The Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, was created between North Vietnam and South
Vietnam in 1954. The DMZ was supposed to be a temporary buffer zone that
would keep previously hostile forces away from each other. When the planned
unification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam stalled out, the DMZ stayed on
with an air of permanence. It was four to six miles wide and ran about 47 miles
from the coast to the border with Laos. Don’t believe the label though. The DMZ
was anything but demilitarized. It’s here in the DMZ that 3rd Battalion, 26th
Marines got into the fight for its life in September 1967. In four days 3/26 lost 56
killed and 290 wounded.