Made during the Vietnam War, this 1967 Marine Corps documentary presents “Operation County Fair”. County Fair was a civic action program intended to clear Vietcong from villages while helping support villagers. As part of that they were supposed to receive medical care, fed, entertained and protected by the Marines. Like most of the civic action programs during the war, County Fair had a mixed outcome. The Vietnamese often welcomed the Marines into their villages, but lived in fear of the moment they would depart and the Viet Cong will return and exact retribution for their co-operation.
County Fair operations began before dawn, with the Vietnamese forces and the Marines surrounding and sealing off a target village. No one got in or out. A set of announcements over a PA system informed everyone of what was about to happen. The Marines gathered the village inhabitants into a central location and took a head count and checked their government issued identification cards. While the villagers were absent from their homes, a team went into the village and searched through houses, tunnels, bomb shelters, and animal pens. As seen at 7:30, a group of Marines known as the Blocking Force searches for V.C. while the village is occupied. They looked for caches of weapons, hiding Viet Cong, radio equipment, or other contraband items. Anyone found in the village was questioned. The villagers in the holding area received a hot meal, inoculations against disease, and were invited to see movies, hear political speeches, receive a lesson on an agricultural subject, or play games. At 8:48, as seen in the film, an air strike is called in by Marines engaged in a firefight with Viet Cong. At 9:25, KIA Viet Cong are examined and prisoners taken. At 10:00, captured V.C. supplies including money are found, and Marines find a tunnel which is searched and then blasted shut. At 11:20, rice seized by the V.C. is picked up by helicopter to be returned to the Vietnamese village it was seized from. At 12:00, a Marine band is seen playing music for the Vietnamese whose village has been probed as part of this particular County Fair.
All clearing or search and destroy operations labeled as “County Fair” appear to have taken place in Quang Nam province of Viet Nam.
The Commanding General of Marine Forces Pacific, Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak initially explained the concept of COUNTY FAIR in a letter to Mr. Robert Komer, Special Assistant to the President. The idea was to focus on one village, a village that still contained some VC. He warns that the surrounding villages must be under government control to preclude the guerrillas from entering a nearby village. The intent was to clear all of the VC from the village and to begin a pacification program and conduct civic action. South Vietnamese civilian and military personnel would conduct the activities in the village. Popular Forces (Vietnamese self-defense units), Combined Action Platoons, Marine units, or Army of Vietnam (ARVN) forces would remain behind after the actual operation to provide security to the village until all of the VC had been killed or driven off.
COUNTY FAIR operations aimed at both the guerrilla and his supporting infrastructure in the selected village. The technique consisted of Marines rapidly forming a wide cordon around the village. This was to prevent any VC from escaping. Subsequently, RVN Forces personnel would enter the village to check the identity of the villagers and to interrogate them. Searches were conducted for arms, VC, food caches, tunnels, etc. While this was occurring entertainment and lectures were also provided.
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