South of Da Nang, South Vietnam, Nov. 25, 1968: An unidentified Marine looks around as he and other members of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment inspect a village.

The company swept through rice paddies and villages on the southeastern cordon of a 15-mil circle, trapping two North Vietnamese Army Battalions in an area near Dien Ban, 10 miles south of Da Nang.

The marines are part of Operation Meade River, a cordon and search operation conducted by several regiments of the 1st Marine Div. and the South Vietnamese army. The operation — which started November 20th and would end December 9th — had American Marines and South Vietnamese troops 7,000 strong systematically tightened a 15-mile circle in the “Dodge City” area south of Da Nang where between 200 and 900 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army were believed to be holed up in caves and dugouts. The nickname “Dodge City” was given due to frequent ambushes, firefights and rocket attacks on U.S. troops. Apart from eliminating those threats, one of the cordon’s other objectives was to kill or capture the estimated 150 Communist administrators [politicians] operating around Dien Ban.