Operation PRAIRIE Begins

August 3, 1966

Overview

Operation PRAIRIE I is the first of four operations of the same name lasting until late May 1967. In the wake of Operation HASTINGS, U.S. Marines conduct reconnaissance patrols in northern Quang Tri Province. PRAIRIE’s objective is to prevent North Vietnamese forces from reestablishing bases of operations south of the DMZ. Marine infantry, reinforced by tanks, artillery, and air support, engage the North Vietnamese 324B Division in heavy fighting. They encounter an aggressive enemy and stiff resistance from North Vietnamese troops dug in on difficult terrain. The first Operation PRAIRIE will continue until January 31, 1967.¹

¹Jack Shulimson, An Expanding War, 1966, U.S. Marines in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1982), 177, 198, 312; Gary L. Telfer, Land Rogers, and V. Keith Fleming, Jr., Fighting the North Vietnamese, 1967, U.S. Marines in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: US Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1984), 3, 9; Spencer C. Tucker, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History, (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 929; Willard Pearson, The War in the Northern Provinces, 1966–1968, Vietnam Studies (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1975), 11–12.