Qualla: Battle of Hill 488 https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Hill 488 https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488 Battle of Hill 488: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. Eighteen Marines against a battalion. The math alone should have ended it quickly. On the night of June 15, 1966, a small reconnaissance platoon from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion sat atop a nondescript hill in Vietnam's Que Son Valley, designated simply as Hill 488 on their maps. They were there to watch and listen, not to fight. But somewhere in the darkness below, between 200 and 250 soldiers from the People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong were climbing toward them, and by morning, the hilltop would be compared to the Alamo -- except that this time, the defenders survived.

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Hill 488: Eyes on the Valley https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. In June 1966, the 1st Marine Division was pushing its area of responsibility northward into Quang Tin Province, probing the rugged terrain between Tam Ky and Hiep Duc District. Brigadier General William A. Stiles had conceived Operation Kansas, an ambitious reconnaissance sweep d...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-eyes-on-the-valley.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Hill 488: The Longest Night https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. The warning came from an Army Special Forces team leading a patrol nearby. A full enemy battalion -- 200 to 250 fighters -- was moving toward the hilltop. At 10 p.m. on June 15, Lance Corporal Ricardo Binns squeezed the trigger of his M14 rifle and the battle began. What followed...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-the-longest-night.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Hill 488: Dawn and Deliverance https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. Through the night, the Marines held. When daylight finally broke on June 16, reinforcements arrived -- helicopters brought in an infantry company to relieve the battered platoon. The reconnaissance team was evacuated immediately, though the infantry remained to finish clearing th...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-dawn-and-deliverance.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Hill 488: The Honors They Earned https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. The decorations awarded to Howard's platoon reflected the extraordinary nature of their stand. Staff Sergeant Jimmie Howard was promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and traveled to the White House, where President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Medal of Honor on August 21, 1967...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-the-honors-they-earned.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Hill 488: A Hill in the Highlands https://qualla.com/battle-of-hill-488/ Photo credit RA0302, Public domain. Today, Hill 488 sits quietly in what is now Quang Nam Province, the jungle long since reclaiming whatever scars the fighting left. The Que Son Valley stretches below, green and terraced with rice paddies, giving no outward sign of the violence that once swept through it. From the...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/t/p/battle-of-hill-488-wp/w6tp-battle-of-hill-488-a-hill-in-the-highlands.mp3 0:06 6 full