United States Marine Reconnaissance in the Vietnam War

Leo J. Daugherty III is the Senior Command Historian for the United States Army Cadet Command in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Glossary of Termsxiii

Preface

Introduction

 1. Birth of a Concept: The Origins of Marine Force Reconnaissance (1898–1943)

 2. Amphibious Reconnaissance Company Goes to War (1943–1945)

 3. Reconstitution and Expansion: Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance (1946–1963)

 4. Vietnam: The Early Years (1963–1964)

 5. “Land the Landing Force”: Recon Goes to War (1965–1967)

 6. “The Year of the Offensive”: 1st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion in Action (1966–1967)

 7. “Anatomy of a Reconnaissance Patrol”

 8. The Year of the Offensive: Recon and the Fight for the Hills (1967)

 9. “Some Hard Fighting”: Marine Reconnaissance and the Year of Tet (1968)

10. The Eyes and Ears of the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions: Reconnaissance from the Air

11. High Mobility and Standdown: Recon’s War (1969–1970)

12. Redeployment and Deactivation (1969–1970)

13. “A War by Detachments”: U.S. Army ­Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrols in Vietnam (1966–1973)

14. “Ghost Soldiers” and “Sea Commandos”: Marine Recon’s War in Vietnam (1963–1971)

Appendix A: Marine Reconnaissance Equipment

Appendix B: The Medal of Honor Citation for 1st Lieutenant Frank Reasoner, USMC

Appendix C: Summary of Event Concerning VC Contact 21–22, 1966

Appendix D: The Strategic Importance of An Hoa Combat Base

Appendix E: “A Reconnaissance Patrol in ‘Happy Valley’ by ‘Killer Kane’ 1st Force Reconnaissance Company by 2nd Lieutenant Andrew R. Finlayson, USMC, Commander, 5th Platoon, 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, III MAF”

Appendix F: Lessons from Marine Recon’s War in Vietnam: Colonel Andrew R. Finlayson, USMC (Ret.)

Appendix G: Weapons of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army

Appendix H: Reflections of a Reconnaissance Marine—Lieutenant Colonel Berwick Babin, USMC (Ret.), 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company (1967–1969)

Appendix I: “My Story”: One Reconnaissance Marine’s War in Vietnam—Sergeant William Moss and Team Atlas

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index