US Soldiers of 82nd Airborne Leave Dominican Republic, June 1966 US Army, Operation Power Pack

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320th Artillery, 82 Airborne Division, is the first unit to leave the Dominican Republic in June, 1966, after 7 months as part of the "Inter-American Police Force." From "Your Army Reports" No. 5. Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_S...) The second United States occupation of the Dominican Republic began when the United States Marine Corps entered Santo Domingo on April 28, 1965 in the Dominican Civil War. Marine Medium Helicopter squadron HMM-264, from the deck of the USS Boxer (LPH-4), airlifted 530 marines of the 3rd battalion 6th Marines in the Marine Corp's first night all-helicopter assault into an unsecured landing zone during actual combat conditions in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. By May 1 they were joined by VMM-264, 6th Marine Regiment, most of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its parent XVIIIth Airborne Corps. It was called "Operation Power Pack". The intervention ended in September 1966 when the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, the last remaining American unit in the country, was withdrawn... Background After a period of political instability following the assassination of long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961, candidate Juan Bosch, a founder of the anti-Trujilloist Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), was elected President in December, 1962 and inaugurated in February 1963. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church resented the secular nature of the new constitution, in particular its provision for legalized divorce. The hierarchy, along with the military leadership and the economic elite, also feared communist influence in the republic, and they warned of the potential for "another Cuba". The result of this concern and opposition was a military coup d'état on September 25, 1963... Subsequently, power was turned over to a civilian triumvirate. The new leaders quickly abolished the constitution, declaring it "nonexistent". The two years that followed were filled with strikes and conflicts. Donald Reid Cabral, who now found himself at the head of the junta, was unpopular with most of the high-ranking officers in the military for his attempt to cut back on their privileges. He suspected that some or all of these officers would try to overthrow him in the spring of 1965... By 26 April 1965, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and for killing of all the policemen... U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces and fearing the creation of "a second Cuba" on America's doorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order. The decision to intervene militarily in the Dominican Republic was Lyndon Johnson's personal decision. All civilian advisers had recommended against immediate intervention hoping that the Loyalist side could bring an end to the civil war. President Johnson took the advice of his Ambassador in Santo Domingo, W. Tapley Bennett, who pointed out the inefficiency and indecisiveness of the Dominican military leaders. Bennett suggested that the US interpose its forces between the rebels and those of the junta, thereby effecting a cease-fire. The United States could then ask the Organization of American States to negotiate a political settlement between the opposing factions... Ultimately, 42,000 soldiers and marines were ordered to the Dominican Republic. The United States along with the Organization of American States (OAS) formed an inter-American military force to assist in the intervention in the Dominican Republic. The Constitutionalist forces resisted the invasion. By mid-afternoon of April 29, a cease-fire, facilitated by the Papal Nuncio, was negotiated... The fighting continued until 31 August 1965 when a truce was declared. Most American troops left shortly afterwards as policing and peacekeeping operations were turned over to Brazilian troops, but some U.S. military presence, including a headquarters and the 1st Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division remained until August 1966. One battalion of that brigade remained until September 1966... Casualties Military - A total of 44 American soldiers died, 27 in action. 172 were wounded in action. - Of the IAPF personnel, 6 Brazilians and 5 Paraguayans were wounded in action...