Taking place between March and July 1970, the Battle of Fire. This time period does not particularly coincide with the fighting; rather, it dates from before the siege began and terminates before the siege (and the fighting) ended. On June 19, 1968, another operation began at Khe Sanh, Operation Charlie, the final evacuation and destruction of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. They attacked 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, five of the six major cities, and more than two dozen airfields and bases. Marines stayed in the area, conducting operations to recover the bodies of Marines killed previously. Stubbe examined the command chronologies of the 1st and 2nd battalions, 26th Marines, plus the after-action reports of the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines; 1st Battalion, 9th Marines; 1st Battalion, 13th Marines; and more than one dozen other units, all present at Khe Sanh under 26th Marine operational control. [100][Note 6], Lownds infuriated the Special Forces personnel even further when the indigenous survivors of Lang Vei, their families, civilian refugees from the area, and Laotian survivors from the camp at Ban Houei Sane arrived at the gate of KSCB. [70] The Marines and ARVN dug in and hoped that the approaching Tt truce (scheduled for 2931 January) would provide some respite. Making the prospect even more enticing was that the base was in an unpopulated area in which American firepower could be fully employed without civilian casualties. Military History Institute of Vietnam, pp. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties - Honor States [83] Westmoreland later wrote, "Washington so feared that some word of it might reach the press that I was told to desist, ironically answering what those consequences could be: a political disaster. The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. A group of 12 A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers provided flak suppression for massed flights of 1216 helicopters, which would resupply the hills simultaneously. A single company replaced an entire battalion. [56], At positions west of Hill 881 South and north of Co Roc Ridge (163340N 1063755E / 16.561N 106.632E / 16.561; 106.632), across the border in Laos, the PAVN established artillery, rocket, and mortar positions from which to launch attacks by fire on the base and to support its ground operations. Five days later, the final reinforcements arrived in the form of the 37th ARVN Ranger Battalion, which was deployed more for political than tactical reasons. At around 10:00, the fire ignited a large quantity of explosives, rocking the base with another series of detonations. Siege at Khe Sanh: ~17,200 (304th and 308th Division), Defense at Route 9: ~16,900 (320th and 324th Division), This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 15:52. [25], In the winter of 1964, Khe Sanh became the location of a launch site for the highly-classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group. Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh, 1967 The PAVN claim that during the entire battle they "eliminated" 17,000 enemy troops, including 13,000 Americans and destroyed 480 aircraft. [118], On the night of the fall of Lang Vei, three companies of the PAVN 101D Regiment moved into jump-off positions to attack Alpha-1, an outpost west of the Combat Base held by 66 men of Company A, 1st Platoon, 1/9 Marines. This range overmatch was used by the PAVN to avoid counter-battery fire. [12] With the abandonment of the base, according to Thomas Ricks, "Khe Sanh became etched in the minds of many Americans as a symbol of the pointless sacrifice and muddled tactics that permeated a doomed U.S. war effort in Vietnam". Its main objectives were to inflict casualties on US troops and to isolate them in the remote border regions. The base was officially closed on July 5. . At 1530 hours the first C-123, with 44 passengers and a crew of five, began to land. [105] At 07:40, a relief force from Company A, 2nd Platoon set out from the main base and attacked through the PAVN, pushing them into supporting tank and artillery fire. This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. Key Battles | Vietnam War - Pritzker Military Museum & Library [75] On 22 January, the first sensor drops took place, and by the end of the month, 316 acoustic and seismic sensors had been dropped in 44 strings. This marked the first time that all three battalions of the 26th Marine Regiment had operated together in combat since the Battle of Iwo Jima during the Second World War. The Marines suffered 155 killed in action and 425 wounded. Once the aircraft touched down, it became the target of any number of PAVN artillery or mortar crews. The advance would be supported by 102 pieces of artillery. During the 66-day siege, U.S. planes, dropping 5,000 bombs daily, exploded the equivalent of five Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs in the area. [81] The sensors were implanted by a special naval squadron, Observation Squadron Sixty-Seven (VO-67). Battle of Hamburger Hill The 29 th North Vietnam Army had entrenched themselves on Hamburger Hill in South Vietnam; a joint US-South Vietnamese force was ordered to remove them. [23][Note 2], James Marino wrote that in 1964, General William Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, had determined, "Khe Sanh could serve as a patrol base blocking enemy infiltration from Laos; a base for