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In 1966, the regular Special Forces troops had moved off the plateau and built a smaller camp down Route 9 at Lang Vei, about half the distance to the Laotian border. None of the deaths associated with Scotland II are included in the official count. The next operations were named Crockett and Ardmore. 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. All of the attacks were conducted by regimental-size PAVN/VC units, but unlike most of the previous usual hit-and-run tactics, they were sustained and bloody affairs. 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. 5 Major Battles of the Vietnam War | History Hit 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. [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. 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. On April 20, Operation Prairie IV began, with heavy fighting between the Marines and NVA forces. Ten more Marines and 89 NVA died during this period. See also Pisor, p. 108. The First Battle of Khe Sahn - HistoryNet 20,000-30,000 men Battle of Khe Sanh Overview Setting out from Ca Lu, 10 miles east of Khe Sanh, Pegasus opened the highway, linked up with the Marines at Khe Sanh, and engaged NVA in the surrounding area. 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. [45] In December and early January, numerous sightings of PAVN troops and activities were made in the Khe Sanh area, but the sector remained relatively quiet.[46]. 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. As a result, 65% of all supplies were delivered by paradrops delivered by C-130 aircraft, mostly by the USAF, whose crews had significantly more experience in airdrop tactics than Marine air crews. Lima Company finally seized the hill after overcoming determined NVA resistance. On January 14, Marines from Company B, 3rd Recon Battalion, were moving up the north slope of Hill 881 North, a few miles northwest of Khe Sanh Combat Base. It was a two-part battle which took place from November 14 to 18, 1965 at the la Drang Valley, South Vietnam. [131], Planning for the overland relief of Khe Sanh had begun as early as 25 January 1968, when Westmoreland ordered General John J. Tolson, commander, First Cavalry Division, to prepare a contingency plan. Battle of Khe Sanh: Greatest U.S. Victory in Vietnam - HistoryNet 239240. . 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 exact number of casualties suffered by both sides during the Khe Sanh battle is very difficult to ascertain, given that in many cases the two warring factions provided their own disparate counts. 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. The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, when forces from the People's Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) carried out a massive artillery bombardment on the U.S. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh, located in South Vietnam near the border with Laos. On April 5, 1968, MACV prepared an Analysis of the Khe Sanh Battle for General Westmoreland. [33], On 27 October, a PAVN regiment attacked an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) battalion at Song Be, capital of Phc Long Province. Johnson backed the Marine position due to his concern over protecting the Army's air assets from Air Force co-option. What did the 25th Infantry do in Vietnam? - 2023 [40] The 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 3rd Marine Regiment, under the command of Colonel John P. Lanigan, reinforced KSCB and were given the task of pushing the PAVN off of Hills 861, 881 North, and 881 South. [90], The Tet Offensive was launched prematurely in some areas on 30 January. [66] Hours after the bombardment ceased, the base was still in danger. Operation Scotland II continued until the end of the year, resulting in the deaths of 72 more Marines. [82], By the end of the battle, USAF assets had flown 9,691 tactical sorties and dropped 14,223tons of bombs on targets within the Khe Sanh area. The aircrew then had to contend with antiaircraft fire on the way out. [27][28] The Marines' defensive system stretched below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the coast, along Route 9, to Khe Sanh. At 0330 hours, soldiers of the NVA 6th Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 325C Division, attacked the Marines on Hill 861. Khe Sanh had long been responsible for the defense of Lang Vei. Overnight, they were moved to a temporary position a short distance from the perimeter and from there, some of the Laotians were eventually evacuated, although the majority turned around and walked back down Route 9 toward Laos. For example, I served with a Marine heavy mortar battery at Khe Sanh during the siege. And it had accomplished its purpose magnificently. Cushman, the new III MAF commander, supported Westmoreland perhaps because he wanted to mend Army/Marine relations after the departure of Walt. Week of February 19, 2023 | Vietnam War Commemoration [69] Due to the arrival of the 304th Division, KSCB was further reinforced by the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment on 22 January. [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. The Marines knew that their withdrawal from Khe Sanh would present a propaganda victory for Hanoi. