Vietnam War/Tet 69 Counteroffensive Campaign (1969)/Operation Maine Crag
From Month/Year
March / 1969
To Month/Year
May / 1969
Description Mar 15 – May 2; 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines and 1st Battalion, 12th Marines reconnaissance in force operation along the Laotian border west of Khe Sanh, Quảng Trị Province.
Operation Maine Crag, was the largest operation of the war. The tactics of this operation, named "Maine Crag," would follow the pattern of Operation Dewey Canyon. First, fire support bases reaching successively deeper into the salient would be established. Then, infantry patrols would clear the area around each fire support base before leapfrogging farther south. This time, though, the Marines would be supported by a U.S. Army task force and an ARVN regiment.
In preparation for the operation, 2/3 Marines airlifted into FSB Hawk, just south of Route 9 and about halfway between the Vandegrift Combat Base and Khe Sanh, on 10 March. That same night they began a rare overland trek to FSB Snapper, seven kilometers to the southwest. "It was a moonless night," recalled battalion commander Lt. Col. James J. McMonagle. "There were quite [a few] streams to cross and a heck of a lot of elephant grass. It was really amazing how they [the point company] were able to find this place going through elephant grass at that time of evening." The next morning, McMonagle's men searched the nearby area but found no sign of the enemy.
Operation Maine Crag officially began on 15 March when 2/3 started an overland push from Route 9 south into the salient all the way to FSB Saigon, which overlooked Route 616. For the first few days, the Marines encountered only occasional snipers. Then, on 18 March, a patrol from Company G ambushed a convoy of enemy trucks moving along Highway 616. The next day the company ambushed seven NVA soldiers sent out to check on the convoy.
On 20 March, three companies of 1/3 helilifted into FSB Saigon. These fresh Marines headed southwest to block Route 616 to the west of 2/3. McMonagle's battalion then worked its way eastward along the road. On the twenty-first, Company H uncovered a large cache of foodstuffs, including more than 350 tons of rice.
This proved to be the only major success of the operation. Though the maneuver elements of Operation Maine Crag thoroughly searched their AO, and even extended eastward into the old Operation Dewey Canyon AO, enemy contact was limited to occasional sniper rounds and a few mortar shells fired from Laos. Several more supply caches were uncovered and the foodstuffs extracted. By the end of April, the 3d Marines had been relocated to the central portion of Quang Tri Province, where they took up positions below the DMZ to begin Operation Virginia Ridge.