operations to harass the enemy in Laos; an airstrip for reconnaissance to survey the Ho Chi Minh Trail; a western anchor for the defenses south of the DMZ; and an eventual jumping-off point for ground operations to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The presence of the PAVN 1st Division prompted a 22-day battle there and had some of the most intense close-quarters fighting of the entire conflict. Battlefield:Vietnam | History Scotland was a 26th Marine Regiment operation, so only the deaths of Marines assigned to the regiment, and attached supporting units, were counted. Since late in 1967, Khe Sanh had depended on airlift for its survival. While climbing, the C-123 was struck by several bursts of heavy machine gun and recoilless rifle fire. The Hill Fights (also known as the First Battle of Khe Sanh) was a battle during the Vietnam War between the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 325C Division and United States Marines on several hill masses north of the Khe Sanh Combat Base in northwest Qung Tr Province . Following a rolling barrage fired by nine artillery batteries, the Marine attack advanced through two PAVN trenchlines, but the Marines failed to locate the remains of the men of the ambushed patrol. For some unknown reason, the PAVN troops did not press their advantage and eliminate the pocket, instead throwing a steady stream of grenades at the Marines. [147] The official closure of the base came on 5 July after fighting, which had killed five more Marines. None of the deaths associated with Scotland II are included in the official count. A historian, General Dave Palmer, accepted that rationale: "General Giap never had any intention of capturing Khe Sanh [it] was a feint, a diversionary effort. The Battle of Khe Sanh's initial action cost the Marines 12 killed, 17 wounded and two missing. "[106] At the end of January, Tompkins had ordered that no Marine patrols proceed more than 500 meters from the Combat Base. [27][28] The Marines' defensive system stretched below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the coast, along Route 9, to Khe Sanh. The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh by Murphy, Edward F On Easter Sunday, April 14, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines (3/26), assaulted Hill 881 North in order to clear the enemy firing positions. According to Ray Stubbe, a U.S. Navy chaplain during the siege and since then the most significant Khe Sanh historian, the 205 figure is taken only from the records of the 26th Marine Regiment. [119] By 11:00, the battle was over, Company A had lost 24 dead and 27 wounded, while 150 PAVN bodies were found around the position, which was then abandoned. Hundreds of mortar rounds and 122-mm rockets slammed into the base, levelling most of the above-ground structures. To support the Marine base, a massive aerial bombardment campaign (Operation Niagara) was launched by the USAF. Two days later, US troops detected PAVN trenches running due north to within 25 m of the base perimeter. It was a two-part battle which took place from November 14 to 18, 1965 at the la Drang Valley, South Vietnam. The Marines at KSCB credited 40% of intelligence available to their fire-support coordination center to the sensors. The 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh was the longest, deadliest and most controversial of the Vietnam War, pitting the U.S. Marines and their allies against the North Vietnamese Army. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). [75], Niagara I was completed during the third week of January, and the next phase, Niagara II, was launched on the 21st,[76] the day of the first PAVN artillery barrage. The pallet slid to a halt on the airstrip while the aircraft never had to actually land. First had been Operation Full Cry, the original three-division invasion plan. Operation Pegasus forces, however, were highly mobile and did not attack en masse down Route 9 far enough west of Khe Sanh for the NVA, by then dispersed, to implement their plan. One headquarters would allocate and coordinate all air assets, distributing them wherever they were considered most necessary, and then transferring them as the situation required. Armies and Commanders Allies General William Westmoreland Colonel David Lownds Approx. Operational control of the Khe Sanh area was handed over to the US Army's 1st Air Cavalry Division for the duration of Operation Pegasus. On 18 January, Westmoreland passed his request for Air Force control up the chain of command to CINCPAC in Honolulu. The official statistics yield a KIA ratio of between 50:1 and 75:1 of North Vietnamese to U.S. military deaths. Taking a larger but more realistic view, the Khe Sanh campaign resulted in a death toll of American military personnel that approached 1,000. The launching of the largest enemy offensive thus far in the conflict did not shift Westmoreland's focus away from Khe Sanh. According to the official Marine Corps history of the battle, total fatalities for Operation Scotland were 205 friendly KIA. The Marines recorded an actual body count of 1,602 NVA killed but estimated the total NVA dead at between 10,000 and 15,000. [51] Other concerns raised included the assertion that the real danger to I Corps was from a direct threat to Qung Tr City and other urban areas, a defense would be pointless as a threat to infiltration since PAVN troops could easily bypass Khe Sanh, the base was too isolated, and the Marines "had