Dodge City was a 36 square km area located approximately 20 km south of Danang to the west of Highway 1 and given this nickname by the Marines due to frequent ambushes and firefights there; together with Go Noi Island directly to the south it was a Vietcong and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) stronghold and base area.

[2]: 426 The operation was planned as part of the South Vietnamese Government's Le Loi Accelerated Pacification Campaign and called for the 1st Marine Regiment to cordon and search the entire Dodge City area.

Company E was hit by close-range fire as it crossed a small stream losing 7 killed and 23 wounded in 10 minutes before it could withdraw.

[2]: 430 On the morning of 25 November after preparatory artillery fire 2/7 Marines moved forward encountering no resistance as the defending PAVN 3rd Battalion, 36th Regiment had withdrawn.

From midnight on 28/29 November a 6-hour artillery barrage hit the cordon area and then the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines attacked along Route 4 clearing out numerous small bunkers and defensive positions.

[2]: 434 At 11:20 on 8 December 3/26 Marines supported by 12 M113s from the ARVN 2nd Troop, 4th Cavalry attacked the Northern Bunker Complex finding 79 dead PAVN from the previous day's fighting.

[2]: 435–6 Operation Meade River concluded on 9 December 1968; the Marines had suffered 108 dead and 510 wounded, and claimed that the PAVN/Vietcong lost 1,023 killed and 123 captured.