The Rockpile
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The Rockpile
The Rockpile (also known as Elliot Combat Base) and known in Vietnamese as Thon Khe Tri, is a solitary karst rock outcropping north of Route 9 and south of the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Its relatively inaccessible location, reached only by helicopter, made it an important United States Army and US Marine Corps observation post and artillery base from 1966 to 1969. Geography The Rockpile is located in Vietnam approximately from the southernmost boundary of the DMZ and west of Dong Ha. A Marine reconnaissance team described the cone shaped as a "toothpick-type mountain stuck out in the middle of an open area with a sheer cliff straight up and down". The mountain rises almost from the Cam Lo River bottom and sits astride several major infiltration routes from North Vietnam and Laos. The visually dominating figure, which would come to be a familiar landmark for soldiers fighting the war for the DMZ, sits just one kilometer from the vital Route 9. Impressive ...
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Mutter's Ridge
Mutter's Ridge was the name given by U.S. Marines to the Núi Cây Tre ("Bamboo Mountain") ridge, in Quảng Trị Province. The ridge was formed by Hills 461, 484 and 400 and overlooked the southern edge of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to the north and Route 9 to the south. The ridge was contested between the Marines and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) starting with Operation Prairie in August 1966 and was named for the radio callsign of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines which secured the ridge in September/October 1966. From 1966-1969 the Marines variously established and abandoned bases along the ridge to support operations against the PAVN, including Landing Zone Mack on Hill 484, Landing Zone Margo and Landing Zone Sierra. It is on this ridge that Larry Burrows Henry Frank Leslie Burrows (29 May 1926 – 10 February 1971), known as Larry Burrows, was an English photojournalist. He spent 9 years covering the Vietnam War. Early career Burrows began his car ...
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Army Of The Republic Of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It is estimated to have suffered 1,394,000 casualties (killed and wounded) during the Vietnam War. The ARVN began as a postcolonial army that was trained by and closely affiliated with the United States and had engaged in conflict since its inception. Several changes occurred throughout its lifetime, initially from a 'blocking-force' to a more modern conventional force using helicopter deployment in combat. During the American intervention, the ARVN was reduced to playing a defensive role with an incomplete modernisation, and transformed again following Vietnamization, it was upgeared, expanded, and reconstructed to fulfill the role of the departing American forces. By 1974, it had become much more effective with foremost counterinsurgency expert and Nixon advi ...
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Operation Hastings
Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. The operation was a qualified success in that it pushed the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces back across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As the PAVN clearly did not feel constrained by the "demilitarized" nature of the DMZ, US military leadership ordered a steady build-up of U.S. Marines near the DMZ from 1966 to 1968. Background During late June and early July 1966, Marine reconnaissance units operating south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) had observed and engaged increased numbers of uniformed regular PAVN troops. On 6 July, troops of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 1st Division captured a PAVN soldier near The Rockpile who identified himself as being from the 812th Regiment of the 324B Division and advised that the other regiments of the division had also moved into South Vietnam. On 9 July a lieutenant from the 812th Regiment surrendered in the same area and advised that the 324B Di ...
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The Rockpile Looking West Towards Khe Sanh, January 1968
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun '' thee'') when followed by a ...
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Cam Lo Combat Base
Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the binding of Ca2+ is required for the activation of calmodulin. Once bound to Ca2+, calmodulin acts as part of a calcium signal transduction pathway by modifying its interactions with various target proteins such as kinases or phosphatases. Structure Calmodulin is a small, highly conserved protein that is 148 amino acids long (16.7 kDa). The protein has two approximately symmetrical globular domains (the N- and C- domains) each containing a pair of EF hand motifs separated by a flexible linker region for a total of four Ca2+ binding sites, two in each globular domain. In the Ca2+-free state, the helices that form the four EF-hands are collapsed in a compact orientation, and the central linker is disordered; in the Ca2+-saturated state, th ...
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Camp Carroll
Camp Carroll (also known as Artillery Plateau, Firebase Tan Lam and Hill 241) was a United States Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) artillery base during the Vietnam War. It was located 8 km southwest of Cam Lộ, Quang Tri Province. Camp Carroll was also at the centroid of a large arc of the strategic Highway 9 corridor south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which made it a key facility. History 1966–70 The 3rd Marine Division had overall command and control of the DMZ area. The camp was commissioned on November 10, 1966 (aka Camp J. J. Carroll) and became home for the 3rd Marine Regiment. The camp was named after Navy Cross recipient Captain James J. Carroll, who was the commanding officer of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, and was killed by friendly tank fire on October 5, 1966 during Operation Prairie. It was one of nine artillery bases constructed along the DMZ and had 80 artillery pieces including M107 175mm guns ...
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Ca Lu Combat Base
Ca Lu Combat Base (Vietnamese: ''Cà Lu'') was an Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It is estimated to have suf ... (ARVN) and United States Marine Corps base located on Highway or National Road 9 (Vietnam), Route 9, near Krông Klang, Đa Krông District, western Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. The base was originally established by the ARVN to cover the infiltration route across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) through the Cam Lo river valley. The base was taken over by the 3rd Marine Division during Operation Virginia in April 1966 by the 4th Marine Regiment, with three 105mm howitzers, a command group and a security force were positioned there. By February 1967, six 105mm howitzers operated by the 12th Marine Regiment were located at Ca Lu, with ...
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Khe Sanh Combat Base
Khe Sanh Combat Base (also known as Ta Con) was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War. History US Army Special Forces (Detachment A-101, Company C, 5th Special Forces Group) constructed a camp with airfield outside the village of Khe Sanh in July 1962. It served as an outpost of the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups. Its purpose was to keep watch on People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) infiltration along the border and to protect the local population. In January 1966 the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) attacked the camp with 120 mm mortars and intelligence indicated that a PAVN buildup was taking place in the area. In March MACV instructed the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) to plan a one-battalion security operation around the camp. On 27 March 3rd Marine Division commander MG Wood B. Kyle ordered the 4th Marine Regiment at Phu Bai Combat Base to deploy the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and suppor ...
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Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà. During the Vietnam War, the Khe Sanh Combat Base was located to the north of the city. The Battle of Khe Sanh The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January – 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSC ... took place there. The Khe Sanh Combat Base is a museum where relics of the war are exhibited. Most of the former base is now overgrown by wilderness or coffee and banana plants. References Communes of Quảng Trị province District capitals in Vietnam Townships in Vietnam {{QuangTri-geo-stub ...
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South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around . It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan (e.g. the Mindoro and Balabac Straits), the Strait of Malacca via the Singapore Strait, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are also part of the South China Sea. The shallow waters south of the Riau Islands are also known as the Natuna Sea. The South China Sea is a region of tremendous economic and geostrategic importance. One-third of the world's maritime shipp ...
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