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Vietnam War Civic Action Program Operation County Fair Xd30324 (1967)

1967 · Short film · 13 min

  • War
  • Action
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Synopsis

Made during the Vietnam War, this 1967 Marine Corps documentary presents "Operation County Fair". County Fair was a civic action program intended to clear Vietcong from villages while helping support villagers. As part of that they were supposed to receive medical care, fed, entertained and protected by the Marines. Like most of the civic action programs during the war, County Fair had a mixed outcome. The Vietnamese often welcomed the Marines into their villages, but lived in fear of the moment they would depart and the Viet Cong will return and exact retribution for their co-operation. County Fair operations began before dawn, with the Vietnamese forces and the Marines surrounding and sealing off a target village. No one got in or out. A set of announcements over a PA system informed everyone of what was about to happen. The Marines gathered the village inhabitants into a central location and took a head count and checked their government issued identification cards. While the villagers were absent from their homes, a team went into the village and searched through houses, tunnels, bomb shelters, and animal pens. As seen at 7:30, a group of Marines known as the Blocking Force searches for V.C. while the village is occupied. They looked for caches of weapons, hiding Viet Cong, radio equipment, or other contraband items. Anyone found in the village was questioned. The villagers in the holding area received a hot meal, inoculations against disease, and were invited to see…

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Details

Running time
13 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

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