page_title: Lowell E. English
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: Lowell E. English / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: English: General William C. Westmoreland, ComUSMACV (center), together with senior Marine commanders, looks at a map depicting the battle situation in Operation Hastings. Lieutenant General Lewis W. Walt, Commanding III MAF, is to the left of General Westmoreland and BGen Lowell E. English, the Task Force Delta commander is to the right rear of Westmoreland. Second from right is Lieutenant colonel Van D. Bell, Commanding officer, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and Captain J. H. Trehy.
context_page_description: Lowell Edward English was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He is most noted for his service as assistant division commander, 3rd Marine Division during Vietnam War and later as commanding general, Task Force Delta. He completed his career as commanding general, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in 1969.
context_section_description: English was ordered to South Vietnam in December 1965 and joined 3rd Marine Division as assistant division commander under Major General Lewis W. Walt in Da Nang. He shared this responsibility with Brigadier General Jonas M. Platt, who served as second assistant division commander with headquarters at Chu Lai. The new commanding general of 3rd Marine Division, Wood B. Kyle, ordered English to move his headquarters to Phu Bai, where he assumed command of Task Force Delta.
  The situation northwest of Quảng Ngãi, where Vietcong 1st Regiment overran the ARVN 936th Regional Force Company outpost at Hill 141 in the night of 18/19 March and the ARVN 2nd Division commander Hoàng Xuân Lãm requested Marine assistance in retaking of the outpost. General Kyle launched Operation Texas and sent several Marine battalions into action. However Vietcong launched counterattack and after two days of heavy combats, English assumed operational command of the operation and extend the operation towards the south of Quảng Ngãi. The Vietcong forces were driven off and Operation Texas concluded on March 25; the Marines had suffered 99 dead and 212 wounded and claimed that the Vietcong had 283 killed.
  In early July 1966, Marine reconnaissance reported the presence of NVA 324th Division in the vicinity of Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. English received orders from General Kyle to activate Task Force Delta again on July 13, 1966. The task force consisted of four infantry battalions, 2nd Battalion 1st Marines, 1st Battalion 3rd Marines, 2nd Battalion 4th Marines and 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, one artillery battalion 3rd Battalion 12th Marines and various supporting forces.
  The Operation Hastings was commenced on July 15 with the task to pushed the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces back across the Demilitarized Zone and the combats lasted until August 3. English used combined attacks of ground forces, artillery, airstrikes and helicopter assaults and killed approximately 700 NVA soldiers. The Marine suffered 126 killed and lot of wounded.
  The situation in Quảng Trị Province forced III Marine Amphibious Force's commander, general Lewis W. Walt, to launch a large-scale operation, whose main objective was to stop the PAVN 324th Division from crossing the demilitarized zone and invading Quang Tri Province. The Operation Prairie, a series of actions in defense of the demilitarized zone, began on August 3, 1966, and English again led Task Force Delta.
  Concerned by the growing PAVN activity along the DMZ and that PAVN units could move past the Marines' positions at the Rockpile and Dong Ha, COMUSMACV General William Westmoreland pushed III MAF to station a Marine battalion at Khe Sanh. English strongly opposed the plan, stating "When you're at Khe Sanh, you're not really anywhere. It's far away from everything. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing."
  English participated in the operation until beginning of 1967, when he completed his tour in Vietnam. For his service with 3rd Marine Division and Task Force Delta, he was decorated with the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and also received the Vietnam Gallantry Cross by the Government of South Vietnam.
caption: Map briefing during the Operations Hastings, Lewis W. Walt (right), General William C. Westmoreland (center) and English on his right.
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