Camp Carroll

Camp Carroll was a United States Marine Corps artillery base during the Vietnam War. It was located at coord|16|45|47|N|106|55|50|E|city (MGRS 48QYD062545), 8 km southwest of the town of Cam Lo. Camp Carroll was also at the centroid of a large arc of the strategic Highway 9 corridor south of the demilitarized zone, which made it a key facility.

History

The camp was named after Captain J.J. Carroll who was the commanding officer of Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. He was killed by friendly fire on October 5, 1966 during Operation Prairie. The camp was commissioned on November 10, 1966 and became home for the 3rd Marine Regiment. It was one of nine artillery bases constructed along the DMZ and had 80 artillery pieces including M107 175mm guns from the United States Army. From a tactical perspective, therefore, the 175mm self-propelled gun was the most important weapon at Camp Carroll. The 175mm guns put Camp Carroll on the map, particularly the tactical maps of the North Vietnamese forward observers. The most powerful American field artillery tube, the 175mm could fire a 150-pound projectile 32,690 meters and effectively return fire on any enemy gun that could hit it.

Camp Carroll diminished in significance after the 1968 Tet Offensive. The 3rd Marine Division began relying on highly mobile postures rather than remaining in their fixed positions as sitting targets. The Marine Corps began pulling out of Vietnam in 1969 as part of President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization Policy.

On April 2, 1972, Lt. Col. Pham Van Dinh surrendered the facility to the North Vietnamese Army. At present the land belongs to Xi Nghiep Ho Tiev Lam, the Vietnamese state-operated pepper enterprise.

Other

Camp Carroll also refers to a U.S. Army camp located in Waegwan, South Korea. It is referred to as "The Crown Jewel of Area 4".

References

* [http://grunt.space.swri.edu/visit/maps/campcar.jpgArmy map of Camp Carroll location]
* [http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/central/brush/Camp-Carroll.htm Big Guns of Camp Carroll] , by Peter Brush
* [http://www.vnafmamn.com/surrender_carroll.html Surrender of Camp Carroll] , vnafmamn.com