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Marine BGen Frederick J Karch.
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BRIG. GEN. FREDERICK J. KARCH 1917-2009 Frederick J. Karch, 1917-2009: Marine Corps general led first ground troops into Vietnam
May 26, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Frederick J. Karch, 91, a Marine Corps brigadier general who led the first official ground combat troops into Vietnam, died on May 23 at his home in Arlington, Va.
Gen. Karch, a Naval Academy graduate, served in the Marine Corps for 27 years, from before World War II through the Vietnam War. During World War II he was a part of the Pacific island-hopping campaign as U.S. forces fought the Japanese on a succession of islands, with Japan as the ultimate goal. He received the Bronze Star for his actions on Roi-Namur, Sapian, Tinian and Iwo Jima.
Two decades later, on March 8, 1965, the "dapper-looking, mustache-sporting veteran of two bloody World War II island campaigns" -- Edward F. Murphy's description in "Semper Fi Vietnam" (2003) -- landed with the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Red Beach at Da Nang, South Vietnam. Before their arrival, all military personnel in Vietnam were there as "advisers," and Gen. Karch told reporters that the activities of his men would be strictly defensive.
Later that year he voiced his respect for the stamina of the opposition fighters known as Viet Cong. "I thought that once they ran up against our first team they wouldn't stand and fight, but they did. I made a miscalculation."
