Qualla: Operation Hawthorne https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne 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/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Hawthorne https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne Operation Hawthorne: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne/ Photo credit U.S. Army Military History Institute (USAMHI), Collection: Marshall, S.L.A. RG124S-S.L.A. Marshall Collection.363, Public domain. The monsoon had already reached Kon Tum Province when the call came in. A South Vietnamese regiment was pinned at Toumorong, northeast of Đắk Tô, and the North Vietnamese Army had used the rains as cover to mass forces across the Central Highlands in numbers that had not been expected. The 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division — the Screaming Eagles — was tasked with the relief. What began as a rescue operation became, over three weeks in June 1966, one of the most intense sustained engagements of the early American ground campaign in Vietnam.

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Image: U.S. Army Military History Institute (USAMHI), Collection: Marshall, S.L.A. RG124S-S.L.A. Marshall Collection.363 | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/w6ss-operation-hawthorne-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Hawthorne: The Highlands in Monsoon https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. The Central Highlands of II Corps were not just terrain — they were a strategic problem. The mountains and dense forests that spread across Kon Tum Province masked a network of supply routes carrying ammunition and troops southward. General William Westmoreland's command had comm...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/w6ss-operation-hawthorne-the-highlands-in-monsoon.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Hawthorne: Contact at Toumorong https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne/ Photo credit US Army Signal Corps, Public domain. On June 3rd, ARVN elements moved north from Đắk Tô by road while the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry was helicoptered into blocking positions. Three days later the Toumorong garrison was relieved — the operation's nominal objective met in under a week. But the North Vietnamese were...

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Image: US Army Signal Corps | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/w6ss-operation-hawthorne-contact-at-toumorong.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Hawthorne: "Lay It Right on Top of Us" https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne/ Photo credit US Army Signal Corps, Public domain. The most harrowing day came on June 9th. Company C of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry was fighting northwest of Toumorong when the situation collapsed around them. They found themselves trapped in a bowl, North Vietnamese forces pressing on three sides, their perimeter in dange...

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Image: US Army Signal Corps | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/w6ss-operation-hawthorne-lay-it-right-on-top-of-us.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Hawthorne: B-52s and the Weight of Numbers https://qualla.com/operation-hawthorne/ Photo credit US Army Signal Corps, Public domain. The final phase of Operation Hawthorne was decided not by infantry but by firepower on a scale that Vietnam would become associated with. On June 10th, fifteen B-52 Stratofortresses dropped 270 tons of bombs on suspected North Vietnamese positions. Three days later, twenty-four B...

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Image: US Army Signal Corps | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/s/s/operation-hawthorne-wp/w6ss-operation-hawthorne-b-52s-and-the-weight-of-numbers.mp3 0:06 5 full