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 historian, General Dave Palmer, accepted that rationale: "General Giap never had any intention of capturing Khe Sanh [it] was a feint, a diversionary effort. 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. Two days later, the PAVN 273rd Regiment attacked a Special Forces camp near the border town of Loc Ninh, in Bnh Long Province. 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. 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. 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. 528 of them include images. Even so, Westmoreland insisted for it not only to be occupied by the Marines but also for it to be reinforced. By the middle of January 1968, some 6,000 Marines and Army troops occupied the Khe Sanh Combat Base and its surrounding positions. 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. Following a rolling barrage fired by nine artillery batteries, the Marine attack advanced through two PAVN trenchlines, but the Marines failed to locate the remains of the men of the ambushed patrol. [37] He was vociferously opposed by General Lewis W. Walt, the Marine commander of I Corps, who argued heatedly that the real target of the American effort should be the pacification and protection of the population, not chasing the PAVN/VC in the hinterlands. But only by checking my service record while writing this article did it become evident that I had participated in all three operations. Listen Now. Beginning in October 1967, the Communists greatly increased their forces in the Khe Sanh area to total two infantry divisions, two artillery regiments and an armored regiment. [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. 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. [90], The Tet Offensive was launched prematurely in some areas on 30 January. 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. After its adoption, Marine helicopters flew in 465 tons of supplies during February. "[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. At least 852 PAVN soldiers were killed during the action, as opposed to 50 American and South Vietnamese. [140] Total US casualties during the operation were 92 killed, 667 wounded, and five missing. ~45,000 in total[11]~6,000 Marines at the Combat Base of Khe Sanh[12] Upon closer analysis, the official figure does not accurately portray even what it purports to represent. 1st Marine Aircraft Wing records claim that the unit delivered 4,661 tons of cargo into KSCB. Murphy 2003, pp. The Battle of Khe Sanh began 50 years ago this week when roughly 20,000 North Vietnamese troops surrounded an isolated combat base . On 19 June 1968, the evacuation and destruction of KSCB began. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. Soon after, another shell hit a cache of tear gas, which saturated the entire area. No logic was apparent to them behind the sustained PAVN/VC offensives other than to inflict casualties on the allied forces. The Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. 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. The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. [34] The heaviest action took place near Dak To, in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. today! Siege at Khe Sanh: ~17,200 (304th and 308th Division), Defense at Route 9: ~16,900 (320th and 324th Division), This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 15:52. [117][20] The PAVN acknowledged 2,500 men killed in action. The Tet Offensive was about to begin. Two Marines died. [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. Historian Ronald Spector, in the book After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam, noted that American casualties in the 10 weeks after the start of Operation Pegasus were more than twice those officially reported during the siege. . When the weather later cleared in March, the amount was increased to 40 tons per day. [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. [132], On 2 March, Tolson laid out what became known as Operation Pegasus, the operational plan for what was to become the largest operation launched by III MAF thus far in the conflict. If a battle tallied a sufficiently favorable body count ratio, American commanders declared victory, as they did after Khe Sanh. [70] Regardless, the SOG reconnaissance teams kept patrolling, providing the only human intelligence available in the battle area. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing. Its mission was to destroy the Special Forces and their Vietnamese allies and to ambush any reinforcements coming from Khe Sanh. [147] The official closure of the base came on 5 July after fighting, which had killed five more Marines. [65] The fighting and shelling on 21 January resulted in 14 Marines killed and 43 wounded. [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. [171] When Hanoi made the decision to move in around the base, Khe Sanh was held by only one or two American battalions. 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. Marine Corps aviators had flown 7,098 missions and released 17,015tons. The platoon withdrew following a three-hour battle that left six Marines dead, 24 missing, and one taken prisoner. The heavy reliance on American airpower was an ominous sign for Vietnamization and . 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. [117], Cumulative friendly casualties for Operation Scotland, which began on 1 November 1967, were: 205 killed in action, 1,668 wounded, and 25 missing and presumed dead. The Marines pursued three enemy scouts, who led them into an ambush. 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 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. The figures of 5,500 NVA dead and 1,000 U.S. dead yield a ratio of 5.5:1. [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. [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. 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. [122] The majority of these were around the southern and southeastern corners of the perimeter, and formed part of a system that would be developed throughout the end of February and into March until they were ready to be used to launch an attack, providing cover for troops to advance to jumping-off points close to the perimeter. [120], On 23 February, KSCB received its worst bombardment of the entire battle. server. [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. With Khe Sanh facing a full-scale. On April 20, Operation Prairie IV began, with heavy fighting between the Marines and NVA forces. According to Gordon Rottman, even the North Vietnamese official history, Victory in Vietnam, is largely silent on the issue. Free shipping for many products! Battlefield boundaries extended from eastern Laos eastward along both sides of Route 9 in Quang Tri province, Vietnam, to the coast. The microwave/tropo site was located in an underground bunker next to the airstrip. 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. [47][Note 3] Westmoreland regarded the choice as quite simple. 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. At dawn on 21 January, it was attacked by a roughly 300-strong PAVN battalion. [104] Ladd, back on the scene, reported that the Marines stated, "they couldn't trust any gooks in their damn camp. Of the 24 Americans at the camp, 10 had been killed and 11 wounded. [158] The question, known among American historians as the "riddle of Khe Sanh," has been summed up by John Prados and Ray Stubbe: "Either the Tet Offensive was a diversion intended to facilitate PAVN/VC preparations for a war-winning battle at Khe Sanh, or Khe Sanh was a diversion to mesmerize Westmoreland in the days before Tet. [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. The Marines withdrew all salvageable material and destroyed everything else. By late January 1967, the 1/3 returned to Japan and was relieved by Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines (1/9 Marines).
Leon Haywood Cause Of Death, Articles B