535 Results : page 1 of 54. [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. [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. [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. [139] The 11th Engineers proclaimed Route 9 open to traffic on 11 April. Many American casualties were caused by the 10,908 rounds of rockets, artillery and mortars the North Vietnamese fired into the base and hill positions. On January 21 at Khe Sanh, 30,000 North Vietnamese troops attacked an air base held by just 6,000 United States Marines. [38], Westmoreland won out, however, and the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment (1/3 Marines) was dispatched to occupy the camp and airstrip on 29 September. [34] The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. [138] At 08:00 on 15 April, Operation Pegasus was officially terminated. [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. Vietnam War - Tet Offensive & American public reaction The advance would be supported by 102 pieces of artillery. [21], PAVN artillery fell on the main base for the first time on 21 January. A victory for the Americans and South Vietnamese, the Battle of Dak To cost 376 US killed, 1,441 US wounded, and 79 ARVN killed. Cushman, the new III MAF commander, supported Westmoreland perhaps because he wanted to mend Army/Marine relations after the departure of Walt. Taking place between March and July 1970, the Battle of Fire. The Pegasus force consisted of the Army 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) plus the 1st Marine Regiment. Throughout the battle, Marine artillerymen fired 158,891 mixed rounds. 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. Shortly after midnight on February 7, a large NVA force, reinforced with tanks, attacked the camp. 528 of them include images. Just days before, as the Army of the . They fixed the attention of the American command on the border regions, and they drew American and ARVN forces away from the coastal lowlands and cities in preparation for the Tet Offensive. 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. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. [70] Regardless, the SOG reconnaissance teams kept patrolling, providing the only human intelligence available in the battle area. Marines stayed in the area, conducting operations to recover the bodies of Marines killed previously. The badly-deteriorated Route 9 ran from the coastal region through the western highlands and crossed the border into Laos. Later, the 1/1 Marines and 3rd ARVN Airborne Task Force (the 3rd, 6th, and 8th Airborne Battalions) would join the operation. [47][Note 3] Westmoreland regarded the choice as quite simple. January 30 marked the first day of the Vietnamese lunar new year celebration, called Tet. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. On that day, Tolson ordered his unit to immediately make preparations for Operation Delaware, an air assault into the A Shau Valley. The Marines at Khe Sanh Combat Base broke out of their perimeter and began attacking the North Vietnamese in the surrounding area. [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. 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. 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. [41], To prevent PAVN observation of the main base at the airfield and their possible use as firebases, the hills of the surrounding Khe Sanh Valley had to be continuously occupied and defended by separate Marine elements. [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. [117][20] The PAVN acknowledged 2,500 men killed in action. Amid heavy shelling, the Marines attempted to salvage what they could before destroying what remained as they were evacuated. Early in the war US forces had established a garrison at Khe Sanh in Quang Tri province, in the . [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. "[28], As far as Westmoreland was concerned, however, all that he needed to know was that the PAVN had massed large numbers of troops for a set-piece battle. As early as 1962, the U.S. Military CommandVietnam (MACV) established an Army Special Forces camp near the village. After its adoption, Marine helicopters flew in 465 tons of supplies during February. The village of Khe Sanh was the seat of government of Hng Hoa district, an area of Bru Montagnard villages and coffee plantations about 7 miles (11km) from the Laotian frontier on Route 9, the northernmost transverse road in South Vietnam. After a ten-day battle, the attackers were pushed back into Cambodia. Lownds also rejected a proposal to launch a helicopter extraction of the survivors. A limited attack was made by a PAVN company on 1 July, falling on a company from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, who were holding a position 3km to the southeast of the base. Consequently, and unknown at the time, Operation Scotland became the starting point of the Battle of Khe Sanh in terms of Marine casualty reporting. While climbing, the C-123 was struck by several bursts of heavy machine gun and recoilless