Wunder Beach (also known as Wonder Beach, Utah Beach and Sunder Beach) is a former U.S. Army logistics and supply base along the coast east of
Quảng Trị
Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà.
History
The Sino-Vietnamese name Qu ...
and northwest of
Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
.
History
The U.S. first established a base known as Utah Beach on 2 March 1968 to support the
Tet Counteroffensive. The base was located on the coast at Thon Me Thuy, 16 km east of Quảng Trị and 40 km northwest of Huế.
The base was developed as a ship offloading and logistics facility operated by the
159th Transport Battalion to support the operations of the
1st Cavalry Division and later the
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
.
[
Other units based here included:
*]14th Engineer Battalion
The 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion is a Combat Engineer Battalion of the United States Army based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The battalion is a subordinate unit of the 2nd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and I Corps. The b ...
* 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry
* 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines
On 24 April 1968 the positions of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines at Wunder Beach were hit by 11-15 rounds of 5" naval gunfire from killing two Marines.
On 24 May 1972 during the Easter Offensive
The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive ('' vi, Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972'') by North Vietnam, or the red fiery summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted b ...
the Republic of Vietnam Marine Division
The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (RVNMD, vi, Sư Đoàn Thủy Quân Lục Chiến QLC was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which be ...
's 147th Marine Brigade conducted an amphibious assault onto Wunder Beach before returning several days later to the Mỹ Chánh Line 10km to the south.
Current use
The base has been turned over to housing and farmland. In recent times, a South Korean infrastructure developer has undertaken a deepwater seaport development project on this plot of land, called My Thuy International Port. The Port upon completion will have 10 berths, and will be constructed in 3 phases.[ Construction of My Thuy Port begins in Quang Tri. VNA. Thursday, February 27, 2020 https://en.vietnamplus.vn/construction-of-my-thuy-port-begins-in-quang-tri/169299.vnp]
References
{{reflist
Buildings and structures in Quảng Trị province
Installations of the United States Army in South Vietnam