Vietnam War: Operation Dewey Canyon

By Marc Bernstein | Vietnam  | 4 comments  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

Even so, Army Lt. Gen. Richard G. Stilwell, commanding XXIV Corps, of which the 3rd Marine Division was a part, saw ample reason to push for specific authorization from MACV to conduct a cross-border attack. On February 20, he recommended to his superior, Marine Lt. Gen. Robert E. Cushman, commanding III Marine Amphibious Force, that a limited raid into NVA Base Area 611 within Laos, to a depth of five kilometers along a 20-kilometer front, be authorized. Cushman endorsed the proposal and forwarded it to General Creighton W. Abrams at MACV the same day.

While the high command debated the political advisability of an incursion into supposedly neutral Laos, Colonel Barrow was taking matters into his own hands. On the afternoon of February 21, he ordered 2/9’s Company H commander, Captain David F. Winecoff, to set up an ambush that night along Route 922 inside Laos. Winecoff had been in position to observe truck movement on the road, and had called in artillery fire missions on it, but the NVA traffic continued. As Company H was tired from patrolling, Winecoff requested a 24-hour postponement of the ambush operation. Barrow denied the request and further instructed the captain to be back inside South Vietnam by 0630 hours February 22.

After darkness fell, Winecoff took two platoons into Laos toward the road, a distance of over half-a-mile. The men stayed off trails, moving along a creek bed and a ridgeline, trying to minimize the noise of their approach. When they reached a small river running parallel to Route 922, Winecoff sent a platoon commander and a sergeant ahead to reconnoiter for a good ambush site. While waiting for the two scouts to return, the Marines observed more movement along the road. The enemy searched the area with a spotlight but the Marines remained undiscovered.

With a good site finally located, Winecoff sent his men across the stream and 35 meters beyond the road to set up a linear ambush and wait for oncoming traffic. Claymore mines were set out, but a number of vehicles were allowed to pass while the ambush was made ready. Meanwhile, back inside South Vietnam, Barrow sought and obtained approval from Task Force Hotel at Vandegrift for the limited border violation, presenting General Garretson with something of a fait accompli. The North Vietnamese were using Route 922 to move artillery out of reach of the Marine infantry and to continue moving supplies forward, so traffic along the road could be heading either east or west. As Winecoff’s men lay in wait, at 0230 hours on February 22 the lights of eight trucks were seen on the road moving from the west. The first three trucks entered the killing zone, and then the column halted. Winecoff fired his claymore at the second truck, setting it ablaze and killing its occupants. The first truck also started burning and the third vehicle was forced off the road. The Marines poured automatic weapons fire into the hapless NVA trucks and called in artillery. After firing for several more minutes, the Marines moved back across the road and crossed the border back into South Vietnam. The ambush was a success, destroying three trucks and killing eight NVA troops while sustaining no casualties themselves. The III Marine Amphibious Force’s chief of staff exclaimed: “Hit ’em hard! Good news—who knows where the border is anyway?”

The success of the ambush led Colonel Barrow to request a continuation of operations within Laos. A message from General Abrams to III MAF only authorized SOG forces to be in Laos, but the Marines knew that a local commander still had the right to self-defense. Barrow told higher headquarters that “my forces should not be here if ground interdiction of Route 922 [is] not authorized.”

This prompted General Stilwell at XXIV Corps again to request authority from MACV for an advance into Laos “not exceeding two kilometers from the border at any point.” Given the circumstances, Abrams reluctantly agreed to a limited incursion on February 24. Thus, the 2nd Battalion, minus one company, moved into Laos and proceeded to advance eastward along Route 922, staying inside Laos until March 1. Ameri­can Ambassador to Laos William H. Sullivan and the Laotian prime minister were not informed of this border violation until operations were well underway and, fearing possible international political repercussions, Abrams insisted that public discussion of the incursion by subordinates be severely restricted.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to

Tags: Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.