Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase VII Campaign (1970-71)/Operation Imperial Lake
From Month/Year
August / 1970
To Month/Year
March / 1971
Description Aug 31 – May 12 71; 1st Battalion 5th Marines, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines and 3rd Battalion 5th Marines search and clear operation in the Quảng Nam Province.
In late August intelligence reports indicated that the Viet Cong Front 4 Headquarters had taken up residence in the eastern Que Son Mountains. In response, regimental commander Col. Robert H. Piehl planned to begin Operation Imperial Lake in this area with an intense aerial and artillery bombardment. Four rifle companies would then be helicoptered into twelve landing zones, establishing a tight cordon around the area suspected of harboring the enemy.
The bombardment began at midnight on 31 August. For six hours, ten batteries of 3/11 Marines pounded fifty-three target sites with more than fourteen thousand shells in what was one of the largest artillery barrages of the entire Vietnam War. When the artillery fire ceased, two solid hours of air strikes followed. More than sixty-three tons of aerial ordnance fell on suspected enemy camps in the Que Sons. The effectiveness of the massive bombardment was questionable. Colonel Piehi later said that 'one or two enemy bodies. .. .' were found in the target areas.
Nonetheless, at 0900 that day, CH46 and CH-53 helicopters laden with well-equipped 2d Battalion CP Marines and two platoons of 4.2-inch mortar men of Battery W, 3/11, began touching down at LZ Vulture on Hill 845, one of the highest peaks in the central Que Son Mountains. By noon, all four rifle companies of 2/7 had landed at their LZs ringing LZ Vulture. Over the next four days, the grunts scoured the rugged terrain without finding any enemy.
Finally, on 5 September, Company E encountered a platoon of NVA in a jungle-covered ravine southwest of LZ Vulture. Unable to move deeper into the ravine due to the heavy volume of fire coming from enemy soldiers concealed in caves and behind boulders, Company E was joined by the other three companies that night. Over the next four days, the Marines fought the encircled NVA. The steep terrain, numerous boulders, thick foliage, and many caves favored the enemy's elusive tactics. Though the riflemen tried several times to advance along the bottom of the ravine or down its sides, they were turned back each time by strong small arms and automatic weapons fire.
By 9 September, the Marines had suffered three killed and a dozen wounded. Realizing that his infantry could not dislodge the NVA, Lieutenant Colonel Albers pulled back his rifle companies and called for Marine jets. Nine sorties dropped forty tons of high explosives on the enemy. The next day, the Marines reentered the ravine. This time only sporadic sniper fire greeted them. The companies spent the next week searching for any surviving NVA, killing more than a dozen stragglers.
While 2/7 was fighting near LZ Vulture, 3/7 and units of the U.S. Army's Americal Division conducted Operation Nebraska Rapids to reopen Route 534 between LZ Baldy and Hiep Duc. The infantry units patrolled along the road while Marine engineers searched for mines and repaired the roadbed. The clearing operation lasted for five days, then an ARVN truck convoy made an uneventful trip along the road on 9 September.
On 13 September, 3/7 helicoptered into the Que Son Mountains to join Operation Imperial Lake. The Marines worked south of the 2d Battalion, conducting daytime patrols and night ambushes. Though they had little luck in finding the enemy, Lieutenant Colonel Albers's 2d Battalion did somewhat better. On 16 September, lead by a VC defector, his Company F uncovered a large underground complex consisting of more than the usual caves. Extending more than seventy feet into the ground, this complex included a large kitchen and a hospital complete with an operating room. What made the find even more unusual was the fact that the complex was on the lower slopes of Hill 845, right below LZ Vulture and Albers's CP.