rifle fire. [98] The Marines continued to oppose the operation until Westmoreland actually had to issue an order to Cushman to allow the rescue operation to proceed. The Soviet-built PT-76 amphibious tanks of the 203rd Armored Regiment churned over the defenses, backed up by an infantry assault by the 7th Battalion, 66th Regiment and the 4th Battalion of the 24th Regiment, both elements of the 304th Division. This is also the position taken in the official PAVN history but offers no further explanation of the strategy. [121] Casualties from the bombardment were 10 killed and 51 wounded. In response, US forces were built up before the PAVN isolated the Marine base. About two hours later, an NVA artillery barrage scored a hit on the main ammunition dump at Khe Sanh Combat Base, killing Lance Corp. Jerry Stenberg and other Marines. On April 6, a front-page story in The New York Times declared that the siege of Khe Sanh had been lifted. [48][Note 4], Not all leading Marine officers, however, had the same opinion. The United States and its South Vietnamese allies pulled many huge offensive . The Marines claimed 115 PAVN killed, while their own casualties amounted to 10 dead, 100 wounded, and two missing. Officer casualties of all branches were overwhelmingly white. Five Marines were killed on January 19 and 20, while on reconnaissance patrols. The strike wounded two more Strike Force soldiers and damaged two bunkers. On the afternoon of 29 January, however, the 3rd Marine Division notified Khe Sanh that the truce had been cancelled. The Twenty-fifth United States Infantry Regiment was one of the racially segregated units of the United States Army known as Buffalo Soldiers.The 25th served from 1866 to 1957, seeing action in the American Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War and World War II. According to the official PAVN history, by December 1967 the North Vietnamese had in place, or within supporting distance: the 304th, 320th, 324th and 325th Infantry Divisions, the independent 270th infantry Regiment; five artillery regiments (the 16th, 45th, 84th, 204th, and 675th); three AAA regiments (the 208th, 214th, and 228th); four tank companies; one engineer regiment plus one independent engineer battalion; one signal battalion; and a number of local force units. The Marines at KSCB credited 40% of intelligence available to their fire-support coordination center to the sensors. The battle of Khe Sanh: A history of the Vietnam War - Washington Post 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. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties We have 535 casualty profiles listed in our archive. Lima Company finally seized the hill after overcoming determined NVA resistance. [104] Ladd, back on the scene, reported that the Marines stated, "they couldn't trust any gooks in their damn camp. The Hill Fights - Wikipedia At about 0640 hours the NVA 7th Battalion, 66th Regiment, 304th Division, attacked the Huong Hoa District headquarters in Khe Sanh village. The border battles, however, had two significant consequences, which were unappreciated at the time. The Marines were extremely reluctant to relinquish authority over their aircraft to an Air Force general. Operation Pegasus: ~20,000 (1st Air Cavalry and Marine units), U.S. losses:At Khe Sanh: 274 killed2,541 wounded (not including ARVN Ranger, RF/PF, Forward Operation Base 3 US Army and Royal Laotian Army losses)[15]Operation Scotland I and Operation Pegasus: 730 killed2,642 wounded,7 missing[15]Operation Scotland II (15 April 1968 July 1968):485 killed2,396 wounded[1]USAF:5 ~ 20 killed, wounded unknown[1]Operation Charlie for the final evacuation:At least 11 marines killed, wounded unknown[1] 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 . On April 5, 1968, MACV prepared an Analysis of the Khe Sanh Battle for General Westmoreland. 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. That was accomplished, but the casualties absorbed by the North Vietnamese seemed to negate any direct gains they might have obtained. That was superseded by the smaller contingency plans. 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. Marine Corps aviators had flown 7,098 missions and released 17,015tons. 6,000 men North Vietnamese Vo Nguyen Giap Tran Quy Hai Approx. That appraisal was later altered when the PAVN was found to be moving major forces into the area. [122], In late February, ground sensors detected the 66th Regiment, 304th Division preparing to mount an attack on the positions of the 37th ARVN Ranger Battalion on the eastern perimeter. 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 Operation Scotland tactical area of responsibility (TAOR) was limited to the area around Khe Sanh along Route 9 in western Quang Tri province. 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. 