Qualla: Operation Nathan Hale

Operation Nathan Hale: Introduction

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The operation was named for a man who died because he was caught behind enemy lines — a young soldier, hanged as a spy, whose last words have been debated ever since. Whether the name was chosen deliberately for its resonance, no one has recorded. What is clear is that the eleven days of fighting in Phú Yên Province's Trung Luong Valley in June 1966 were among the most costly of the Central Highlands campaign that year, and that the men on both sides who fought there paid a price that the operation reports rendered in numbers.

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla

Operation Nathan Hale: Intelligence and the Valley

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In mid-June 1966, U.S. intelligence identified a significant People's Army of Vietnam force in the Trung Luong Valley, west of Tuy An District in Phú Yên Province. The unit was the 18B Regiment, recently arrived to reinforce the Viet Cong 5th Division. On 18 June, an enemy force ...

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla

Operation Nathan Hale: The Cost of 20 June

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The operation's worst single day came quickly. On 20 June, as Company A of the 2/327th approached the hamlet of Trung Luong 2, it was hit by automatic weapons and mortar fire so concentrated that every officer except the company commander was wounded. The PAVN then charged — clos...

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla

Operation Nathan Hale: Hal Moore Takes Control

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

MGen Larsen turned the operation over to Colonel Hal Moore, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division — the same officer who had led the battalion at Ia Drang the previous November. Moore brought in the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment from Kon Tum, flying them to Don...

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla

Operation Nathan Hale: The Night Attack on Eagle

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 5:40 a.m. on 22 June, the PAVN struck a position called Eagle — where Company B of the 1/8 Cavalry and Company C of the 2/327th had consolidated — with mortars and machine gun fire, then launched a company-sized infantry assault on the west perimeter. The PAVN force broke thro...

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla

Operation Nathan Hale: Aftermath

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Operation Nathan Hale officially concluded on 30 June 1966, after the 1st Brigade joined on 26 June and four battalions swept the valley making only sporadic contact with the remnants of the PAVN force. Total PAVN losses were recorded as 450 killed, with an estimated 300 addition...

Read more: Operation Nathan Hale on Qualla