The distinctions between Operations Scotland, Pegasus and Scotland II, while important from the command perspective, were not necessarily apparent to individual Marines. Khe Sanh is a village located near the Laotian border and just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated North and South Vietnam. Taking a larger but more realistic view, the Khe Sanh campaign resulted in a death toll of American military personnel that approached 1,000. [63] Hills 881 South, 861, and the main base itself would be simultaneously attacked that same evening. This time period does not particularly coincide with the fighting; rather, it dates from before the siege began and terminates before the siege (and the fighting) ended. Two days later, US troops detected PAVN trenches running due north to within 25 m of the base perimeter. From the Hu site the communication signal was sent to Danang headquarters where it could be sent anywhere in the world. The PAVN claimed that Khe Sanh was "a stinging defeat from both the military and political points of view." 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. 129131. Rod Andrew, Jr., a history professor at Clemson University and colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, has written an easily read and thoroughly . 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 last of the American casualties were finally lifted off Hill 861 on March 17. today! [172], On 30 January 1971, the ARVN and US forces launched Operation Dewey Canyon II, which involved the reopening of Route 9, securing the Khe Sanh area and reoccupying of KSCB as a forward supply base for Operation Lam Son 719. A smaller slice of the action saw Americans on the receiving end, defending some firebase or outpost. What is the 25th Infantry known for? 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. 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. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. server. [70] Regardless, the SOG reconnaissance teams kept patrolling, providing the only human intelligence available in the battle area. "[24] In November 1964, the Special Forces moved their camp to the Xom Cham Plateau, the future site of Khe Sanh Combat Base. Upon closer analysis, the official figure does not accurately portray even what it purports to represent. When an enemy rocket-propelled grenade killed 2nd Lt. Randall Yeary and Corporal Richard John, although these Marines died before the beginning of the siege, their deaths were included in the official statistics. They attacked 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, five of the six major cities, and more than two dozen airfields and bases. At 1530 hours the first C-123, with 44 passengers and a crew of five, began to land. 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. It was a bad beginning to a long 77-day siege. Name State Date War Branch; 1: Steven Glenn Abbott . Mobile combat operations continued against the North Vietnamese. In the 43-day . The Tet Offensive was about to begin. [110], As more infantry units had been assigned to defend KSCB, artillery reinforcement kept pace. The battalion was assaulted on the night of 23 January by three PAVN battalions supported by seven tanks. 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 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. U.S. battles of the war in Vietnam had young GIs or Marines humping into the boonies in search of the enemy. American commanders considered the defense of Khe Sanh a success, but shortly after the siege was lifted, the decision was made to dismantle the base rather than risk similar battles in the future. 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. 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. Marine Khe Sanh veteran Peter Brush is Vietnam Magazines book review editor. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. The Laotians were overrun, and many fled to the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei. 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. WALKI NA WZGRZU: PIERWSZA BITWA KHE SANH Edwarda F. Murphy'ego The Marines were extremely reluctant to relinquish authority over their aircraft to an Air Force general. 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. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties - Honor States On the afternoon of 29 January, however, the 3rd Marine Division notified Khe Sanh that the truce had been cancelled. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, then began planning for incursion into Laos, and in October, the construction of an airfield at Khe Sanh was completed. The North Vietnamese lost as many as 15,000 casualties during the siege of Khe Sanh. Of the 4953 Navy and Air Force casualties, both officer and enlisted, 4, 736 or 96% were white. 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. Journalist Richard Ehrlich writes that according to the report, "in late January, General Westmoreland had warned that if the situation near the DMZ and at Khe Sanh worsened drastically, nuclear or chemical weapons might have to be used." 