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The Battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo [108] The most dramatic supply delivery system used at Khe Sanh was the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System, in which palletized supplies were pulled out of the cargo bay of a low-flying transport aircraft by means of an attached parachute. In the course of the fighting, Allied forces fired 151,000 artillery rounds, flew 2,096 tactical air sorties, and conducted 257 B-52 Stratofortress strikes. A single company replaced an entire battalion. The heavy reliance on American airpower was an ominous sign for Vietnamization and . [99] The relief effort was not launched until 15:00, and it was successful. 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. 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. Five more attacks against their sector were launched during March. 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. Battle of Khe Sanh: American Casualties : Showing All Results. According to Gordon Rottman, even the North Vietnamese official history, Victory in Vietnam, is largely silent on the issue. He believed that was proved by the PAVN's actions during Tet. 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. Cushman was appalled by the "implication of a rescue or breaking of the siege by outside forces. Westmoreland echoed this judgment in his memoirs, and, using exactly the same figures, concluded that the North Vietnamese had suffered a most damaging and one-sided defeat. What is the 25th Infantry known for? I suspect he is also trying to draw everyone's attention away from the greatest area of threat, the northern part of I Corps. As early as 1962, the U.S. Military CommandVietnam (MACV) established an Army Special Forces camp near the village. Minor attacks continued before the base was officially closed on 5 July. [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. Soon after, another shell hit a cache of tear gas, which saturated the entire area. Scotland was a 26th Marine Regiment operation, so only the deaths of Marines assigned to the regiment, and attached supporting units, were counted. [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. Due to severe losses, however, the NVA abandoned its plan for a massive ground attack. The Battle of Khe Sanh began 50 years ago this week when roughly 20,000 North Vietnamese troops surrounded an isolated combat base . 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. 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. [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. Amid heavy shelling, the Marines attempted to salvage what they could before destroying what remained as they were evacuated. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. The fighting was heavy. [104] Ladd, back on the scene, reported that the Marines stated, "they couldn't trust any gooks in their damn camp. "[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. [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. [39], On 24 April 1967, a patrol from Bravo Company became engaged with a PAVN force of an unknown size north of Hill 861. Twenty-five USAF personnel who were killed are also not included. The Marines were extremely reluctant to relinquish authority over their aircraft to an Air Force general. At about 0640 hours the NVA 7th Battalion, 66th Regiment, 304th Division, attacked the Huong Hoa District headquarters in Khe Sanh village. [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. 5 Major Battles of the Vietnam War | History Hit [34] The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. Additionally, Shore argued that the "weather was another critical factor because the poor visibility and low overcasts attendant to the monsoon season made such operations hazardous. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. [109], The resupply of the numerous, isolated hill outposts was fraught with the same difficulties and dangers. [140] Operation Scotland II would continue until 28 February 1969 resulting in 435 Marines and 3304 PAVN killed. On 18 January, Westmoreland passed his request for Air Force control up the chain of command to CINCPAC in Honolulu. Had the plane been shot down departing Khe Sanh, the casualties would have been counted. PAVN forces were driven out of the area around Khe Sanh after suffering 940 casualties. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 1st Marine Aircraft Wing records claim that the unit delivered 4,661 tons of cargo into KSCB. [65] The fighting and shelling on 21 January resulted in 14 Marines killed and 43 wounded. 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. [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. The Battle of Khe Sanh began Jan. 21, 1968, with inconclusive ground activity by US and North Vietnamese patrols. Military History Institute of Vietnam, p. 222. In the 43-day . Westmoreland had been forwarding operational plans for an invasion of Laos since 1966. 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. See also Pisor, p. 108. 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. [161], Whether the PAVN actually planned to capture Khe Sanh or the battle was an attempt to replicate the Vit Minh triumph against the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu has long been a point of contention. 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. 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. 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. 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. One of the first enemy shells set off an explosion in the main ammunition dump. 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). An additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II as of the end of June 1968. Khe Sanh had long been responsible for the defense of Lang Vei. Battle of la Drang Valley (26 October - 27 . The Marines at Khe Sanh Combat Base broke out of their perimeter and began attacking the North Vietnamese in the surrounding area. