Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. The operation was a qualified success in that it pushed the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces back across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As the PAVN clearly did not feel constrained by the "demilitarized" nature of the DMZ, US military leadership ordered a steady build-up of U.S. Marines near the DMZ from 1966 to 1968.
Marines of Company H, 2/4th Marines take to the water as they move to join up with other elements of their battalion.
CH-46 from HMM-265 trailing smoke and flame after being hit by PAVN anti-aircraft artillery. The helicopter crashed and exploded upon impact, killing 13 Marines
3/4 Marines assault uphill following airstrikes
Company G, 4th Marine Regiment attack uphill
The Rockpile and known in Vietnamese as Núi Một, is a solitary karst rock outcropping north of Route 9 and south of the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Its relatively inaccessible location, reached only by helicopter, made it an important United States Army and US Marine Corps observation post and artillery base from 1966 to 1969.
Photograph of the Rockpile and surrounding terrain from 2010
The southeastern side of the Rockpile as seen from Route 9
The Rockpile looking west towards Khe Sanh, January 1968
MG Raymond Davis firing the "Georgia Fireball", an M107 self-propelled gun, at the Rockpile in 1969
