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were directly responsible for carrying out the ‘plans’ that had come down from ‘on high’. The briefing sessions would often become contentious to the point when the XO or the Battalion Commander would have to intervene by giving a command all Marines understand—“ AS YOU WERE”!!
In one particular briefing session on or about Mar. 15 th. the Col. had informed the Company Commanders of our upcoming operation called ‘Operation Oregon ‘ having met with his immediate staff earlier. The Col. announced that our upcoming operation would be conducted in the same general neighborhood as the one described by Bernard Fall in the book ‘Street Without Joy’ that the French dubbed ‘Operation Camargue’ which was a major battle against the Viet Minh fought along State Route 597 ( named “The Street Without Joy ) wherein the French got their nose bloodied by the Viet Minh Regiment # 95. @45 We proceeded to describe the enemy situation, the terrain which included trenches and bunkers used by the Viet Minh against the French—we described the weather forecast which was not good and finally we got to the Q & A part of the briefing. I was ‘up to bat’ as the Company commanders wanted more details about the enemy—the size, the location, the weapons, etc.—I presented what we knew and offered the info. coming out of Div. HQ and III MAF. The Col. had been given conflicting info. regarding the enemy locations—so conflicting that Col. Sullivan told the Company Commanders that he ” would direct them towards the enemy after we landed—whether that be North , South, East or West! “@46 I was asked for maps of the area—I had none. I informed the company Commanders that we had been trying to locate maps for them but they were not available. The
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