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. A platoon from Company D, 1/26 Marines was sent from the base but was withdrawn in the face of the superior PAVN forces. [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. At the same time, the 304th Division withdrew to the southwest. Of the 24 Americans at the camp, 10 had been killed and 11 wounded. The Tet Offensive - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund 3% were Asian, 7 or . "[105] There had been a history of distrust between the Special Forces personnel and the Marines, and General Rathvon M. Tompkins, commander of the 3rd Marine Division, described the Special Forces soldiers as "hopped up wretches [who] were a law unto themselves. [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. It claimed, however, that only three American advisors were killed during the action. Lima Company finally seized the hill after overcoming determined NVA resistance. 6,000 men North Vietnamese Vo Nguyen Giap Tran Quy Hai Approx. TBKQS / Trung tm TBKQS - BQP - H Ni: QND, 2004. [Note 5] This event prompted Cushman to reinforce Lownds with the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines. [146] Useful equipment was withdrawn or destroyed, and personnel were evacuated. The advance would be supported by 102 pieces of artillery. Not including ARVN Ranger, RF/PF, Forward Operation Base 3 U.S. Army, Royal Laotian Army and SOG commandos losses. 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. [12], Following the closure of the base, a small force of Marines remained around Hill 689 carrying out mopping-up operations. The PAVN infantry, though bracketed by artillery fire, still managed to penetrate the perimeter of the defenses and were only driven back after severe close-quarters combat. 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 . NVA casualties were more than 200. On 22 March, over 1,000 North Vietnamese rounds fell on the base, and once again, the ammunition dump was detonated. American logistical, aerial, and artillery support was provided to the operation. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. 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. The new anchor base was established at Ca Lu, a few miles down Route 9 to the east. 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. 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. 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. Thirty-three ARVN troops were also killed and 187 were wounded. One of the first enemy shells set off an explosion in the main ammunition dump. The Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. This is also the position taken in the official PAVN history but offers no further explanation of the strategy. 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. The strike wounded two more Strike Force soldiers and damaged two bunkers. Air Power in the Siege of Khe Sanh - HistoryNet Less likely to be mentioned is the final high-casualty engagement between units of the U.S. infantry and the North Vietnamese Army. [104] Ladd, back on the scene, reported that the Marines stated, "they couldn't trust any gooks in their damn camp. The Marine defense of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland, officially ended on March 31. Its mission was to destroy the Special Forces and their Vietnamese allies and to ambush any reinforcements coming from Khe Sanh. This fighting was heavy, involving South Vietnamese militia as well as U.S. Army MACV advisers and Marines attached to a Combined Action Company platoon. If that failed, and it did, they hoped to attack American reinforcements along Route 9 between Khe Sanh and Laos. The ground troops had been specially equipped for the attack with satchel charges, tear gas, and flame throwers. Westmoreland was replaced two months after the end of the battle, and his successor explained the retreat in different ways. [27][28] The Marines' defensive system stretched below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the coast, along Route 9, to Khe Sanh. The village, 3km south of the base, was defended by 160 local Bru troops, plus 15 American advisers. Battle of Khe Sanh: Greatest U.S. Victory in Vietnam - HistoryNet Johnson backed the Marine position due to his concern over protecting the Army's air assets from Air Force co-option. newsletter for the best of the past, delivered every Monday and Thursday. 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. [1], The evacuation of Khe Sanh began on 19 June 1968 as Operation Charlie. [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 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. Two further attacks later in the morning were halted before the PAVN finally withdrew. Whether the destruction of one battalion could have been the goal of two to four PAVN divisions was debatable. 5 Major Battles of the Vietnam War | History Hit Operation Pegasus, begun the day after Scotland ended, lasted until April 15. By early January, the defenders could count on fire support from 46 artillery pieces of various calibers, five tanks armed with 90-mm guns, and 92 single or Ontos-mounted 106-mm recoilless rifles. [77] When weather conditions precluded FAC-directed strikes, the bombers were directed to their targets by either a Marine AN/TPQ-10 radar installation at KSCB or by Air Force Combat Skyspot MSQ-77 stations. [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. Lownds also rejected a proposal to launch a helicopter extraction of the survivors. Known as the McNamara Line, it was initially codenamed "Project Nine". This range overmatch was used by the PAVN to avoid counter-battery fire. [21], PAVN artillery fell on the main base for the first time on 21 January. 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. [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. Rapper Autopsy Photos, Articles B