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. [58] These tactics were reminiscent of those employed against the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, particularly in relation to entrenching tactics and artillery placement, and the realization assisted US planners in their targeting decisions. The plane, piloted by Lt. Col. Frederick J. Hampton, crashed in a huge fireball a few miles east of Khe Sanh, killing all aboard. The official, public estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 North Vietnamese KIA stands in contrast to another estimate made by the American military. 1st Marine Aircraft Wing records claim that the unit delivered 4,661 tons of cargo into KSCB. [152] The Marines occupied Hill 950 overlooking the Khe Sanh plateau from 1966 until September 1969 when control was handed to the Army who used the position as a SOG operations and support base until it was overrun by the PAVN in June 1971. 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. McNamara wrote: "because of terrain and other conditions peculiar to our operations in South Vietnam, it is inconceivable that the use of nuclear weapons would be recommended there against either Viet Cong or North Vietnamese forces". Khe Sanh - Location, Vietnam War & Who Won - HISTORY This, however, did not prevent the Marine tanks within the perimeter from training their guns on the SOG camp. [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. While suffering less significant casualties (around 10,000 dead), ARVN units had only turned back the attacking PAVN forces with massive American air support. [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. Further information on the bombing campaign: Further information on the electronic sensor system: Westmoreland's plan to use nuclear weapons, President Johnson orders that the base be held at all costs, Operation Charlie: evacuation of the base. [94] Although the PAVN was known to possess two armored regiments, it had not yet fielded an armored unit in South Vietnam, and besides, the Americans considered it impossible for them to get one down to Khe Sanh without it being spotted by aerial reconnaissance. The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Qung Tr Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. [27][28] The Marines' defensive system stretched below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the coast, along Route 9, to Khe Sanh. MACV therefore initiated an operation to open Route 9 to vehicle traffic. During this time, KSCB and the hilltop outposts around it were subjected to constant PAVN artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks, and several infantry assaults. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. The American military presence at Khe Sanh consisted not only of the Marine Corps Khe Sanh Combat Base, but also Forward Operating Base 3, U.S. Army (FOB-3). [54] In attempting to determine PAVN intentions Marine intelligence confirmed that, within a period of just over a week, the 325th Division had moved into the vicinity of the base and two more divisions were within supporting distance. The microwave/tropo site was located in an underground bunker next to the airstrip. 216217. Operation Pegasus, begun the day after Scotland ended, lasted until April 15. Battle of Khe Sanh begins - HISTORY [134], Westmoreland's planned relief effort infuriated the Marines, who had not wanted to hold Khe Sanh in the first place and who had been roundly criticized for not defending it well. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. [35], American intelligence analysts were quite baffled by the series of enemy actions. Naval aircrews, many of whom were redirected from Operation Rolling Thunder strikes against North Vietnam, flew 5,337 sorties and dropped 7,941 tons of ordnance in the area. This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. [173][174], After the ARVN defeat in Laos, the newly-reopened KSCB came under attack by PAVN sappers and artillery and the base was abandoned once again on 6 April 1971.[175][176]. 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. Gordan L Rottman, Osprey Campaign 150: The Khe Sanh 1967-68, p. 51. At 00:30 on 21 January, Hill 861 was attacked by about 300 PAVN troops, the Marines, however, were prepared. [31] Mortar rounds, artillery shells, and 122mm rockets fell randomly but incessantly upon the base. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. And it had accomplished its purpose magnificently. However, the PAVN committed three regiments to the fighting from the Khe Sanh sector. [39], On 24 April 1967, a patrol from Bravo Company became engaged with a PAVN force of an unknown size north of Hill 861. Military History Institute of Vietnam, p. 222. [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. What did the 25th Infantry do in Vietnam? - 2023 [133] The Marines would be accompanied by their 11th Engineer Battalion, which would repair the road as the advance moved forward. [Note 5] This event prompted Cushman to reinforce Lownds with the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines. 5 Major Battles of the Vietnam War | History Hit
Connecticut Post Recent Obituaries,
C'est Gentil Ou Gentille,
Who Were Jfk's Pallbearers,
Articles B