The fact that the North Vietnamese committed only about half of their available forces to the offensive (6070,000), most of whom were Viet Cong, is cited in favor of Westmoreland's argument. The 26th Marine Regiment (26th Marines) is an inactivated infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. "[91][92], Not much activity (with the exception of patrolling) had occurred thus far during the battle for the Special Forces Detachment A-101 and their four companies of Bru CIDGs stationed at Lang Vei. At 00:30 on 21 January, Hill 861 was attacked by about 300 PAVN troops, the Marines, however, were prepared. On April 15, Operation Pegasus ended and Operation Scotland II began. [10] Once the news of the closure of KSCB was announced, the American media immediately raised questions about the reasoning behind its abandonment. Of the 500 CIDG troops at Lang Vei, 200 had been killed or were missing and 75 more were wounded. A closer look at the Khe Sanh body count, however, reveals anything but a straightforward matter of numbers. At around 10:00, the fire ignited a large quantity of explosives, rocking the base with another series of detonations. [12], Following the closure of the base, a small force of Marines remained around Hill 689 carrying out mopping-up operations. [1], The evacuation of Khe Sanh began on 19 June 1968 as Operation Charlie. [21][68], To eliminate any threat to their flank, the PAVN attacked Laotian Battalion BV-33, located at Ban Houei Sane, on Route 9 in Laos. By early 1967, the Marine position was reinforced to regimental strength. 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 figures of 5,500 NVA dead and 1,000 U.S. dead yield a ratio of 5.5:1. [145], Author Peter Brush details that an "additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II through the end of June 1968". 50 Years Ago, US Troops Fought the Battle of Khe Sanh - Business Insider [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. [21], PAVN artillery fell on the main base for the first time on 21 January. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. The strike wounded two more Strike Force soldiers and damaged two bunkers. Westmoreland was replaced two months after the end of the battle, and his successor explained the retreat in different ways. SOG Reconnaissance teams also reported finding tank tracks in the area surrounding Co Roc mountain. [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. 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. A smaller slice of the action saw Americans on the receiving end, defending some firebase or outpost. Time magazine, in an April 12, 1968, article titled Victory at Khe Sanh, reported General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, after flying into Khe Sanh by helicopter, declaring: We took 220 killed at Khe Sanh and about 800 wounded and evacuated. 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. The battle of Khe Sanh: A history of the Vietnam War - Washington Post [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. As journalist Robert Pisor pointed out in his 1982 book, The End of the Line: The Siege of Khe Sanh, no other battle of the entire war produced a better body count or kill ratio than that claimed by the Americans at Khe Sanh. How many American soldiers died in the Battle of Ia Drang? "[168][Note 7], Marine General Rathvon M. Tompkins, the commander of the 3rd Marine Division, pointed out that had the PAVN actually intended to take Khe Sanh, PAVN troops could have cut the base's sole source of water, a stream 500 m outside the perimeter of the base. The Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), with more than 400 helicopters under its control, conducted airmobile operations deeper into enemy-controlled areas. Then, on the morning of 6 February, the PAVN fired mortars into the Lang Vei compound, wounding eight Camp Strike Force soldiers. The Battle of la Drang was considered essential because it sets up a change of tactics for both troops during the conflict. Several rounds also landed on Hill 881. 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 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. 129131. [79] On an average day, 350 tactical fighter-bombers, 60 B-52s, and 30 light observation or reconnaissance aircraft operated in the skies near the base. 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.. This is also the position taken in the official PAVN history but offers no further explanation of the strategy. Vietnam War - Tet Offensive & American public reaction After its adoption, Marine helicopters flew in 465 tons of supplies during February. [95], It still came as a shock to the Special Forces troopers at Lang Vei when 12 tanks attacked their camp. What did the 25th Infantry do in Vietnam? - 2023 [32], Westmoreland responded by launching Operation Neutralize, an aerial and naval bombardment campaign designed to break the siege. 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. Battle of Khe Sanh - Wikipedia Reinforcements from the ARVN 256th Regional Force (RF) company were dispatched aboard nine UH-1 helicopters of the 282nd Assault Helicopter Company, but they were landed near the abandoned French fort/former FOB-3 which was occupied by the PAVN who killed many of the RF troops and 4 Americans, including Lieutenant colonel Joseph Seymoe the deputy adviser for Quang Tri Province and forcing the remaining helicopters to abandon the mission. Two further attacks later in the morning were halted before the PAVN finally withdrew. In an unconventional war without conventional frontlines, statistics became the most critical measure of progress. [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. 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. [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. On July 11, the Marines finally left Khe Sanh. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. Military History Institute of Vietnam, p. 222. 