sea. In January 1966, the 3/7 took part in Operation Mallard along with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. It was a sweep of the area 20 miles southwest of Da Nang, in the area later known as the Arizona Territory. While the VC did not engage in major confrontations with the Marines during Operation Mallard, the area would later be a significant battleground for the 3/7 and other Marine battalions in the years to come. In March 1966 the battalion took part in Operation Texas. On 18 March 1966 an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) outpost on Hill 141 west of Quang Ngai City was overrun by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 36th Regiment. A reaction/relief force was promptly put together consisting of elements from 4 Marine battalions including 3/7 and an ARVN battalion. The allied forces were inserted by ground and air on 20 and 21 March and began closing around the PAVN forces. Over the next four days, Operation Texas claimed a total of 623 known PAVN dead, but at least 57 US Marines and sailors were killed in a series of bitter fights. Along with the 1/7, 2/7 and elements of the 26th Marines and 51st ARVN regiment, the 3/7th also took part in Operation Oklahoma Hills from March through May 1969, an operation to clear PAVN base camps and infiltration routes out of the hills and valleys southwest of Da Nang, South Vietnam's second most important city and a major base for US operations at the time. For "conspicuous gallantry and intrepity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" and "in the face of vicious enemy fire" during a search and destroy mission in the Que Son-Hiep Duc Valley on 28 August 1969, in which he destroyed several of the enemy and silenced anti-aircraft guns and machinegunist, Lance Corporal Jose F. Jimenez of Kilo Company, 3/7, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Persian Gulf War During the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War, 3/7 took part in Operation Desert Storm. The battalion arrived in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, in mid-January 1991, with the mission to be a foot-mobile infiltration force. For a month from mid-February onwards, 3/7—as part of Task Force Grizzly, which mainly consisted of 3/7 and 2nd Battalion 7th Marines—took up position along a berm near the Saudi–Kuwaiti border. There, 3/7 became the lead element of all