neither the helicopter resources, the troops, nor the logistical bases for such operations." The tower at Khe Sanh instructed the pilot to take evasive action and go around for another approach. [35], American intelligence analysts were quite baffled by the series of enemy actions. The Americans wanted a military presence there to block the infiltration of enemy forces from Laos, to provide a base for launching patrols into Laos to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and to serve as a western anchor for defense along the DMZ. "[84], Meanwhile, an interservice political struggle took place in the headquarters at Phu Bai Combat Base, Saigon, and the Pentagon over who should control aviation assets supporting the entire American effort in Southeast Asia. Airpower at Khe Sanh | Air & Space Forces Magazine - Air Force Magazine But Pisor also pointed out that 205 is a completely false number. One had to meet certain criteria before being officially considered KIA at Khe Sanh. The aircrew then had to contend with antiaircraft fire on the way out. Marine Khe Sanh veteran Peter Brush is Vietnam Magazines book review editor. As the relief force made progress, the Marines at Khe Sanh moved out from their positions and began patrolling at greater distances from the base. Khe Sanh is a village located near the Laotian border and just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated North and South Vietnam. Things heated up for the air cavalrymen on 6 April, when the 3rd Brigade encountered a PAVN blocking force and fought a day-long engagement. In fact, neither side won a resounding victory. That did not mean, however, that battle was over. During the course of the siege, the U.S. Air Force dropped five tons of bombs for each of the estimated 20,000 attacking NVA troops. Lima Company finally seized the hill after overcoming determined NVA resistance. During this time, KSCB and the hilltop outposts around it were subjected to constant PAVN artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks, and several infantry assaults. Westmoreland planned on Khe Sanh being relieved and then used as the jump-off point for a "hot pursuit" of enemy forces into Laos. [117], Communications with military command outside of Khe Sanh was maintained by an U.S. Army Signal Corps team, the 544th Signal Detachment from the 337th Signal Company, 37th Signal Brigade in Danang. Fighting around Khe Sanh was continuous. One of the first enemy shells set off an explosion in the main ammunition dump. Johnson backed the Marine position due to his concern over protecting the Army's air assets from Air Force co-option. [95], It still came as a shock to the Special Forces troopers at Lang Vei when 12 tanks attacked their camp. Week of February 19, 2023 | Vietnam War Commemoration Tolson was not happy with the assignment, since he believed that the best course of action, after Tet, was to use his division in an attack into the A Shau Valley. Battle of Khe Sanh: Greatest U.S. Victory in Vietnam - HistoryNet With Khe Sanh facing a full-scale. A smaller slice of the action saw Americans on the receiving end, defending some firebase or outpost. The dead men have been described as wearing Marine uniforms; that they were a regimental commander and his staff on a reconnaissance; and that they were all identified, by name, by American intelligence. [22] The camp then became a Special Forces outpost of the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups, which were to keep watch on PAVN infiltration along the border and to protect the local population. [127] At 08:00 the following day, Operation Scotland was officially terminated. [109], The resupply of the numerous, isolated hill outposts was fraught with the same difficulties and dangers. Minor attacks continued before the base was officially closed on 5 July. 5 Major Battles of the Vietnam War | History Hit Aug 23, 2013. Mobile combat operations continued against the North Vietnamese. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. Battle of Khe Sanh - Wikipedia As a result, "B-52 Arc Light strikes originating in Guam, Okinawa, and Thailand bombed the jungles surrounding Khe Sanh into stubble fields" and Khe Sanh became the major news headline coming out of Vietnam in late March 1968. Marines remained around Hill 689, though, and fighting in the vicinity continued until 11 July until they were finally withdrawn, bringing the battle to a close. [105], Lownds estimated that the logistical requirements of KSCB were 60 tons per day in mid-January and rose to 185 tons per day when all five battalions were in place. However, even if Westmoreland believed his statement, his argument never moved on to the next logical level. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. [170][140], One argument that was then leveled by Westmoreland and has since often quoted by historians of the battle is that only two Marine regiments were tied down at Khe Sanh, compared with the several PAVN divisions. Cushman was appalled by the "implication of a rescue or breaking of the siege by outside forces. The NVA used Hill 881 North to launch 122mm rockets at the Marines during the siege. The low figure often cited for US casualties (205 killed in action, 443 wounded, 2 missing) does not take into account U.S. Army or Air Force casualties or those incurred during Operation Pegasus. During the darkness of January 20-21, the NVA launched a series of coordinated attacks against American positions. I suspect he is also trying to draw everyone's attention away from the greatest area of threat, the northern part of I Corps. The Siege of Khe Sanh | The American Legion Just days before, as the Army of the . Westmoreland was replaced two months after the end of the battle, and his successor explained the retreat in different ways. The site was first established near the village and later moved to the French fort. The most controversial statistic in Vietnam was the number of killed in action (KIA) claimed by each side. [80] Westmoreland had already ordered the nascent Igloo White operation to assist in the Marine defense. A platoon from Company D, 1/26 Marines was sent from the base but was withdrawn in the face of the superior PAVN forces. Whether the destruction of one battalion could have been the goal of two to four PAVN divisions was debatable. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were two regiments of the United States Marine Corps supported by elements from the United States Army and the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as a small number of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. Throughout the battle, Marine artillerymen fired 158,891 mixed rounds. [157], Commencing in 1966, the US had attempted to establish a barrier system across the DMZ to prevent infiltration by North Vietnamese troops. Route 9, the only practical overland route from the east, was impassable due to its poor state of repair and the presence of PAVN troops. [1] According to Brush, it was "the only occasion in which Americans abandoned a major combat base due to enemy pressure" and in the aftermath, the North Vietnamese began a strong propaganda campaign, seeking to exploit the US withdrawal and to promote the message that the withdrawal had not been by choice. [80] Westmoreland insisted for several months that the entire Tet Offensive was a diversion, including, famously, attacks on downtown Saigon and obsessively affirming that the true objective of the North Vietnamese was Khe Sanh. The Laotians were overrun, and many fled to the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei. Twenty-five USAF personnel who were killed are also not included. "[24] In November 1964, the Special Forces moved their camp to the Xom Cham Plateau, the future site of Khe Sanh Combat Base. The Battle of Khe Sanh took place between January 21 and July 9, 1968; however, most of the official statistics provided pertain only to Operation Scotland, which ended on March 31, or to the 77-day period beginning what is classified as the Siege of Khe Sanh, where the 26th Marines were pinned down until Operations Niagara, and Pegasus freed [112][113][114] In addition, over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped until mid-April by aircraft of the USAF, US Navy and Marines onto the area surrounding Khe Sanh. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego - twarda okadka w bardzo dobrym stanie | Books & Magazines, Books | eBay! [48][Note 4], Not all leading Marine officers, however, had the same opinion. The Americans had forewarning of PAVN armor in the area from Laotian refugees from camp BV-33. Vietnam War - Tet Offensive & American public reaction On April 5, 1968, MACV prepared an Analysis of the Khe Sanh Battle for General Westmoreland. Ten more Marines and 89 NVA died during this period. [85] Westmoreland had given his deputy commander for air operations, Air Force General William W. Momyer, the responsibility for coordinating all air assets during the operation to support KSCB. [153][154] The gradual withdrawal of US forces began during 1969 and the adoption of Vietnamization meant that, by 1969, "although limited tactical offensives abounded, US military participation in the war would soon be relegated to a defensive stance. The Khe Sanh battlefield was considerably more extensive from the North Vietnamese perspective than from that of the U.S. Marine Corps, both geographically and chronologically. 216217. Two further attacks later in the morning were halted before the PAVN finally withdrew. The Hill Fights - Wikipedia The Battle of la Drang was considered essential because it sets up a change of tactics for both troops during the conflict. [171] When Hanoi made the decision to move in around the base, Khe Sanh was held by only one or two American battalions. Listen Now. Telfer, Rogers, and Fleming, pp. The Battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo [59], During the rainy night of 2 January 1968, six men dressed in black uniforms were seen outside the defensive wire of the main base by members of a listening post. The 324th Division was located in the DMZ area 1015 miles (1624km) north of Khe Sanh while the 320th Division was within easy reinforcing distance to the northeast. At least 852 PAVN soldiers were killed during the action, as opposed to 50 American and South Vietnamese. The assault began on 10 May 1969 w ith the 101st Airborne Division and troops of the 9th M arine Regiment, the 5 th Cavalry Regiment, and the 3 rd ARVN Regiment. