In the aftermath, the North Vietnamese proclaimed a victory at Khe Sanh, while US forces claimed that they had withdrawn, as the base was no longer required. Of the 7877 officer casualties, 7595 or 96.4% were white, 147 or 1.8% were black; 24 or . [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. [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. Operation Scotland II continued until the end of the year, resulting in the deaths of 72 more Marines. The Marines suffered 155 killed in action and 425 wounded. [138] At 08:00 on 15 April, Operation Pegasus was officially terminated. Battle of Khe Sanh begins - HISTORY At about 0640 hours the NVA 7th Battalion, 66th Regiment, 304th Division, attacked the Huong Hoa District headquarters in Khe Sanh village. It was not sufficient to simply be an American military person killed in the fighting there during the winter and spring of 1967-68. In the US, the media following the battle drew comparisons with the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which proved disastrous for the French. 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. Five more attacks against their sector were launched during March. 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. "[159] In assessing North Vietnamese intentions, Peter Brush cites the claim of Vietnamese theater commander, V Nguyn Gip, "that Khe Sanh itself was not of importance, but only a diversion to draw U.S. forces away from the populated areas of South Vietnam. The advance would be supported by 102 pieces of artillery. 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. [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. It was the only time Americans abandoned a major combat base because of enemy pressure. The deaths of U.S. Air Force personnel, estimated between five and 20, are also omitted. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. The fighting around Khe Sanh began January 21, 1968, and concluded around April 8, 1968. [147] The official closure of the base came on 5 July after fighting, which had killed five 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. [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. [129][130] Nevertheless, according to Tom Johnson, President Johnson was "determined that Khe Sanh [would not] be an 'American Dien Bien Phu'". [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]. Key Battles | Vietnam War - Pritzker Military Museum & Library Throughout the battle, Marine artillerymen fired 158,891 mixed rounds. Over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US aircraft and over 158,000 artillery rounds were fired in defense of the base. For a succinct overview of the creation of the CIDG program and its operations. An additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II as of the end of June 1968. 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. Battle of Khe Sanh - Wikipedia Minor attacks continued before the base was officially closed on 5 July. 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 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.. 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. today! The Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. [96], The Marines at Khe Sanh had a plan in place for providing a ground relief force in just such a contingency, but Lownds, fearing a PAVN ambush, refused to implement it. 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. [145], Author Peter Brush details that an "additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II through the end of June 1968". As early as 1962, the U.S. Military CommandVietnam (MACV) established an Army Special Forces camp near the village. [32], Westmoreland responded by launching Operation Neutralize, an aerial and naval bombardment campaign designed to break the siege. "[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. "[136], Regardless, on 1 April, Operation Pegasus began. 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. Of the 500 CIDG troops at Lang Vei, 200 had been killed or were missing and 75 more were wounded. Military History Institute of Vietnam, p. 222. Battle of Khe Sanh: Greatest U.S. Victory in Vietnam - HistoryNet 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. [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. The North Vietnamese lost as many as 15,000 casualties during the siege of Khe Sanh. U.S. Marines and their allies killed thousands of NVA, but to solve the riddle of Khe Sanh, you have to recount the numbers. The Battle of Khe Sanh's initial action cost the Marines 12 killed, 17 wounded and two missing. The NVA continued shelling the base, and on July 1 launched a company-sized infantry attack against its perimeter. Battle of Dak To in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo A Look at the Damage from the Secret War in Laos, How Operation Homecoming Was Sprung into Action to Repatriate American POWs, The Viet Cong Were Shooting Down Americans From a Cave Until This GI Stopped Them, https://www.historynet.com/recounting-the-casualties-at-the-deadly-battle-of-khe-sanh/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. [12] Further fighting followed, resulting in the loss of another 11 Marines and 89 PAVN soldiers, before the Marines finally withdrew from the area on 11 July. wikipedia.en/Rathvon_M._Tompkins.md at main chinapedia/wikipedia.en [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. Besieged, Khe Sanh could only be resupplied by air. The official, public estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 North Vietnamese KIA stands in contrast to another estimate made by the American military. 