When two understrength Marine companies pushed north along Highway 561 on the morning of July 2, 1967, they walked straight into hell. Alpha and Bravo Companies of 1st Battalion, 9th Marines—numbering nearly 400 men—were about to face what would become the worst single day for Marines in the entire Vietnam War.
The ambush near a place called “The Market Place” nearly obliterated both companies. North Vietnamese forces used flamethrowers for the first time in the war, forcing Marines into the open where artillery, mortars and small arms cut them down. By nightfall, 84 Marines lay dead, 190 were wounded, and nine were missing.
It was Operation Buffalo—just one brutal fight in a war that would give 1st Battalion, 9th Marines the darkest distinction in Marine Corps history.
47 Months of Combat: The Walking Dead Earn Their Name
The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines arrived in Vietnam in June 1965 as part of the early troop surge. By August, they were already engaged in offensive combat operations during Operation Blastout, a search-and-clear mission south of Da Nang. Within their first year, the battalion conducted hundreds of company-sized or larger missions, losing over 100 Marines killed in action.
The battalion rotated out briefly in October 1966, but returned in December to face an escalating conflict. They deployed to areas near the Demilitarized Zone that Marines grimly dubbed “Leatherneck Square” for the staggering casualties sustained there. Marines referred to their duty there as “time in the barrel.” As casualties mounted, they began calling the DMZ the “Dead Marine Zone.”
The battalion would spend 47 months and seven days in sustained combat in Vietnam. It was first deployed from June 15, 1965, to Oct. 19, 1966, then returned on a permanent basis from Dec. 11, 1966, to July 14, 1969. This represented the longest combat deployment of any Marine battalion during the war as Marines cycled through on 13-month tours.
Of the 2,892 Marines and Navy corpsmen who passed through the unit, 747 were killed in action—a casualty rate of 25.89 percent. It remains the highest KIA rate of any Marine battalion in history.
“No one wants to go to that battalion,” a personnel officer reportedly told then-1st Lt. Wesley Fox when he requested assignment to 1/9 in 1968. “Secondly, if you do—regardless of rank—stick around long enough, you’ll end up the commander.”
The battalion’s nickname has disputed origins, though most accounts point to North Vietnamese leadership. Some rumors suggest the Marines of 1/9 killed Ho Chi Minh’s nephew in combat—he wanted revenge. According to historians, North Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap allegedly promised he would annihilate the battalion as a birthday present to the North Vietnamese leader. His use of the term “Di Bo Chet,” translated as “The Walking Dead,” suggested the Marines should be considered dead already—just not yet buried.
Rather than wince at the name, the Marines of 1/9 embraced it. “They never got the job done,” Charlie Company Marine Jim Stogner would later say. Stogner later earned the Navy Cross for killing several NVA soldiers with his knife during an ambush. If the enemy saw them as dead men walking, they would prove that even the dead could still fight.
Operation Buffalo: The Bloodiest Day for the Marines in Vietnam
Gen. Giap’s ambush against the Marines on July 2, 1967, highlighted the brutality 1/9 faced throughout the war. As Alpha and Bravo companies moved north near Con Thien, North Vietnamese forces from the 90th Regiment, 324B Division, triggered a multi-directional ambush that virtually wiped out both units.
The enemy’s use of flamethrowers created a hellish scene as burning vegetation forced Marines into open killing zones. A single North Vietnamese artillery round exploded within Bravo Company’s headquarters group, wiping out the entire command element. Machine guns and snipers cut down any Marine who stood up to return fire.
Lt. Col. Richard Schening, commanding 1/9 at Con Thien, faced a dire situation. By mid-afternoon, he radioed the 9th Marine Regiment to report that all his companies were hard-pressed, he had no units left to commit, and the situation was critical. He dispatched Charlie and Delta companies with four tanks in a rescue mission, but heavy fire slowed their advance.
Marines fought through the afternoon to reach the survivors. When the shooting stopped, the toll from just that first day was staggering: 84 Marines killed, 190 wounded, nine missing—almost all from Alpha and Bravo companies.
Lance Cpl. Derl Horn, a mortarman with Bravo Company, survived the ambush and later chronicled the battalion’s ordeal in his book “Blood, Sweat and Honor: Memoirs of a ‘Walking Dead’ Marine in Vietnam.”
Marines who arrived days later to recover bodies found some of the missing had been shot at point-blank range. Others were booby-trapped. Some had been mutilated.
Operation Buffalo continued for nearly two weeks. By the time it ended on July 14, the entire operation had cost 159 Marines killed and 845 wounded.
Operation Kingfisher followed immediately in the same general area, lasting through October 1967. During this operation in Leatherneck Square, Marine forces suffered another 340 killed and more than 1,400 wounded, with 1/9 bearing most of the casualties.
