Editing USS Point Defiance (section)

===1963&ndash;2011===
In early 1963 ''Point Defiance'' carried [[bathyscaphe]] ''[[Bathyscaphe Trieste|Trieste]]'' from [[San Diego]] through the [[Panama Canal]] to [[Boston]] for deep search operations into the cause of the loss of the nuclear [[submarine]] {{USS|Thresher|SSN-593|3}}.

In September ''Point Defiance'' was on her way to the western Pacific again. In October she steamed to [[Vietnam]] to safeguard U.S. interests, and in November participated in another combined amphibious operation with the [[Republic of China]].

From April to September 1964, ''Point Defiance'' operated in the eastern Pacific, then underwent overhaul. She departed for the western Pacific on 27 April 1965 and off-loaded men and equipment at [[Da Nang]], [[South Vietnam]], on 26 May. On 18 June she helped rescue survivors from the midair collision of two [[Guam]]-based [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52s]]. In July she landed Marines at [[Qui Nhơn]], South Vietnam, and in early August helped salvage {{USS|Frank Knox|DD-742|6}}, aground on [[Pratas Islands|Pratas Reef]]. In late August she took part in [[Operation Starlite]], an amphibious raid at Van Tuong, South Vietnam, which inflicted heavy enemy casualties. After another successful amphibious landing, she returned home on 24 November.

''Point Defiance'' again departed for the western Pacific on 27 March 1966, and began transporting troops and equipment from U.S. bases in the Far East to South Vietnam. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June, but deployed to South Vietnam again on 1 November. On 11 January 1967 ''Point Defiance'' participated in "[[Operation Deckhouse V|Deckhouse V]]", a major U.S. operation in the Kien Hoa area. On 18 May she sent U.S. Marines on to the beach in the southern half of the [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone|Demilitarized Zone]], exchanging fire with [[North Vietnam]]ese shore [[artillery|batteries]]. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June.

On 7 May 1968 ''Point Defiance'' was off on another deployment to the western Pacific, once again with an amphibious ready group off Vietnam. She returned to Long Beach on 18 December.

In the summer of 1969, "Point Defiance" carried a contingent of Naval Academy Midshipmen from San Diego to Seattle to Honolulu and back to San Diego.

In 1972 the Point Defiance was again part of a Ready Group off the coast of Vietnam. It was part of a helicopter assault behind [[People's Army of Vietnam]] lines off the coast of northern South Vietnam in the area of [[Huế]] during the [[Easter Offensive]] of 1972.

: [''1968-2011'']