 Some have pointed with justifiable pride and called him the new breed of fighting man But if breeding is to be consistent if it's to mean anything Then this is the same man that what a shore at Iwo Jima glottal canal in China and Only yesterday at the Batongan Peninsula in South Vietnam History has dictated few changes in the life of the United States Marine His primary mission is still the winning of the battle The battle is the culmination of months and years of preparation Suddenly all of those seemingly small isolated moments of rigorous training are funneled into a few days a few hours when mobility firepower and leadership Must take on a definitive pattern within the framework of a calculated risk a Pattern that not only acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy But also the time and the place where he can be defeated The time oh six thirty September the seventh 1965 Mission operation piranha a four-day search and destroy action by combined United States and Vietnamese military forces Against a suspected stronghold of 2,000 vietcong gorillas on the twin peninsulas of Batongan and on key 20 miles south of July For the man of the first battalion seventh regiment this was the sort of operation for which all Marines are qualified born of time Necessity and circumstance and Nurtured to near-perfection under fire during the Pacific campaign of World War two The amphibious assault has become the trademark of the Navy Marine Corps team a symbol of their role in America's combat readiness But even before the first battalion had begun to assemble at its debarking stations at sea The men of the third battalion seventh were forming up into copter of portion sticks Reloading at a hastily constructed helipad near the outskirts of July This was the vertical envelopment doctrine in operation Utilizing three centrally controlled helicopter squadrons the men of the third battalion were airlifted to landing zone oak Strip the elevated ground running across the twin throats of Batongan and on key From here they would act as a blocking force to the retreating vietcong as the first battalion began its push from the beach With the completed landing of the first wave of Marines 16 of the choppers broke away from landing zone oak and sped 10 miles south to the Republic of Vietnam stronghold at Quangai There they began the hella lift of two Vietnamese battalions to landing zones Pine and Virch Located on the far side of the song chow mein dong river By oh nine forty five The vertical envelopment was completed and the stranglehold across the wind pipes of Batongan and on key Stretched for a full eight miles By late morning advanced marine patrols had already moved in from the beach to their first objectives And others formed up ready to follow on the outskirts of villages like chow mein one Civilians were quickly gathered together for safe transportation behind the marine lions and as they moved off The Marines stopped small groups and asked the same question over and over again Where are the vietcong? The answer that came back was always the same They're gone. They left before you came The expected vietcong resistance at the beaches had never materialized And now even further inland only scattered sniper fire broke This was the penalty that the Marines had to pay for their own efficiency The very strength of United States firepower that had won so many victories in the past had driven the vietcong to cover or full retreat The possibility of any single big contact was going to be harder and harder to come by As night fell on their first day ashore the Marines dug in and waited Finally the word came back Only four vietcong killed six captured 48 suspects being held It was evident that an old familiar pattern of battle was taking shape The Marines had seen it before at places like Iwo Jima, Saipan and Guadalcanal Three of the four vietcong killed on the previous day had been flushed from a cave This could mean only one thing The vietcong were there all right, but they'd have to be dug and blasted out One key to the search and destroy operation was the jet hot pad at Chulal Standing on strip alert Marine attack jets were only minutes away from a platoon leader's radioed call for an airstrike With almost any lethal combination of weapons he might want or need from 20 millimeter aircraft cannon and high-velocity rockets or bombs to Bullpup missiles for the first time in Marine Corps history Control of the air support elements was handled by Marines circling above the battlefield at 18,000 feet In the past the DASC or direct Air Support Center during such operations has been located on a communication ship lying offshore This time a KC Hercules was outfitted to do the job It's crews monitored requests from ground forces and assigned aircraft to requested strike areas But if the innovations of the jet airstrike and DASC were important to the success of the piranha campaign The backbone of the attack was still the man on the ground the man with the singular philosophy embodied in the words leadership and discipline Combat is a test of courage and endurance a forced inbreeding that teaches the individual to respond to a command under any condition It's a disciplined struggle for life Hinging upon the absolute control of those who command and the unswerving loyalty of those who follow By the end of the second day the Marines had confirmed 70 vietcong killed four captured By the end of the third day the vietcong resistance was broken one by one the caves were opened up and the enemy rotted out When the smoke had cleared over one hole the Marines discovered to their amazement a limestone cavern over six feet high and 250 feet long Healed it up the bodies of 66 dead vietcong At that time it was the largest single kill made by the Marines since their arrival in vietnam By September the 10th. It was all over Batangan and Anki were secure four-day total 198 vietcong killed 38 enemy captured 265 vc suspects detained the cost One Marine dead eight wounded While several elements of the Marine assault team were being withdrawn to another battle area west of Danang Others remained behind For while the Marines had completed their primary mission had won the battle there was still a further American responsibility the villagers needed food medical supplies and continuing protection They needed assurance that they were realizing the beginnings of justice For without justice Security and self-dependency would never arrive All Americans in vietnam both military and civilian know there's more than a fighting mission for them in their support of the embattled Republic of vietnam They have heard and understand the words of president Johnson who said a Nation cannot be built by armed power or by political agreement It will rest on the expectation by individual men and women That their future will be better than their past When the final battle is won in vietnam