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. The Battle of Khe Sanh and Its Retellings - The Atlantic The Marines suffered 155 killed in action and 425 wounded. 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. [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. After failing to respond to a challenge, they were fired upon and five were killed outright while the sixth, although wounded, escaped. At least 852 PAVN soldiers were killed during the action, as opposed to 50 American and South Vietnamese. 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". The attack on Khe Sanh, however, proved to be a diversionary tactic for the larger Tet Offensive. 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. [30], In early October, the PAVN had intensified battalion-sized ground probes and sustained artillery fire against Con Thien, a hilltop stronghold in the center of the Marines' defensive line south of the DMZ, in northern Qung Tr Province. "[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. If firepower determined the outcome of the fight, it was airlift that allowed the defenders to hold their positions. [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. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego - twarda okadka w bardzo dobrym stanie | Books & Magazines, Books | eBay! Westmoreland believed that the latter was the case, and his belief was the basis for his desire to stage "Dien Bien Phu in reverse. Marine Corps aviators had flown 7,098 missions and released 17,015tons. Marines stayed in the area, conducting operations to recover the bodies of Marines killed previously. [44], On 14 August, Colonel David E. Lownds took over as commander of the 26th Marine Regiment. The official, public estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 North Vietnamese KIA stands in contrast to another estimate made by the American military. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. Rod Andrew, Jr., a history professor at Clemson University and colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, has written an easily read and thoroughly . He subsequently ordered the US military to hold Khe Sanh at all costs. On 8 February 1971, the leading ARVN units marched along Route 9 into southern Laos while the US ground forces and advisers were prohibited from entering Laos. He gave the order for US Marines to take up positions around Khe Sanh. [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. 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. The Battle of Khe Sanh's initial action cost the Marines 12 killed, 17 wounded and two missing. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing. [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. Five Marines were killed on January 19 and 20, while on reconnaissance patrols. The PAVN forces were in the process of gaining elevated terrain before it launched the main attack. The Armys 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), with more than 400 helicopters under its control, conducted airmobile operations deeper into enemy-controlled areas. Fighting around Khe Sanh was continuous. On Easter Sunday, April 14, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines (3/26), assaulted Hill 881 North in order to clear the enemy firing positions. Many of the artillery and mortar rounds stored in the dump were thrown into the air and detonated on impact within the base. Throughout the battle, Marine artillerymen fired 158,891 mixed rounds. [115] This equates to roughly 1,300 tons of bombs dropped daily 5 tons for every one of the 20,000 PAVN soldiers initially estimated to have been committed to the fighting at Khe Sanh. McNamara's thinking may have also been affected by his aide David Morrisroe, whose brother Michael Morrisroe was serving at the base. Its mission was to destroy the Special Forces and their Vietnamese allies and to ambush any reinforcements coming from Khe Sanh. The report continues to state, "this prompted Air Force chief of staff, General John McConnell, to press, although unsuccessfully, for JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) authority to request Pacific Command to prepare a plan for using low-yield nuclear weapons to prevent a catastrophic loss of the U.S. Marine base. American logistical, aerial, and artillery support was provided to the operation. The official assessment of the North Vietnamese Army dead is just over 1,600 killed, with two . [140] Total US casualties during the operation were 92 killed, 667 wounded, and five missing. Name State Date War Branch; 1: Steven Glenn Abbott . Free shipping for many products! 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. The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. [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. [97] During a meeting at Da Nang at 07:00 the next morning, Westmoreland and Cushman accepted Lownds' decision. [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. [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. These forces, including support troops, totaled 20,000 to 30,000. 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. [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. Ray Stubbe has published a translation of the North Vietnamese history of the siege at Khe Sanh. They produced a body count ratio in the range between 50:1 and 75:1. Taking a larger but more realistic view, the Khe Sanh campaign resulted in a death toll of American military personnel that approached 1,000. "[106] At the end of January, Tompkins had ordered that no Marine patrols proceed more than 500 meters from the Combat Base. [10] Once the news of the closure of KSCB was announced, the American media immediately raised questions about the reasoning behind its abandonment. Operation Scotland II continued until the end of the year, resulting in the deaths of 72 more Marines. [142], Lownds and the 26th Marines departed Khe Sanh, leaving the defense of the base to the 1st Marine Regiment. [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. Throughout the campaign, US forces used the latest technology to locate PAVN forces for targeting. 