Qualla: Operation Colorado https://qualla.com/operation-colorado en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:16 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Colorado https://qualla.com/operation-colorado Operation Colorado: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-colorado/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. The monsoon rains that drench central Vietnam in August do not pause for war. Visibility drops to nothing. Helicopters cannot fly. Artillery cannot be called. And somewhere in the paddyfields near the hamlet of Cam Khe on 10 August 1966, a column of Marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment rounded a bend into a sudden, close-quarters firefight with North Vietnamese forces neither side could see clearly through the downpour. Operation Colorado — a seventeen-day joint search-and-destroy sweep through the Hiệp Đức District — had reached its most brutal afternoon.

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/w6v1-operation-colorado-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Colorado: Planning in the Hiệp Đức Valleys https://qualla.com/operation-colorado/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Major General Lewis J. Fields, commanding the 1st Marine Division, authorized the operation on 30 July 1966. The objective: find and engage the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 2nd Division in the Hiệp Đức and Song Ly Ly river valleys of Quảng Nam Province. The plan had the elegan...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/w6v1-operation-colorado-planning-in-the-hi-p-c-valleys.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Colorado: The Fight at Thach Thuong https://qualla.com/operation-colorado/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. The operation began on 6 August, with helicopters from Marine Aircraft Groups 16 and 36 ferrying troops to their landing zones after preparatory air and artillery strikes. The South Vietnamese Marines made contact almost immediately: on landing, they engaged PAVN forces from the ...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/w6v1-operation-colorado-the-fight-at-thach-thuong.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Colorado: The Rainstorm Fight https://qualla.com/operation-colorado/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. The operation's most violent day came without warning. On 10 August, the 1st Battalion was moving east through the Quế Sơn Valley when it began taking harassment fire at 8:30 in the morning. By mid-afternoon, the column had pushed through the rain to the edge of Cam Khe when appr...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/w6v1-operation-colorado-the-rainstorm-fight.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Colorado: Costs and Conclusions https://qualla.com/operation-colorado/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Three days later, on 13 August, two full PAVN battalions engaged South Vietnamese Marines and ARVN cavalry near Vinh Huy in fighting that lasted the entire day. The South Vietnamese lost 26 dead and 54 wounded; over 140 PAVN bodies were counted when the enemy broke contact at nig...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/v/1/operation-colorado-wp/w6v1-operation-colorado-costs-and-conclusions.mp3 0:06 5 full