From the South China Sea on the cast. the 1st Marines' TAOR stretched westward 10 Hill 52. The regiment also now had responsibility for An Hoa. having taken operational control of die elements of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines remaining there.38

The 5th Marines took the better pare of a month to extricate itself from its old TAOR and move all its dements into positions around LZ Baldy and FSB Ross. Between 18 and 20 September, the regimental headquarters displaced from Hilt 37 and Division Ridge to Baldy. There, on the 20th, the regimental commander, Colonel Judge, and his staff assumed control of the units operating in the 7th Marines' TAOR, which now became the 5th Marines' TAOR. These units included the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 7th Marines, Using companies from these battalions, the 5th Marines continued Operation Imperial Lake. During the rest of September, all of the 5th Marines' 3d Battalion and about half of the 2d Battalion redeployed a company or two at a time by helicopter into the 7th Marines' TAOR. This operation was complicated by frequent exchanges of control of companies between regiments and. battalions. On 18 September, for example. Company K of the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines turned over us positions on Hill 52 to Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. Company K then moved to Baldy where on the 20th it was placed under the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines for Operation Imperial Lake South. Two days later, it returned to the control of the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines. Two other companies of the 3d Battalion were attached temporarily to the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 1st Marines to reinforce the- Rocket Belt against a threatened enemy offensive; they finally rejoined their parent battalion on 28 September. Throughout the month, a forward command pose and the better part of TWO companies of the 2d Battalion remained at All Hoa under control of the 1st Marines37

By 30 September, the 5th Marines had all elements of its 2d and 3d Battalions bur those at An Hoa, ready for operations in its new TAOR. The 3d Battalion, its CP at FSB Ross, deployed its companies in the Que Son Valley; the 2d Battalion, its headquarters at Baldy, operated in the eastern part of the regiment's sector. By 30 September, also, the artillery battalion assigned to direct support of the regiment, the 2d Battalion, 11th Marines, had placed its batteries at Baldy, Ross, and Ryder, relieving the 3d Battalion, 11th Marines, which had stood down for redeployment.38

Throughout these readjustments, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines continued 10 perform its mission as division reserve. It protected the installations on Division Ridge and conducted Pacifier operations. On 25 September. the battalion extended its TAOR northward to the Cu De River between the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, and the sea. This placed the battalion in charge of coordinating the defense of all the units and cantonments in what had been the Northern and Southern Sector Defense Commands. Deploying one platoon into the extension of its area of operations. the battalion also kept up Pacifier operations until October39

The 7th Marines meanwhile gradually withdrew its units from combat and prepared to leave Vietnam. The regiment's 1st Battalion had starred redeploying on 6 September. On the 23d, reduced to cadre strength, the battalion left Da Nang for Camp Pendleton. The regimental headquarters and Headquarters Company ceased operations and displaced from LZ Baldy to Da Nang on 20 September, leaving the remaining two active battalions under control of the 5th Marines- Of these. the 3d Battalion began departure preparations on the 36th, followed on 2 October by the 2d Battalion.40

On 1 October, in a ceremony at the 1st Marine Division CP attended by Lieutenant General McCut-cheon, Lieutenant General Sutherland of XXIV Corps, Lieutenant General Lam of I Corps, Major General Widdecke, and other high-ranking guests. III MAF officially bade farewell to the 7th Marines. Under a drizzling sky. Lieutenant General Lam bestowed Vietnamese decorations on Colonel Piehl and 18 other members of the regiment. The colors of the regiment, and its 2d and 3d Battalions, and those of the 3d Battalion, 11th Marines were paraded for the last time in Vietnam, and the 1st MAW band played "Auld Lang Syne," At 2000 that same day, the regimental command group boarded planes for the flight back to Camp Pendleton, and die Headquarters Company began loading equipment and supplies on ships at the port of Da Nang-41

The ceremony on 1 October ended a long war for the 7th Marines. The regiment had entered the con-flier on 14 August 1965. landing at Chu Lai, Four days later, the 7th Marines acted as controlling headquarters for Operation Starlite, the first major American battle with main force Viet Cong, and its 1st and 3d Battalions participated in (he fight, Since 1967. the regiment had operated around Da Nang, conducting large arid small operations with distinction. From