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. On June 19, 1968, another operation began at Khe Sanh, Operation Charlie, the final evacuation and destruction of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. The 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (2/1 Marines) and the 2/3 Marines would launch a ground assault from Ca Lu Combat Base (16km east of Khe Sanh) and head west on Route 9 while the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division, would air-assault key terrain features along Route 9 to establish fire support bases and cover the Marine advance. The Marines fought long, hard and well at Khe Sanh, but they sacrificed in much greater numbers than has been acknowledged by official sources. [120], On 23 February, KSCB received its worst bombardment of the entire battle. [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. Over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US aircraft and over 158,000 artillery rounds were fired in defense of the base. [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. The Marine garrison was also reinforced, and on November 1, 1967, Operation Scotland began. Khe Sanh was situated on Route 9, the major east-west highway. That proved to be the last overland attempt at resupply for Khe Sanh until the following March. It reveals that the nuclear option was discounted because of terrain considerations that were unique to South Vietnam, which would have reduced the effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons. It was later renamed "Dye Marker" by MACV in September 1967, just as the PAVN began the first phase of their offensive by launching attacks against Marine-held positions across the DMZ. 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. The Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. "[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. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego [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. 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. 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. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties - Honor States This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. At 21:30, the attack came on, but it was stifled by the small arms of the Rangers, who were supported by thousands of artillery rounds and air strikes. [42], In the wake of the hill fights, a lull in PAVN activity occurred around Khe Sanh. [29], During the second half of 1967, the North Vietnamese instigated a series of actions in the border regions of South Vietnam. The First Battle of Khe Sahn - HistoryNet 20,000-30,000 men Battle of Khe Sanh Overview The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh by Murphy, Edward F [127] At 08:00 the following day, Operation Scotland was officially terminated. [36], Things remained quiet in the Khe Sanh area through 1966. Once the aircraft touched down, it became the target of any number of PAVN artillery or mortar crews. "[149], While KSCB was abandoned, the Marines continued to patrol the Khe Sanh plateau, including reoccupying the area with ARVN forces from 519 October 1968 with minimal opposition. 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. [93] At 18:10 hours, the PAVN followed up their morning mortar attack with an artillery strike from 152mm howitzers, firing 60 rounds into the camp. A closer look at the Khe Sanh body count, however, reveals anything but a straightforward matter of numbers. 6,000 men North Vietnamese Vo Nguyen Giap Tran Quy Hai Approx. Lownds feared that PAVN infiltrators were mixed up in the crowd of more than 6,000, and lacked sufficient resources to sustain them. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Dien Bien Phu would loom large for the rest of the war, especially during the Battle of Khe Sanh. The battle of Khe Sanh is one of the most well-known battles of the Vietnam War. On June 28, a Communist spokesman claimed the Americans had been forced to retreat and that Khe Sanh was the gravest tactical and strategic defeat for the U.S. in the war. U.S. reconnaissance forces continued to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail. [21], PAVN artillery fell on the main base for the first time on 21 January. [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. Just days before, as the Army of the . Vietnam War - Tet Offensive & American public reaction [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. 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. On January 21 at Khe Sanh, 30,000 North Vietnamese troops attacked an air base held by just 6,000 United States Marines. Armies and Commanders Allies General William Westmoreland Colonel David Lownds Approx. Key Battles | Vietnam War - Pritzker Military Museum & Library Two Marines died. The adoption of this concept at the end of February was the turning point in the resupply effort. Battlefield:Vietnam | History [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. While suffering less significant casualties (around 10,000 dead), ARVN units had only turned back the attacking PAVN forces with massive American air support. The Marines and their allies at Khe Sanh engaged tens of thousands, and killed thousands, of NVA over a period of many weeks. The NVA used Hill 881 North to launch 122mm rockets at the Marines during the siege. On that day, Tolson ordered his unit to immediately make preparations for Operation Delaware, an air assault into the A Shau Valley. 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. 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. 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.