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Those 10 deaths were also left out of the official statistics. By early 1967, the Marine position was reinforced to regimental strength. Only those killed in action during Operation Scotland, which began on November 1, 1967, and ended on March 31, 1968, were included in the official casualty count. [120], On 23 February, KSCB received its worst bombardment of the entire battle. Historians have observed that the Battle of Khe Sanh may have distracted American and South Vietnamese attention from the buildup of Viet Cong (VC) forces in the south before the early 1968 Tet Offensive. The Marines were extremely reluctant to relinquish authority over their aircraft to an Air Force general. The heavy reliance on American airpower was an ominous sign for Vietnamization and . The Marines fought long, hard and well at Khe Sanh, but they sacrificed in much greater numbers than has been acknowledged by official sources. . When the weather later cleared in March, the amount was increased to 40 tons per day. Free shipping for many products! The NVA 304th Divisions history notes that on 9 July 1968, the liberation flag was waving from the flag pole at Ta Con [Khe Sanh] airfield. On July 13, 1968, Ho Chi Minh sent a message to the soldiers of the Route 9Khe Sanh Front affirming our victory at Khe Sanh.. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. Among the dead Marines was 18-year-old Pfc Curtis Bugger. "[162] Those who agree with Westmoreland reason that no other explanation exists for Hanoi to commit so many forces to the area instead of deploying them for the Tet Offensive. But only by checking my service record while writing this article did it become evident that I had participated in all three operations. wikipedia.en/Rathvon_M._Tompkins.md at main chinapedia/wikipedia.en Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh by Murphy, Edward F. (mass_market) at the best online prices at eBay! [104] Ladd, back on the scene, reported that the Marines stated, "they couldn't trust any gooks in their damn camp. [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 Pegasus force consisted of the Army 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) plus the 1st Marine Regiment. [145], Author Peter Brush details that an "additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II through the end of June 1968". Its mission was to destroy the Special Forces and their Vietnamese allies and to ambush any reinforcements coming from Khe Sanh. Khe Sanh Incident - force.com For most of the battle, low-lying clouds and fog enclosed the area from early morning until around noon, and poor visibility severely hampered aerial resupply. As far as PAVN casualties were concerned, 1,602 bodies were counted, seven prisoners were taken, and two soldiers defected to allied forces during the operation. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, then began planning for incursion into Laos, and in October, the construction of an airfield at Khe Sanh was completed. A decision then had to be made by the American high command to commit more of the limited manpower in I Corps to the defense of Khe Sanh or to abandon the base. During this time, KSCB and the hilltop outposts around it were subjected to constant PAVN artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks, and several infantry assaults. From the Hu site the communication signal was sent to Danang headquarters where it could be sent anywhere in the world. [58] The USAF delivered 14,356 tons of supplies to Khe Sanh by air (8,120 tons by paradrop). The Battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. [97] During a meeting at Da Nang at 07:00 the next morning, Westmoreland and Cushman accepted Lownds' decision. "[155], According to military historian Ronald Spector, to reasonably record the fighting at Khe Sanh as an American victory is impossible. [81] The sensors were implanted by a special naval squadron, Observation Squadron Sixty-Seven (VO-67). "[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. "[160] That has led other observers to conclude that the siege served a wider PAVN strategy by diverting 30,000 US troops away from the cities that were the main targets of the Tet Offensive. Besieged, Khe Sanh could only be resupplied by air. 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. [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. 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. A myth has grown up around this incident. At around 10:00, the fire ignited a large quantity of explosives, rocking the base with another series of detonations. He believed that was proved by the PAVN's actions during Tet. PAVN forces were driven out of the area around Khe Sanh after suffering 940 casualties. 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. Whether the destruction of one battalion could have been the goal of two to four PAVN divisions was debatable. [70] Regardless, the SOG reconnaissance teams kept patrolling, providing the only human intelligence available in the battle area. On that day, Tolson ordered his unit to immediately make preparations for Operation Delaware, an air assault into the A Shau Valley. With Khe Sanh facing a full-scale. However, even if Westmoreland believed his statement, his argument never moved on to the next logical level. The PAVN claim that during the entire battle they "eliminated" 17,000 enemy troops, including 13,000 Americans and destroyed 480 aircraft. [26] From there, reconnaissance teams were launched into Laos to explore and gather intelligence on the PAVN logistical system known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, also known as "Truong Son Strategic Supply Route" to the North Vietnamese soldiers. Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh, 1967 They produced a body count ratio in the range between 50:1 and 75:1. 216217. [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 strike wounded two more Strike Force soldiers and damaged two bunkers. Battle of la Drang Valley (26 October - 27 . [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. Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline - PBS The lossesindicating that the enemy suffered a major defeatwere estimated at 3,550 KIA inflicted by delivered fires (i.e., aerial and artillery bombardment) and 2,000 KIA from ground action, for a total of 5,550 estimated North Vietnamese killed in action as of March 31. Even so, Westmoreland insisted for it not only to be occupied by the Marines but also for it to be reinforced. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. New material will be added to that page through the end of 2018. [62], On 20 January, La Thanh Ton, a PAVN lieutenant from the 325th Division, defected and laid out the plans for an entire series of PAVN attacks. The Battle of Khe Sanh and Its Retellings - The Atlantic [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. MACV therefore initiated an operation to open Route 9 to vehicle traffic. Due to the nature of these activities, and the threat that they posed to KSCB, Westmoreland ordered Operation Niagara I, an intense intelligence collection effort on PAVN activities in the vicinity of the Khe Sanh Valley. Both sides have published official histories of the battle, and while these histories agree the fighting took place at Khe Sanh, they disagree on virtually every other aspect of it. It was the only time Americans abandoned a major combat base because of enemy pressure. The official assessment of the North Vietnamese Army dead is just over 1,600 killed, with two . The Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), with more than 400 helicopters under its control, conducted airmobile operations deeper into enemy-controlled areas. At dawn on 21 January, it was attacked by a roughly 300-strong PAVN battalion. 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. [123][124], Nevertheless, the same day that the trenches were detected, 25 February, 3rd Platoon from Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 26th Marines was ambushed on a short patrol outside the base's perimeter to test the PAVN strength. "[52], Brigadier General Lowell English (assistant commander 3rd Marine Division) complained that the defense of the isolated outpost was ludicrous: "When you're at Khe Sanh, you're not really anywhere. The deaths of U.S. Air Force personnel, estimated between five and 20, are also omitted. The NVA used Hill 881 North to launch 122mm rockets at the Marines during the siege. For additional reading, see: Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh, by John Prados and Ray W. Stubbe; and the official Marine Corps history, The Battle for Khe Sanh, by Moyers S. Shore II. Then, on the morning of 6 February, the PAVN fired mortars into the Lang Vei compound, wounding eight Camp Strike Force soldiers. Unlike the official figures, Stubbes database of Khe Sanh casualties includes verifiable names and dates of death. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. In 1966 the Marines built a base adjacent to the Army position, and organized their combat activities around named operations. [147] The official closure of the base came on 5 July after fighting, which had killed five more Marines. The 26th Marine Regiment (26th Marines) is an inactivated infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Ten American soldiers were killed; the rest managed to escape down Route 9 to Khe Sanh. The pallet slid to a halt on the airstrip while the aircraft never had to actually land. The last of the American casualties were finally lifted off Hill 861 on March 17. Scotland was a 26th Marine Regiment operation, so only the deaths of Marines assigned to the regiment, and attached supporting units, were counted. 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. [35], American intelligence analysts were quite baffled by the series of enemy actions. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. [12], General Creighton Abrams also suggested that the North Vietnamese may have been planning to emulate Dien Bien Phu. [33], The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. [47][Note 3] Westmoreland regarded the choice as quite simple. Its main objectives were to inflict casualties on US troops and to isolate them in the remote border regions. Less likely to be mentioned is the final high-casualty engagement between units of the U.S. infantry and the North Vietnamese Army. 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. [127] At 08:00 the following day, Operation Scotland was officially terminated. The Siege of Khe Sanh. Aug 23, 2013. Upon closer analysis, the official figure does not accurately portray even what it purports to represent. The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The fire of PAVN antiaircraft units took its toll of helicopters that made the attempt. 