Operations Malheur I and Malheur II
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| Operations Malheur I and Malheur II | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Vietnam War | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
| United States ARVN |
Vietnam People's Army Viet Cong |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| ? | ? | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 81 American | 869 VC and VPA | ||||||
Operation Malheur I and Operation Malheur II were a series of military actions conducted by the United States army during the Vietnam War, from May to August of 1967. The operations involved the devotion of U.S. Army resources to assist United States Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam forces in subduing increased activity by communist forces in the northern part of South Vietnam.
Operation Malheur I began on May 11, 1967 and lasted into July. Malheur II began immediately after the close of the first operation and lasted into August. Both operations focused on search and destroy missions in order to disrupt and destroy Viet Cong guerillas and Vietnam People's Army (VPA, the North Vietnamese army) regular formations in Quang Ngai Province. The operations were successful in disrupting the communist forces, but failed to eradicate them. Communist forces were moving freely in the area again by the end of the year. U.S. forces also distributed in excess of 23 million leaflets in the area.
When the operations closed, the Army reported 869 Viet Cong and VPA soldiers killed, with losses of 81 American troops. The United States Agency for International Development reported 6,400 civilian casualties in the province for 1967, though obviously not all of these could be attributed to the Malheur operations or even to American military action. However, the use of air strikes and artillery during these operations, including napalm, likely played a role in these casualties.
