The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation in 1972 for the Second Battle of Quảng Trị, recapturing the city after it was over-run by 45,000 PAVN whom are deploying for the first time armoured and mechanised divisions. This division was still recovering from Lam Son 719, which saw 1/4th of this entire division killed or wounded. During the battle this unit alone had lost almost 3,658 KIA while inflicting 17,819 enemy casualties, capturing 5,000 weapons and vehicles and disabling dozens of &lt;a href="T-54/T-55"&gt;T-54/T-55&lt;/a&gt; tanks. The battle was fought, alongside the Airborne Division arrayed against the three most elite and longest serving divisions of the PAVN, the "Iron and Steel" divisions of the 308th Division, 304th Division and 325th Division. This was the single bloodiest, longest and most intense engagement in the entire war and the most defining urban battle, far surpassing the Battle of Huế in all respects.