Operation+Masher+\+White+Wing

Operation Masher/Whites Wing (1966)

Operation Masher is the largest search and destroy mission to this date. A search and destroy mission is pretty self-explanatory. The troops would search for intel and supply areas and destroy them. The purpose of this specific search and destroy mission was to drive enemies out of the Binh Dinh Province and destroy supply areas. Operation Masher took place in a span of 42 days from January 24, 1966 to March 6, 1966. There was 2389 reported enemy causualties by the end of the operation. The U.S. did not suffer as severe casualties as the Vietnamese did. 288 Americans were reported dead and another 990 were wounded. Operation Masher was renamed Operation White Wing by President Johnson for public relations reason. It was not the only operation to be renamed for the public.

The renaming of this operation says a lot about the how the public was perceiving the war. The name of the operation wasn't going to change the goal and actions of the it. If the name of the operation is what makes it publicly acceptable then the public isn't paying much attention to whats taking place in Vietnam. I do not see a point in changing the name of the operation for any reason. Besides, the changing of the name the operation was pretty successful and is still the largest search and destroy mission to this date to show for it.



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Citations

"Operation Mashser/White Wing/ Thang Phrong II launched." //History.com// . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov 2010. .

 Isserman, Maurice. __Vietnam War__ . Updated ed. America at War. New York: Facts On File-Infobase Publishing, 2003. __Infobase eBooks__ . Infobase Publishing.. http://ebooks.infobasepublishing.com/ View.aspx?ISBN=9781438100159&InstID=831 (accessed November 22, 2010).