Photo Credit: National Archives
Following a hard day, a few members of Company “A,” 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, gather around a guitar player and sing a few songs during Operation Yellowstone, January 18, 1968.
Operation Yellowstone ran from December 1967 until late February 1968. There is not much information on this operation but I did find a write up by Bill Fitch, Alpha Co. 4/9 who discusses the background of the operation.
This tragic and frustrating military action took place on December 11,1967 within sight (3 kms.) of the Cambodian Border where the North Vietnamese Army kept large amount of war supplies, weapons, ammunition, and fresh troops. This was called Operation Yellowstone The Cambodian Border was literally a large enemy staging area and base of operations for the war in South Viet Nam. As we patrolled along the border, you could stand on a high hill and “actually see” military storage buildings covered with shiny tin roofs that glistened in the sun. However, we were not allowed to “cross over” to Cambodia (a neutral country) to destroy the enemies’ supplies or food. You could actually see buildings with no doors but only two trap door openings at the top. It did not take a rocket scientist to know these were not some poor farmer’s house but rather a military storage building for food (probably rice) and possibility a ammo dump. How can you win a war if you can not destroy the enemy when you locate him? In WWII, if the enemy was in another country , the US military was allowed to destroy the targets but not so in the VietNam War.