The morning of the 2nd of February in 1966, the battalion rear of the 2d Battalion, 3d Marines was hit by the Viet Cong. The area was protected by a Provisional Company made up of the 1st Battalion, 12th Marines. The Viet Cong fired on the Marines from a nearby village. Naval gun fire and mortars strafed the village and the 1st Platoon of the Provisional Company started a sweep through the area. They captured 12 Viet Cong who were carrying one of their comrades, who had been killed in an air attack, and trying to escape. Marines here are under fire from the village (Defense Department photo by Corporal Jim Hallas).

From the Jonathan F. Abel Collection (COLL/3611) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division