Rocks and Fists:: Decimating the 141st NVA Regiment

Vietnam was a war of footnotes for many who fought there, devoid of famous battles or well-known campaigns. But the combat that was the everyday lot of the Marine infantryman could be just as deadly and intense. So it was for the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (3/7) in the days preceding and including Tet 1969. After five days of close-quarters fighting with rifle butts, CS tear gas and “mostly rocks and fists," as one zealous Marine described it, the 141st Regiment of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was decimated. This is the story of those few days in late February and early March 1969 when two regiments-one American and one North Vietnamese-clashed with an intensity that resulted in numerous awards for bravery, including a Medal of Honor, for Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.