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. The link-up between the relief force and the Marines at KSCB took place at 08:00 on 8 April, when the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment entered the camp. "[73], Nevertheless, ultimately the nuclear option was discounted by military planners. [61] To cover a defilade near the Rao Quan River, four companies from 2/26 were immediately sent out to occupy Hill 558, with another manning Hill 861A. Due to severe losses, however, the NVA abandoned its plan for a massive ground attack. The explanations given out by the Saigon command were that "the enemy had changed his tactics and reduced his forces; that PAVN had carved out new infiltration routes; that the Marines now had enough troops and helicopters to carry out mobile operations; that a fixed base was no longer necessary. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. The Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. Army Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ladd (commander, 5th Special Forces Group), who had just flown in from Khe Sanh, was reportedly, "astounded that the Marines, who prided themselves on leaving no man behind, were willing to write off all of the Green Berets and simply ignore the fall of Lang Vei. In response, US forces were built up before the PAVN isolated the Marine base. The origin of the combat base lay in the construction by US Army Special Forces of an airfield in August 1962 outside the village at an old French fort. 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. 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. Sporadic actions were taken in the vicinity during the late summer and early fall, the most serious of which was the ambush of a supply convoy on Route 9. Ho Chi Minhs oft-quoted admonition to the French applied equally to the Americans: You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win. The calculation by Stubbe that approximately 1,000 Americans died on the Khe Sanh battlefield is especially compelling, given that Stubbes numbers are accompanied by names and dates of death. That was accomplished, but the casualties absorbed by the North Vietnamese seemed to negate any direct gains they might have obtained. Dr. Chris McNab is the editor of AMERICAN BATTLES & CAMPAIGNS: A Chronicle, from 1622-Present and is an experienced specialist in wilderness and urban survival techniques. [21], The fighting at Khe Sanh was so volatile that the Joint Chiefs and MACV commanders were uncertain that the base could be held by the Marines. [93], The situation changed radically during the early morning hours of 7 February. Five Marines were killed on January 19 and 20, while on reconnaissance patrols. [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. 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. American intelligence estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 PAVN troops were killed during the operation, equating to up to 90% of the attacking 17,200-man PAVN force. [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. [110], As more infantry units had been assigned to defend KSCB, artillery reinforcement kept pace. Since the official duration of the battle ends even earlier than the termination of the siege itself, a wider definition of the Khe Sanh battlefield to include Operations Scotland, Pegasus and Scotland II also seems reasonable. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. by John Prados. The NVA surrounded Khe Sanh in an attempt to force the Marines to break out of their fighting positions, which would make it easier to engage and destroy them. Only nine US battalions were available from Hue/Phu Bai northward. What was a major Battle in the Vietnam War? - 2023 The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. [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. Khe Sanh was one of the most remote outposts in Vietnam, but by January 1968, even President Lyndon Johnson had taken a personal interest in the base. He gave the order for US Marines to take up positions around Khe Sanh. [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. Air Power in the Siege of Khe Sanh - HistoryNet [78], Thus began what was described by John Morocco as "the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare". On April 15, Operation Pegasus ended and Operation Scotland II began. Lownds also rejected a proposal to launch a helicopter extraction of the survivors. In 1970, the Office of Air Force History published a then "top secret", but now declassified, 106-page report, titled The Air Force in Southeast Asia: Toward a Bombing Halt, 1968. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. For them, the battle started when the North Vietnamese attacks began in January. The platoon withdrew following a three-hour battle that left six Marines dead, 24 missing, and one taken prisoner. On the morning of 22 January Lownds decided to evacuate the remaining forces in the village with most of the Americans evacuated by helicopter while two advisers led the surviving local forces overland to the combat base. [125] The 325C Divisional Headquarters was the first to leave, followed by the 95C and 101D Regiments, all of which relocated to the west. The Marines at KSCB credited 40% of intelligence available to their fire-support coordination center to the sensors. Had the plane been shot down departing Khe Sanh, the casualties would have been counted. Because of washed-out bridges and heavy enemy activity, however, the only way for Americans to get to Khe Sanh was by helicopter or airplane. First had been Operation Full Cry, the original three-division invasion plan. The Marines and their allies at Khe Sanh engaged tens of thousands, and killed thousands, of NVA over a period of many weeks. [71][72], Nine days before the Tet Offensive broke out, the PAVN opened the battle of Khe Sanh and attacked the US forces just south of the DMZ.