other half were Southerners, who claimed that they had received just 15 days of training.
On 18 April the ARVN 2nd Division massed six battalions and six platoons of artillery backed by aircraft to target the headquarters of the VC 1st Regiment, four infantry battalions, and an artillery company in the Viet An area of Quang Tin province. Two columns moved southwest from Thang Binh district town into the hilly piedmont. The southern axis met stiff and mounting resistance by an estimated two battalions deployed on three hills. After a series of airstrikes, a company from the 3rd Marine Battalion made a lodgment on one of the hills while the rest of the battalion and two troops of M113 armored personnel carriers swept around the VC southern flank and hit the main position on a second knoll. Considerable amounts of bloody clothing found near the combat hamlet of Thanh Yen supported villager reports that the airstrikes had killed about 150 VC. The ARVN spent the night on the battlefield. On the following afternoon an observation aircraft reported seeing VC moving further west toward the hamlet of Chien Son. After a brief artillery bombardment, the 3rd Marine Battalion and the two cavalry troops advanced in line across a field toward the hamlet. At 17:25, the VC unleashed a bombardment including heavy 4.2 inch mortars. Surprised by the large explosions the M113s turned about and drove off the battlefield, causing the marines to panic and flee. Friendly artillery stopped firing, and the USAF forward air controller on the scene was unable to persuade two Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) A-1s on station to attack. The Marine officers and their advisers could not stop the rout, but they did manage to steer the mob toward an abandoned VC trench where the marines stopped to take shelter. Here, allied officers organized a defense. The respite was brief as VC troops adjusted their bombardment to hit the new position, and a large column maneuvered to attack. Four advisers fell wounded, and, despite the best efforts of the remaining officers and advisers, the marines broke again. The division headquarters again rejected calls for artillery support on the supposition that the VC was too close to the marines, but the commander of the 2nd Division, General Hoàng Xuân Lãm, ordered a ranger battalion and an infantry battalion to come to their aid. That plan backfired when the panic that infected the marines spread to the new battalions, which quickly joined the rout. The debacle cost the allies 26 dead, 86 wounded, 28 missing, and eight crew-served and 25 individual weapons lost. The allies counted 53 VC dead and estimated they had killed 297 more, but MACV considered the latter number highly speculative.
On 27 May I Corps mounted its largest airmobile operation to date as US Marine Corps helicopters, escorted by US Army gunships, delivered two battalions to pin two VC companies against a river, 40km south of Da Nang. The VC broke across open country to escape the trap, which allowed the gunships to hit them with rockets and machine guns. After arriving at its objective, the 3rd Marine Battalion reversed course and ran into enemy soldiers who had been trailing the unit. Flushed into the open, these insurgents fell victim to Army UH–1B gunships. By the time the operation ended, the allies had killed 93 VC and captured 30 and nine weapons. ARVN losses amounted to two dead and three wounded.
On 30 May in the Battle of Ba Gia the 3rd Marine Battalion was part of a task force with 2nd Battalion, 51st Infantry Regiment, 25th Division, the 39th Ranger Battalion and one squadron of M113s to recapture Ba Gia which had been captured the previous day by the VC. The VC first attacked the 2nd Battalion, 51st Infantry and then ambushed the 3rd Marine Battalion as it attempted to support the 2/51st forcing both units to retreat to Phuoc Loc. On the morning of 31 May the VC renewed their attacks capturing Phuoc Loc and attacking the 39th Rangers inflicting heavy casualties. Total South Vietnamese losses were 392 men killed and missing.
From 7 to 10 September the 3rd Marine Battalion participated in Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula with US Marine forces.
1966–1967
From 6–22 August 1966 three Marine Battalions participated in Operation Colorado/Lien Ket 52 with the ARVN 2nd and 4th Battalions, 2nd Division and elements of the US 1st Marine Division against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 2nd Division in the Hiệp Đức District.
From 6–15 January 1967 the 3rd and 4th Marine Battalions participated in Operation Deckhouse Five with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in Kiến Hòa Province.
From 27 to 31 July 1967 the 3rd Marine Battalion participated in Operation Coronado II with the 44th Ranger Battalion and the US Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) against VC units in the Mekong Delta.
From 15 to 19 November 1967 the 5th Marine Battalion participated in Operation Kien Giang 9-1 with the ARVN 7th and 9th Divisions and the MRF against the VC 263rd Battalion's Base Area 470 in western Định Tường Province. The operation rendered the 263rd Battalion combat ineffective.
On 4 December 1967 while participating in Operation Coronado IX with the MRF, a flotilla of ATCs carrying the 5th Marine Battalion came under fire 12 km east of Mỹ Tho from the VC 502nd Local Force Battalion in a fortified base on the west bank of the Rach Ruong Canal. The VC attacked the boats with rockets and automatic weapons and the Marines were landed north of the VC position and proceeded to overrun the position killing over 100 VC and scattering the rest. Shortly afterward the US 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment landed south of the VC. The fighting was intense and the 4/47th Infantry was landed by helicopter west of the VC position. To the south the 3/47th Infantry, encountered resistance from scattered VC bunkers that prevented it from linking with the Marines. There were 266 VC killed in total, mostly by Marines. The Marines lost 40 killed and 107 wounded, while the Americans suffered 9 dead and 89 wounded.
1968 During the Tet Offensive attack on Joint General Staff Compound the 2nd Marine Battalion, together with the 6th Airborne Battalion and elements of the 8th Airborne Battalion, fought the VC 2nd Go Mon Battalion attacking the compound.