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. That was superseded by the smaller contingency plans. The fighting around Khe Sanh began January 21, 1968, and concluded around April 8, 1968. 6,000 men North Vietnamese Vo Nguyen Giap Tran Quy Hai Approx. [140] Total US casualties during the operation were 92 killed, 667 wounded, and five missing. The adoption of this concept at the end of February was the turning point in the resupply effort. 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. [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. The microwave/tropo site was located in an underground bunker next to the airstrip. The Marines suffered 155 killed in action and 425 wounded. Shortly after midnight on February 7, a large NVA force, reinforced with tanks, attacked the camp. [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. Besieged, Khe Sanh could only be resupplied by air. At 1530 hours the first C-123, with 44 passengers and a crew of five, began to land. Although the camp's main defenses were overrun in only 13 minutes, the fighting lasted for several hours, during which the Special Forces men and Bru CIDGs managed to knock out at least five of the tanks. [78], Thus began what was described by John Morocco as "the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare". What is the 25th Infantry known for? The opportunity to engage and destroy a formerly elusive enemy that was moving toward a fixed position promised a victory of unprecedented proportions. They produced a body count ratio in the range between 50:1 and 75:1. 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. [69] Due to the arrival of the 304th Division, KSCB was further reinforced by the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment on 22 January. The official figure of 205 KIA only represents Marine deaths in the Operation Scotland TAORthat is, Marines killed in proximity to the Khe Sanh Combat Base during the period from November 1, 1967, to March 31, 1968. Battle of Khe Sanh begins - HISTORY 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. First had been Operation Full Cry, the original three-division invasion plan. Soon after, another shell hit a cache of tear gas, which saturated the entire area. Vietnam 40 years later: 101st Airborne Division veteran recalls Ripcord Battle of Khe Sanh: American Casualties : Showing All Results. At the same time, the 304th Division withdrew to the southwest. [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. 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. 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. [138], On the following day, the 2nd Brigade captured the old French fort near Khe Sanh village after a three-day battle. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. today! 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. [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 22 March, over 1,000 North Vietnamese rounds fell on the base, and once again, the ammunition dump was detonated. The attack on Khe Sanh, however, proved to be a diversionary tactic for the larger Tet Offensive. [117][20] The PAVN acknowledged 2,500 men killed in action. On April 6, a front-page story in The New York Times declared that the siege of Khe Sanh had been lifted. That was accomplished, but the casualties absorbed by the North Vietnamese seemed to negate any direct gains they might have obtained. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing. Two Marines died. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego - twarda okadka w bardzo dobrym stanie | Books & Magazines, Books | eBay! A 77 day battle, Khe Sanh had been the biggest single battle of the Vietnam War to that point. The Battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo He gave the order for US Marines to take up positions around Khe Sanh. While suffering less significant casualties (around 10,000 dead), ARVN units had only turned back the attacking PAVN forces with massive American air support. [166] This view was supported by a captured North Vietnamese study of the battle in 1974 that stated that the PAVN would have taken Khe Sanh if it could have done so, but there was a limit to the price that it would pay. [129][130] Nevertheless, according to Tom Johnson, President Johnson was "determined that Khe Sanh [would not] be an 'American Dien Bien Phu'". The latest microwave/tropospheric scatter technology enabled them to maintain communications at all times. [87], Heated debate arose among Westmoreland, Commandant of the Marine Corps Leonard F. Chapman Jr., and Army Chief of Staff Harold K. Johnson. On Easter Sunday, April 14, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines (3/26), assaulted Hill 881 North in order to clear the enemy firing positions. [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 border battles, however, had two significant consequences, which were unappreciated at the time. Those 10 deaths were also left out of the official statistics. 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 NVAs main command post was located in Laos, at Sar Lit. Scotland was a 26th Marine Regiment operation, so only the deaths of Marines assigned to the regiment, and attached supporting units, were counted. 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. The NVA continued shelling the base, and on July 1 launched a company-sized infantry attack against its perimeter. Casualties were heavy among the attacking PAVN, who lost over 200 killed, while the defending Marines lost two men. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. That afternoon, as a rescue force was dispatched to the village, Army Lt. Col. Joseph Seymoe and other soldiers died when their helicopter was attacked. Site will be misbehaving during our migration to new (better!) That action prematurely triggered a PAVN offensive aimed at taking Khe Sanh. One of the first enemy shells set off an explosion in the main ammunition dump. The official statistics yield a KIA ratio of between 50:1 and 75:1 of North Vietnamese to U.S. military deaths.
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