 On 8 May the PAVN launched an attack on Con Thien and shelled Gio Linh in an attempt to reduce its fire support for Con Thien.On 17/18 May PAVN artillery rockets and artillery hit Đông Hà and Gio Linh, killing 1 Marine and wounding 12 others at Gio Linh.By July engineers had completed clearing a 500m radius around the base and had started building underground bunkers.