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. The 26th Marines were activated in 1944 and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II and were activated again on 1 March 1966, and fought in the Battle of Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War . 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. Upon closer analysis, the official figure does not accurately portray even what it purports to represent. 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The PAVN would try to take Khe Sanh, but if could not, it would occupy the attention of as many American and South Vietnamese forces in I Corps as it could, which would facilitate the Tet Offensive. The Battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo Senior Marine Corps General Victor Krulak agreed, noting on May 13 that the Marines had defeated the North Vietnamese and won the battle of Khe Sanh. Over time, these KIA figures have been accepted by historians. The attacks hindered the advancement of the McNamara Line, and as the fighting around Khe Sanh intensified, vital equipment including sensors and other hardware had to be diverted from elsewhere to meet the needs of the US garrison at Khe Sanh. A closer look at the Khe Sanh body count, however, reveals anything but a straightforward matter of numbers. On 19 June 1968, the evacuation and destruction of KSCB began. Of the 24 Americans at the camp, 10 had been killed and 11 wounded. As a result of this intelligence, KSCB was reinforced on 22 January 1968 by the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment. At least 852 PAVN soldiers were killed during the action, as opposed to 50 American and South Vietnamese. [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". Westmoreland believed that the latter was the case, and his belief was the basis for his desire to stage "Dien Bien Phu in reverse. [163] Other theories argued that the forces around Khe Sanh were simply a localized defensive measure in the DMZ area or that they were serving as a reserve in case of an offensive American end run in the mode of the American invasion at Inchon during the Korean War. [97] During a meeting at Da Nang at 07:00 the next morning, Westmoreland and Cushman accepted Lownds' decision. [148], Regardless, the PAVN had gained control of a strategically important area, and its lines of communication extended further into South Vietnam. 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. 535 Results : page 1 of 54. Khe Sanh Incident - force.com He believed that was proved by the PAVN's actions during Tet. The opportunity to engage and destroy a formerly elusive enemy that was moving toward a fixed position promised a victory of unprecedented proportions. After its adoption, Marine helicopters flew in 465 tons of supplies during February. The Operation Scotland tactical area of responsibility (TAOR) was limited to the area around Khe Sanh along Route 9 in western Quang Tri province. The village, 3km south of the base, was defended by 160 local Bru troops, plus 15 American advisers. The plane, piloted by Lt. Col. Frederick J. Hampton, crashed in a huge fireball a few miles east of Khe Sanh, killing all aboard. No logic was apparent to them behind the sustained PAVN/VC offensives other than to inflict casualties on the allied forces. During this time, KSCB and the hilltop outposts around it were subjected to constant PAVN artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks, and several infantry assaults. [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. How many American soldiers died in the Battle of Ia Drang? The NVAs main command post was located in Laos, at Sar Lit. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. 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. [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. Both sides suffered major casualties with both claiming victory of their own. That appraisal was later altered when the PAVN was found to be moving major forces into the area. For example, I served with a Marine heavy mortar battery at Khe Sanh during the siege. Battle of Khe Sanh "What had been a combat base looked like rubble." A US Marine carries an American flag on his rifle during a recovery operation 6 miles south of Khe Sanh, Vietnam, June 17 . Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January - 9 April 1968) Max Hastings wrote a bestseller on Vietnam, and Dan met him to discuss Domino theory, whether it was possible for the US to win the war and the effect the war had on those who fought in it. [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. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego - twarda okadka w bardzo dobrym stanie | Books & Magazines, Books | eBay! The battle of Khe Sanh is one of the most well-known battles of the Vietnam War. [110], As more infantry units had been assigned to defend KSCB, artillery reinforcement kept pace. The Battle of Ban Houei Sane, not the attack three weeks later at Lang Vei, marked the first time that the PAVN had committed an armored unit to battle. The NVA used Hill 881 North to launch 122mm rockets at the Marines during the siege. [133] The Marines would be accompanied by their 11th Engineer Battalion, which would repair the road as the advance moved forward. [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. [33], The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. On 22 March, over 1,000 North Vietnamese rounds fell on the base, and once again, the ammunition dump was detonated. Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline - PBS [141] Because of the close proximity of the enemy and their high concentration, the massive B-52 bombings, tactical airstrikes, and vast use of artillery, PAVN casualties were estimated by MACV as being between 10,000 and 15,000 men. [69] The Marine Direct Air Support Center (DASC), located at KSCB, was responsible for the coordination of air strikes with artillery fire. The Marines, fearing an ambush, did not attempt a relief, and after heavy fighting the camp was overrun. This article was written by Peter Brush and originally published in the June 2007 issue of Vietnam Magazine. The report, originally classified as secret, noted that intelligence from many sources indicated conclusively that the North Vietnamese had planned a massive ground attack against the base. 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. On March 6, two U.S. Air Force C-123 cargo airplanes departed Da Nang Air Base en route to Khe Sanh. [34] US intelligence estimated between 1,200 and 1,600 PAVN troops were killed, and 362 members of the US 4th Infantry Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and ARVN Airborne elements were killed in action, but three of the four battalions of the 4th Infantry and the entire 173rd were rendered combat-ineffective during the battle. [111] The base could also depend on fire support from US Army 175-mm guns located at Camp Carroll, east of Khe Sanh. This is also the position taken in the official PAVN history but offers no further explanation of the strategy. The strike wounded two more Strike Force soldiers and damaged two bunkers. The official assessment of the North Vietnamese Army dead is just over 1,600 killed, with two . And it had accomplished its purpose magnificently. The US command in Saigon initially believed that combat operations around KSCB during 1967 were part of a series of minor PAVN offensives in the border regions. A platoon from Company D, 1/26 Marines was sent from the base but was withdrawn in the face of the superior PAVN forces. The heavy reliance on American airpower was an ominous sign for Vietnamization and . [135] The Marines had constantly argued that technically, Khe Sanh had never been under siege, since it had never truly been isolated from resupply or reinforcement. [74], During January, the recently installed electronic sensors of Operation Muscle Shoals (later renamed "Igloo White"), which were undergoing test and evaluation in southeastern Laos, were alerted by a flurry of PAVN activity along the Ho Chi Minh Trail opposite the northwestern corner of South Vietnam. On July 10, Pfc Robert Hernandez of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, was manning an M-60 machine gun position when it took a direct hit from NVA mortars. At 00:30 on 21 January, Hill 861 was attacked by about 300 PAVN troops, the Marines, however, were prepared. In 1966 the Marines built a base adjacent to the Army position, and organized their combat activities around named operations. [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. Operation Pegasus, begun the day after Scotland ended, lasted until April 15. Indeed, had enemy forces not been at Khe Sanh, they could have joined the NVA and VC who occupied Hue, a much more important strategic target. A group of 12 A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers provided flak suppression for massed flights of 1216 helicopters, which would resupply the hills simultaneously. Just days before, as the Army of the . [107] The greatest impediments to the delivery of supplies to the base were the closure of Route 9 and the winter monsoon weather. [39], On 24 April 1967, a patrol from Bravo Company became engaged with a PAVN force of an unknown size north of Hill 861. Casualties were heavy among the attacking PAVN, who lost over 200 killed, while the defending Marines lost two men. The Laotians were overrun, and many fled to the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei. [157], Commencing in 1966, the US had attempted to establish a barrier system across the DMZ to prevent infiltration by North Vietnamese troops. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing. 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. That was superseded by the smaller contingency plans. [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. 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. The September bombardments ranged from 100 to 150 rounds per day, with a maximum on 25 September of 1,190 rounds. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The Marines claimed 115 PAVN killed, while their own casualties amounted to 10 dead, 100 wounded, and two missing. The distinctions between Operations Scotland, Pegasus and Scotland II, while important from the command perspective, were not necessarily apparent to individual Marines. Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh, 1967 The fire of PAVN antiaircraft units took its toll of helicopters that made the attempt. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. [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. Only nine US battalions were available from Hue/Phu Bai northward. [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. [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 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. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties : Showing All Results On April 20, Operation Prairie IV began, with heavy fighting between the Marines and NVA forces. By the middle of January 1968, some 6,000 Marines and Army troops occupied the Khe Sanh Combat Base and its surrounding positions. This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. The base was officially closed on July 5. [42], In the wake of the hill fights, a lull in PAVN activity occurred around Khe Sanh. The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh by Murphy, Edward F The Marine garrison was also reinforced, and on November 1, 1967, Operation Scotland began.
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