Beacon Point/Fremont/BallisticCharge/Shelbyville
(1 - 9 September 1967, & 16 - 28 September 1967)
On 1 September SLF Alpha landed in Thua Thien Province on Operation Beacon Point for a southerly sweep of the by-now all too familiar "Street Without Joy." Snipers and surprise firing devices were the only resistance encountered. At 1800 on 4 September, Lieutenant Colonel Kapetan's HMM-362 detached from the SLF and reverted to MAG- 16 control. Fortunately, the lack of enemy activity did not subject the BLT to the full impact of the loss of its assigned helicopters. The most tangible result of Beacon Point was the evacuation or destruction of more than 35 tons of Viet Cong rice. After the BLT marched to an assembly area near Camp Evans on 5 September, Operation Beacon Point concluded at 0600 on the 6th.
Later that morning BLT 1/3 phased into Operation Fremont, again under the operational control of the 4th Marines. Elements of the battalion trucked to their blocking and screening positions south of Quang Tn. As during Beacon Point, snipers were the only active enemy troops.
A solution to SLF Alpha's helicopter needs occur red on 8 September. Lieutenant Colonel Walter C. Kelly's HMM- 163, UH-34D equipped, reported on board the USS Okinawa just in time to prepare for the following day's extraction. SLF Alpha dropped out of Fremont on 9 September.
One week later, on the 16th, BLT 1 / 3 landed again. Operation Ballistic Charge involved a simultaneous heliborne and surface assault of an objective area four miles southeast of Dai Loc. The operation consisted of a rapid sweep to the north followed by a detailed search and destroy sweep to the south along the track of the first northward move. Again, opposition consisted of Communist snipers, but during Ballistic Charge the battalion did detain 55 suspects and three confirmed prisoners.
When Ballistic Charge ended on the 22nd, BLT 1/3 shifted to the operational control of the 1st Marines for Operation Shelbyville. BLT 1/3's involvement started with a heliborne assault from the Ballistic Charge AOA to a landing zone four miles southeast of Dai Loc, close to the original Ballistic Charge objective area. While the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines occupied blocking positions to the east, and the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines blocked to the south, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred I. Thomas' BLT 1 / 3 swept the operational area in an easterly direction. Sniper fire was the only enemy response.
On 25 September, the BLT reversed its axis of advance and, after a night movement, crossed the railroad tracks paralleling Route 1 on the morning of the 26th. The 3d Battalion, 5th Marines was on the BLT's left during the advance. Late that afternoon, Company B had a brief firefight with an enemy company, but friendly artillery fire put a quick end to the engagement for SLF Bravo. Subsequent action remained limited to sniper fire. On the 28th the BLT marched out of the operating area to the Liberty Bridge, and then moved by trucks to Da Nang where it re-embarked. CTG 79.4 assumed operational control of SLF Alpha at 1715, 28 September. September was not a spectacular month for SLF Alpha. Twenty-two operational days resulted in 26 Communists killed, 3 prisoners, and 108 detainees. To achieve this, eight Marines gave their lives and another 97 sustained wounds.
ECHO
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Paul Marquis
Web Master
