On the night of February 13, 1967, the 11th Co of the 2nd S. Korean Marine Brigade (Blue Dragons) was occupying a small base near the village of Trah Bin Dong, Vietnam.
That night, two Vietcong regiments hit their position from all directions. The S. Koreans delivered devastating return fire from their bunkers with machine guns and mortar rounds dropped at point-blank range,
As the communists broke through the wire, the outnumbered Marines fought hand to hand, refusing to surrender their positions. One wounded man refused to be taken alive and pulled the pins on a pair of grenades as the communists entered his bunker.
Led by their CO Capt. Chung Kyong Gin, his men eventually pulled back and allowed several hundred Vietcong to break into the camp on purpose.
Then two squads plugged the gap, trapping more than 100 communists inside, who were subsequently killed by bayonets.
By 0730 hours, the Marines had cleared their base and chased the VC back into the jungle with American A4s Skyhawks on their tails.
In all, 254 communists were killed in the assault compared to only 15 S. Koreans deaths.
The S. Korean Government awarded more decorations for the battle than any other action during the Vietnam War, including the first unit-wide promotion of enlisted Marines since the Korean War and awarding the CO and an Lt. with S. Korea's highest award for bravery, the Taeguk Medal (also the only time it was awarded to two individuals in the same battle) #rok #slayers #stayzero #zerofoxtrot