Defend and Befriend: The U.S. Marine Corps and Combined Action Platoons in Vietnam

Index

197 I Corps, 14, 20, 23, 24, 31, 35, 49, 79, 94, 95, 120; and aggression by American soldiers, 68; American GIs’ lack of understanding of Vietnamese people in, 49; civic action, 82, 84, 85; and Civil Operations, Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS), 26, 109; extending combined action platoons beyond, 40, 41; and the Infantry Company Intensified Pacification Program (ICIPP) and Combined Unit Pacification Program (CUPP), 30; intelligence centers, 97; medical situation, 88–89; and mobile training teams (MTTs), 47; NVA attacks in, 25; and Personal Response Project, 57, 58, 60; PF, 111, 113, 142; regional idiom of, 65; report on American attitudes toward Vietnamese, 55; South Vietnamese pacification teams in, 77; strategic and political importance of, 9–10; and the Tet Offensive, 28, 29; and the U.S. Army, 147; U.S. Marine strategy in, 17–18, 19; U.S. military strategy in, 50, 56, 62, 113, 124, 125, 128–29, 130, 131–33, 136, 138–39, 140, 141, 146 III Corps, 26 IV Corps, 26, 77 III Marine Amphibious Force (IIIMAF), 143; assumes direct operational control over combined action platoons, 24; civic action and, 82, 85; and civil operations, revolutionary development support (CORDS), 26–27, 40; concerns about physical altercations between Marines and Vietnamese civilians, 49; and the creation of the first combined action platoon, 22–23; desire to place a CAP in every I Corps village, 145–46; and the determining factors for creating a combined action platoon, 23–24; dual army–Marine command structure, 132; extending combined action program beyond I Corps, 41; “Golden Fleece” and “County Fair” operations, 20; Infantry Company Intensified Pacification and Combined Unit Pacification Program, 30; mobile training teams (MTTs), 47; participation in Personal Response Project, 57–60; and percentage of Marines in combined action program, 10; and PF recruits, 113; representatives on Joint Coordinating Council (JCC), 19; and strategic differences Index 198 Index III Marine Amphibious Force (cont.) with army, 17–18; strategy in I Corps, 8, 9, 25, 31, 34, 50, 62, 124, 125, 128–31, 136, 138–40, 147; and the Tet Offensive, 28; and Vietnamization, 29; Lewis Walt takes command of, 18 Abrams, Creighton, 34, 38, 140; “one war strategy,” 140–41, 157; and Personal Response Project, 60; and PF training, 112; thoughts on U.S. Marines, 141, 142 advanced infantry training (AIT), 52–53 advisor(s), 26, 60, 119, 120, 139; of civil operations, revolutionary development support (CORDS), 27, 140; medical, 88; of Personal Response Project, 56; and South Vietnamese pacification teams, 77; of territorial forces, 40, 106, 109; U.S. Army Special Forces (SF), 38. See also mobile advisory team (MAT) Akins, John, 114–15 Allnutt, Bruce, and report on CAPs, 65, 87 al-Qaeda, 11 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), 20, 25, 38, 57, 68, 73, 83, 106, 110; battle of Ap Bac, 134, 168n17; Chieu Hoi program, 101; civic action, 82; First ARVN Division, 30, 120; interpreters, 66, 67; Lam Son, 719, 120; pacification, 85, 108; payment of soldiers, 112; search and destroy, 137; soldiers’ morale, 120 Ashe, Robert, 105 Ba To, village of, 44 Ben Hai River, 9 Bennington, Bill, 98 Binh Nghia, village of, 96, 118, 149, 154; CAP commander dismisses Marines, 80–81; entertainment in, 86; PF, 113–14, 118–19; RD cadre in, 109; VC assassination of villager, 96; VC in village, 99; village chief writes letter to dead CAP Marine’s family, 102. See also West, Bing Bobrowsky, Igor, 28, 55, 62, 78, 96, 102 booby traps, 53, 90, 115, 116, 149 boot camp, 2, 52, 66, 77 Bradley, Mark Philip, 52 Brady, Byron, 139 Bunker, Ellsworth, 140 Bush, George W., 11, 147 Calley, William, 4 Cambodia, 37 Camp Pendleton, 62, 90 Caputo, Philip, 54, 55 Central Highlands, 9, 34, 35, 36, 92; strategic importance of, 37; Special Forces in, 42 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 36, 37, 39 Chapman, Leonard, 139 chiefs. See village chiefs Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) campaign, 101–2 Christiansen, Wayne, 89, 90 civic action, 2, 7, 15, 19, 22, 26, 87, 104, 129; in CAP School, 83–84; in CAP villages, 78, 79, 81–82, 83, 136; in Iraq, 148; and the Joint Coordinating Council, 85; in mobile CAPs, 94; nonprofit organizations and CAPs, 84–85; and PF, 120; supply chain, 89; and William Westmoreland, 106 Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), 36, 37, 42–43; Operation Switchback and, 37, 38 Index 199 Civil Operations, Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS), 26, 34, 39, 40...