Operation Prairie was a military operation in northern South Vietnam. Its job was to eliminating North Vietnamese Army forces south of the DMZ.
During August, 2nd Battalion 4th Marines

2nd Battalion 4th Marines

2nd Battalion, 4th Marines is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the Magnificent Bastards, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and are a part of the 5th Marine Regiment and 1st Marine Division.-Early years:2nd Battalion, 4th...

 , 3rd Battalion 4th Marines

3rd Battalion 4th Marines

3rd Battalion, 4th Marines is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "Thundering Third" it is known within the battalion as "Darkside" and the radio callsigns of the command and staff reflect this moniker. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center...

 and other units saw heavy fighting with the NVA 324B division. Prairie was a string of battles that was fought in the foothills south of the DMZ. Some of these areas were called: Mutter's Ridge, the Razorback, Hill 400, Hill 484 and The Rockpile

The Rockpile

The Rockpile , known in Vietnamese as Thon Khe Tri, is a karst rock outcropping near the former DMZ of South Vietnam. It rises to an elevation of 240 m MSL, about 210 m above the surrounding terrain...

.
The Commander of E Company 2nd Battalion 4th Marines, Capt. Howard V. Lee

Howard V. Lee

Lieutenant Colonel Howard Vincent Lee is a retired United States Marine Corps officer who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in August 1966 during the Vietnam War.-Biography:Howard Lee was born on August 1, 1933, in New York City...

 was awarded the Medal of Honor for his outstanding bravery during this operation.

See also

• Operation Hastings
  Operation Hastings
  Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. The operation was a qualified success in that it pushed the North Vietnamese Army forces back across the Demilitarized Zone . As the NVA clearly did not feel constrained by the "demilitarized" nature of the DMZ, US military...