Note 10-G — CHAPTER 10 Marines Meet the Challenge New American Decisions—A Restructured Military Assistance Command—Changes in Marine Leadership—Redesignation and Reorganization—The Vietnamese Marine Brigade—Additional Marine Activities

Personal decorations for heroism were awarded more frequently to Marine advisors through 1964. Earlier in the year (16 February), a Marine captain, Donald E. Koelper, an advisor to the 4th Vietnamese Marine Battalion earned a Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for heroism. Koelper was decorated for warning the occupants of a crowded American theater in Saigon to take cover just prior to the detonation of a Viet Cong terrorist bomb. The Marine was killed by a Viet Cong satchel charge. But his sacrifice limited the number of casualties to three killed and 51 wounded.