Operation Lincoln (Vietnam)

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Operation Lincoln
Part of Vietnam War
An M48A3 Patton of 1st Battalion, 69th Armor advancing during the operation
Date 25 March-8 April 1966 Location Pleiku, Gia Lai Province, South Vietnam 13°58′59″N 108°00′00″E / 13.983°N 108°E / 13.983; 108 Result U.S. claims operational success
Belligerents
United States	North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
MGen Harry Kinnard Col John J. Hennessey
Units involved
1st Cavalry Division Company B, 1st Battalion, 69th Armored Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division	18B Regiment
Strength
	1000+
Casualties and losses
43 killed	US body count: 477 killed 232 estimated killed

Operation Lincoln was an operation conducted by the 1st Cavalry Division west of Pleiku, lasting from 25 March to 8 April 1966, with the goal of locating suspected North Vietnamese and Viet Cong bases to disrupt any planned offensives during the monsoon season.^[1]

Following multiple inconclusive skirmishes from 25–29 March, American scout helicopters landed in the middle of a North Vietnamese way-station in the immediate vicinity of 1000 soldiers. American forces lost two helicopters to North Vietnamese fire, but ultimately secured the area and declared the operation success as North Vietnamese soldiers withdrew toward the Cambodian border.