Operation Prairie III and a Sergeant’s Sacrifice
Just three months before Operation Buffalo, the battalion witnessed extraordinary heroism during another brutal engagement.
On March 24, 1967, during Operation Prairie III in the Gio Linh District, Sgt. Walter K. Singleton’s Company A came under intense small-arms, automatic-weapons, rocket and mortar fire from a well-entrenched enemy force near the village of Phu An.
Singleton, serving as supply sergeant, was in a relatively safe position in the rear. But seeing his lead platoon taking heavy casualties, he moved forward through the enemy killing zone, making numerous trips to evacuate wounded Marines.
Noting that a large part of the enemy fire was coming from the tree-line, he seized a machine gun and assaulted the position, delivering devastating fire as he charged. He forced his way through the vegetation directly into the enemy strong point.
Although mortally wounded, Singleton’s fearless attack killed eight enemy soldiers and drove the remainder from the field, completely disorganizing their ambush and saving the lives of many Marines.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius presented the medal to his parents on Sept. 4, 1968, at a ceremony at the Marine Barracks in Washington.
Khe Sanh: 77 Days Under Siege
In January 1968, the battalion reinforced Khe Sanh Combat Base just as North Vietnamese forces launched one of the war’s most infamous sieges. The 1st Battalion, 9th Marines arrived Jan. 22, joining roughly 6,000 Marines and South Vietnamese troops who would endure 77 days of daily shelling and close combat.
North Vietnamese artillery fired up to 1,300 rounds daily. Marines defended not just the base but the surrounding hills, fighting off repeated assaults. One of the battalion’s toughest battles during the siege occurred when they were tasked with charging up Hill 689. They drove the NVA off the hill at the cost of over 30 casualties.
The siege was lifted on April 8 with Operation Pegasus. Official Marine casualties for the siege reached 205 killed and 1,662 wounded across all units at Khe Sanh.
After the siege ended, 1/9 continued operations in the area through Operation Scotland II, which lasted until February 1969. That operation alone cost 435 Marines killed across all participating units.
Operation Dewey Canyon: The Last Major Offensive
In early 1969, the battalion participated in Operation Dewey Canyon, the Marine Corps’ last major offensive in Vietnam. The operation pushed into the A Shau Valley and areas near the DMZ, targeting North Vietnamese Base Area 611.
On Feb. 22, 1969, 1st Lt. Wesley Fox’s Company A, moving through dense jungle, came under intense fire from a concealed enemy force. Fox, already wounded by shrapnel to his shoulder, maneuvered under fire to assess the situation and coordinate with his platoon leaders.
When his executive officer was mortally wounded and another lieutenant injured, Fox found himself the only officer capable of leading. He reorganized his company and directed his men as they hurled grenades against the enemy and drove them away. He called in artillery and airstrikes as he led his men against enemy strongpoints.
Wounded a second time, Fox refused medical attention. He established a defensive position and supervised the evacuation of his casualties. His company killed 105 enemy soldiers that day but lost 11 Marines.
President Richard Nixon awarded Fox the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on March 2, 1971. Fox, who had risen through enlisted ranks in Korea before becoming an officer at age 35, would serve another 22 years and retire as a colonel in 1993.
Operation Dewey Canyon lasted from January through March 1969. The entire 9th Marine Regiment received a Presidential Unit Citation for the operation. Across all participating units, the Marines suffered 130 killed and 932 wounded.
The Walking Dead’s Legacy in Vietnam
The battalion’s service record includes most of Vietnam’s bloodiest operations: Buffalo, Leatherneck Square, Dewey Canyon, Khe Sanh, and dozens more.
Sgt. Walter K. Singleton and 1st Lt. Wesley Fox both earned the Medal of Honor while serving with 1/9 in Vietnam. Marines of the battalion also earned numerous Navy Crosses and Silver Stars for their actions during the war. The battalion itself earned 13 unit commendations for its service during the war.
The Walking Dead left Vietnam in 1969 for Okinawa, having participated in 44 major operations. The battalion then rotated between Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Hansen, Okinawa, through the 1980s and early 1990s before being deactivated in 1994 as part of post-Cold War force reductions.
As Marine veteran John Musgrave, who served with 1/9, would later reflect, the battalion “fought near nonstop battles and is believed to have lost more men than any other American unit fighting in Vietnam.”
For 1/9’s Marines, the battalion nickname was a sign of defiance, not defeat. Their experiences in Vietnam are some of the clearest examples of sustained sacrifice that few military units have ever suffered.
The Walking Dead’s colors would be cased for a decade. But their story was far from over.
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