The men in the Third Marine Division who were sent to the northernmost I Corps tactical zone called the DMZ the "Dead Marine Zone," because conditions were so bad and the casualty rate was so high. They were outnumbered by the North Vietnamese, who knew the territory. To make matters worse, the enemy carried seemingly indestructable Soviet-made AK-47's, while the Marines had newly-issued M-16 rifles with a potentially fatal design flaw — they needed constant cleaning and often jammed in the middle of firefights.

NOTE: This video is part of a lesson plan titled The Theory and Reality of a War Strategy.