Military history

The Magnificent Bastards: The Joint Army-Marine Defense of Dong Ha, 1968

The Magnificent Bastards: The Joint Army-Marine Defense of Dong Ha, 1968

On April 29, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army is spotted less than four miles from the U.S. Marines’ Dong Ha Combat Base. Intense fighting develops in nearby Dai Do as the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, known as “the Magnificent Bastards,” struggles to eject NVA forces from this strategic position.

Prologue: Wild Bill Weise

PART ONE: SCRUB BRUSH AND SAND DUNES

Chapter 1: Night Owls

Chapter 2: Forged in Fire

Chapter 3: Round One

PART TWO: PIECEMEALED

Chapter 4: A Toehold in Dai Do

Chapter 5: No Free Rides

Chapter 6: High Diddle Diddle, Right Up the Middle

Chapter 7: Surrounded

PART THREE: FIXED BAYONETS

Chapter 8: The Palace Guard

Chapter 9: A Village Too Far

Chapter 10: Bring the Wounded, Leave the Dead

PART FOUR: THE SECOND WAVE

Chapter 11: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Chapter 12: Search and Destroy

Chapter 13: The End of the Line

PART FIVE: MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS

Chapter 14: Disaster

Chapter 15: God, Get Us Out of Here

Chapter 16: We Took a Lot of ’Em With Us

PART SIX: NHI HA

Chapter 17: Black Death and Charlie Tiger

Chapter 18: Alpha Annihilated

Chapter 19: Turning the Tables

Appendix A

Appendix B

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

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