1966-7 transports a
3rd Tank Battalion M48 up the Dong Ha River, 6 July 1967 The base was located at the mouth of the Cửa Việt/
Thạch Hãn River approximately 16 km north of Quảng Trị and only approximately 10 km south of the
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The base was first established by the
3rd Marine Division in 1966 as a logistics and support base for Marine units along the DMZ and particularly the
Đông Hà Combat Base once the Cửa Việt/Thạch Hãn River had been dredged to allow passage for
LCUs. In February 1967 the
12th Marines stationed 6
LVTH-6 at the base. On 18 March an
LST ramp opened at the base allowing supplies to be transhipped on LCUs and
LCMs to Đông Hà. On 16 May the base was hit
People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) rocket and artillery fire resulting in 5 Marines killed. On 21 February 1969 at 03:15 a U.S. Navy LCM-6 tied up at the base was damaged by an explosion, killing one sailor. At 04:00 two other LCMs were damaged by explosions. At 04:20 an explosive ordnance team detonated another satchel charge attached to an LCM and at 05:48 another explosion hit an LCM. U.S. Navy personnel saw a swimmer in the water and fired on him and at dawn found a dead North Vietnamese swimmer wearing Soviet scuba gear. In September 1969 as part of
Operation Keystone Cardinal the 3rd Marine Division began its withdrawal from Vietnam. The 4th Marines assumed responsibility for the Cua Viet area from the 3rd Marines, before departing from Cua Viet themselves on 22 October. As the ongoing peace negotiations would soon lead to a ceasefire, the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff sought the most advantageous battlefield positions possible and so ordered a further effort to regain the south bank of the Cam Lộ/Cửa Việt River. During the
1975 Spring Offensive, the PAVN moved the 66th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 202nd Armored Brigade by rail to
Vinh and then by ship to Cửa Việt. ==References==