Oceanview was a U.S. Marine

Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) is an Airborne forces, airborne fire support and liaison unit of the United States Marine Corps. The mission of ANGLICO is "To provide Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Commanders a liaison capabili ...

(ANGLICO) observation post located on the coast some 10 km north of the Cua Viet River in Quang Tri Province and just south of the

Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as ...

(DMZ). It was a very isolated spot and could be reached only by

Amtrac The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use "L" to designate Amphibious vessels, also call ...

or helicopter. The primary reasons for its existence were to prevent infiltration of troops through the DMZ into

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Arm ...

and to direct counterbattery fire against People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) artillery. Navy ships would unload supplies at the

Cửa Việt Base Cửa Việt Base (also known as Cửa Việt Combat Base, Cửa Việt Naval Support Activity, Camp Kistler or simply Cửa Việt) is a former U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base north of Qu� ...

and these would be taken up the Cua Viet River to

Đông Hà Combat Base Đông Hà Combat Base (also known as Camp Spillman, Camp Red Devil or simply Đông Hà) is a former U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army base northwest of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam. The base was first used by the 4th Marines in late April ...

. Typically ships would begin to unload and PAVN guns would open fire either from North Vietnam or the DMZ. The observers would calculate the PAVN artillery positions and call in the coordinates to Navy ships and then adjust the rounds onto the target. Oceanview was defended by 32 Marines from the

1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion The Combat Assault Battalion was a mechanized battalion of the United States Marine Corps and subordinate element of the 3rd Marine Division and the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit was last based at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan. Mission ...

, plus 11 Army crewmen manning two

M42 Duster The M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," is an American armored light air-defense gun built for the United States Army from 1952 until December 1960, in service until 1988. Production of this vehicle was performed by the ...

s from 1st Battalion 44th Artillery,

108th Artillery Group 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

at Đông Hà, assigned to the

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together wit ...

. The PAVN attempted to overrun the position at least twice. On 2 August 1968, several squads of PAVN infantry attacked Oceanview, but were driven off by fire from the Amtracs, Dusters and naval gunfire killing eight PAVN. Later that day a platoon of PAVN was seen moving nearby and naval gunfire was again called in, resulting in a further two PAVN killed. On the night of 22 February 1969, an estimated 500 PAVN troops attacked Oceanview. The battleship was on station nearby and it fired 16 inch and 5 inch rounds over a period of six hours to break up the attack.

References

{{Marine Corps Military installations of the United States Marine Corps in South Vietnam Military installations closed in 1969 1968 in Vietnam 1969 in Vietnam Battlefields in Vietnam Buildings and structures in Quảng Trị province