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. However, the PAVN committed three regiments to the fighting from the Khe Sanh sector. Ray Stubbe has published a translation of the North Vietnamese history of the siege at Khe Sanh. The PAVN infantry, though bracketed by artillery fire, still managed to penetrate the perimeter of the defenses and were only driven back after severe close-quarters combat. NVA casualties were more than 200. [33] Troops of the US 1st Infantry Division were able to respond quickly. [137] Opposition from the North Vietnamese was light and the primary problem that hampered the advance was continual heavy morning cloud cover that slowed the pace of helicopter operations. [165], Another interpretation was that the North Vietnamese were planning to work both ends against the middle, a strategy that has come to be known as the Option Play. At 04:15 on 8 February under cover of fog and a mortar barrage, the PAVN penetrated the perimeter, overrunning most of the position and pushing the remaining 30 defenders into the southwestern portion of the defenses. The Marines at Khe Sanh Combat Base broke out of their perimeter and began attacking the North Vietnamese in the surrounding area. by John Prados. Casualties were heavy among the attacking PAVN, who lost over 200 killed, while the defending Marines lost two men. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego That was accomplished, but the casualties absorbed by the North Vietnamese seemed to negate any direct gains they might have obtained. [156] Correspondent Michael Herr reported on the battle, and his account would inspire the surreal "Do Long Bridge" scene in the film Apocalypse Now, which emphasized the anarchy of the war. In his memoirs, he listed the reasons for a continued effort: Khe Sanh could serve as a patrol base for blocking enemy infiltration from Laos along Route 9; as a base for SOG operations to harass the enemy in Laos; as an airstrip for reconnaissance planes surveying the Ho Chi Minh Trail; as the western anchor for defenses south of the DMZ; and as an eventual jump-off point for ground operations to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The deaths of U.S. Air Force personnel, estimated between five and 20, are also omitted. An additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II as of the end of June 1968. The combat losses in February and March 1967 were a prelude to the "First Battle of Khe Sanh," one of the Vietnam War's hardest-fought battles, . Due to severe losses, however, the NVA abandoned its plan for a massive ground attack. That was superseded by the smaller contingency plans. Known as the McNamara Line, it was initially codenamed "Project Nine". [63] Hills 881 South, 861, and the main base itself would be simultaneously attacked that same evening. [121] Casualties from the bombardment were 10 killed and 51 wounded. [133] The Marines would be accompanied by their 11th Engineer Battalion, which would repair the road as the advance moved forward. Unlike the Marines killed in the same place in January, since Operation Scotland had ended, the four Lima Company Marines who died in this attack on Hill 881 North were excluded from the official statistics. Name State Date War Branch; 1: Steven Glenn Abbott . [167], Another theory is that the actions around Khe Sanh and the other battles at the border were simply feints ands ruse meant to focus American attention and forces on the border. [116] Marine analysis of PAVN artillery fire estimated that the PAVN gunners had fired 10,908 artillery and mortar rounds and rockets into Marine positions during the battle. [70] Regardless, the SOG reconnaissance teams kept patrolling, providing the only human intelligence available in the battle area. Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline - PBS Westmoreland believed that the latter was the case, and his belief was the basis for his desire to stage "Dien Bien Phu in reverse. Since the Marines on board were not yet officially attached to the 26th Marine Regiment, their deaths were not included in the official Khe Sanh count, nor were the several other deaths associated with aircraft crashes. On January 31, while approximately 50,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops were occupied in defending or supporting Khe Sanh and other DMZ bases, the communists launched an offensive throughout South Vietnam. If only it had contaminated the stream, the airlift would not have provided enough water to the Marines. The Marine defense of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland, officially ended on March 31. [102], The Lao troops were eventually flown back to their homeland, but not before the Laotian regional commander remarked that his army had to "consider the South Vietnamese as enemy because of their conduct. Of the 24 Americans at the camp, 10 had been killed and 11 wounded. 20,000-30,000 men Battle of Khe Sanh Overview Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. [31] Mortar rounds, artillery shells, and 122mm rockets fell randomly but incessantly upon the base. In response, US forces were built up before the PAVN isolated the Marine base. The Battle of Khe Sanh began Jan. 21, 1968, with inconclusive ground activity by US and North Vietnamese patrols. [9], The precise nature of Hanoi's strategic goal at Khe Sanh is regarded as one of the most intriguing unanswered questions of the Vietnam War. U.S. Marines and their allies killed thousands of NVA, but to solve the riddle of Khe Sanh, you have to recount the numbers. And it had accomplished its purpose magnificently. Of the 500 CIDG troops at Lang Vei, 200 had been killed or were missing and 75 more were wounded. Declassified documents show that in response, Westmoreland considered using nuclear weapons. Officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. Khe Sanh was situated on Route 9, the major east-west highway.