Vietnam War on Chu Lai beach search for a defensive position shortly after descending from the landing crafts aboard the USS
Thomaston. June 1965. Navy. Chu Lai was a
United States Marine Corps military base from 1965 to 1970, and a United States Army military base from 1970 to 1971 during the
Vietnam War. Roughly southeast of
Đà Nẵng, the base had an airfield to supplement the major base at Đà Nẵng. It was not named for any local geographic feature, but rather was named by then Major General Victor Krulak using the Mandarin Chinese characters for his own name.
Lieutenant General Victor H. "Brute" Krulak, then the commanding general of
Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.
Da Nang Air Base was the first major airfield used by the
United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Shortly after conventional ground forces began arriving in country in 1965, it became necessary to open a second airfield because of the heavy traffic into and out of Đà Nẵng. On 6 May 1965 units from the ARVN
2nd Division and
3rd Battalion, 9th Marines secured the Chu Lai area. On 7 May, the
3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (3rd
MEB), composed of the
4th Marine Regiment,
3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, elements of
Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) and
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 10 landed at Chu Lai to establish a jet-capable airfield and base area. and subsequently became the headquarters and base area for the
U.S. 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division from September 1967 until November 1971. ==Auto factory==