[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. 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. [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. [145], Author Peter Brush details that an "additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II through the end of June 1968". [23][Note 2], James Marino wrote that in 1964, General William Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, had determined, "Khe Sanh could serve as a patrol base blocking enemy infiltration from Laos; a base for operations to harass the enemy in Laos; an airstrip for reconnaissance to survey the Ho Chi Minh Trail; a western anchor for the defenses south of the DMZ; and an eventual jumping-off point for ground operations to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. By the middle of January 1968, some 6,000 Marines and Army troops occupied the Khe Sanh Combat Base and its surrounding positions. "[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. No logic was apparent to them behind the sustained PAVN/VC offensives other than to inflict casualties on the allied forces. How many American soldiers died in the Battle of Ia Drang? 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. [147] The official closure of the base came on 5 July after fighting, which had killed five more Marines. Lownds feared that PAVN infiltrators were mixed up in the crowd of more than 6,000, and lacked sufficient resources to sustain them. The platoon withdrew following a three-hour battle that left six Marines dead, 24 missing, and one taken prisoner. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group, microwave/tropospheric scatter technology, "The Battle of Khe Sanh 40th Anniversary: Casualties in May 1968", "The Battle of Khe Sanh 40th Anniversary: Casualties in June 1968", https://web.archive.org/web/20080215233328/http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/vietnam_war/3029941.html?featured=y&c=y, https://www.historynet.com/recounting-the-casualties-at-the-deadly-battle-of-khe-sanh/, https://www.historynet.com/the-withdrawal-from-khe-sanh/?f, "Khe Sanh: 6,000 Marines Dug In for Battle", "The US's secret plan to nuke Vietnam, Laos", "Memorandum for the President, 19 February 1968", "Battlefields of Khe Sanh: Still One Casualty a Day", "The US Army Quartermaster Air Delivery Units and the Defense of Khe Sanh", "5 things you didn't know about Khe Sanh", "Operational Report Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 8th Battalion 4th Artillery, Period Ending 30 April 1971", "Narrative of Events of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) During LAM SON 719", United States Army Center of Military History, Bibliography: The Tet Offensive and the Battle of Khe Sanh, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Khe_Sanh&oldid=1142289112. [117][20] The PAVN acknowledged 2,500 men killed in action. That appraisal was later altered when the PAVN was found to be moving major forces into the area. 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. Over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US aircraft and over 158,000 artillery rounds were fired in defense of the base. Westmoreland believed that the latter was the case, and his belief was the basis for his desire to stage "Dien Bien Phu in reverse. 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. [171] When Hanoi made the decision to move in around the base, Khe Sanh was held by only one or two American battalions. 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. From the Hu site the communication signal was sent to Danang headquarters where it could be sent anywhere in the world. 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. With Khe Sanh facing a full-scale. 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 official assessment of the North Vietnamese Army dead is just over 1,600 killed, with two . Due to severe losses, however, the NVA abandoned its plan for a massive ground attack. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh by Murphy, Edward F. (mass_market) at the best online prices at eBay! [146] Useful equipment was withdrawn or destroyed, and personnel were evacuated. The next operations were named Crockett and Ardmore. 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. Mobile combat operations continued against the North Vietnamese. Unlike the official figures, Stubbes database of Khe Sanh casualties includes verifiable names and dates of death. 3% were Asian, 7 or . 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. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. [63] Hills 881 South, 861, and the main base itself would be simultaneously attacked that same evening. Marines stayed in the area, conducting operations to recover the bodies of Marines killed previously. The attack on Khe Sanh, however, proved to be a diversionary tactic for the larger Tet Offensive. [138], On the following day, the 2nd Brigade captured the old French fort near Khe Sanh village after a three-day battle. An airborne battlefield command and control center aboard a C-130 aircraft, directed incoming strike aircraft to forward air control (FAC) spotter planes, which, in turn directed them to targets either located by themselves or radioed in by ground units. 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. 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. Background [ edit] 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. As a result, 65% of all supplies were delivered by paradrops delivered by C-130 aircraft, mostly by the USAF, whose crews had significantly more experience in airdrop tactics than Marine air crews. [69] The Marine Direct Air Support Center (DASC), located at KSCB, was responsible for the coordination of air strikes with artillery fire. They fixed the attention of the American command on the border regions, and they drew American and ARVN forces away from the coastal lowlands and cities in preparation for the Tet Offensive. Cushman was appalled by the "implication of a rescue or breaking of the siege by outside forces. After failing to respond to a challenge, they were fired upon and five were killed outright while the sixth, although wounded, escaped. The 324th Division was located in the DMZ area 1015 miles (1624km) north of Khe Sanh while the 320th Division was within easy reinforcing distance to the northeast. See also Pisor, p. 108. "[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. [88] Westmoreland was so obsessed with the tactical situation that he threatened to resign if his wishes were not obeyed. On April 15, Operation Pegasus ended and Operation Scotland II began. [120], On 23 February, KSCB received its worst bombardment of the entire battle. 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 Marines found a solution to the problem in the "Super Gaggle" concept. [97] During a meeting at Da Nang at 07:00 the next morning, Westmoreland and Cushman accepted Lownds' decision. 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. North Vietnamese Army gained control of the Khe Sanh region after the American withdrawal. Besieged, Khe Sanh could only be resupplied by air. At around 10:00, the fire ignited a large quantity of explosives, rocking the base with another series of detonations. [15], Unknown (1,602 bodies were counted, US official public estimated 10,00015,000 KIA,[19][20] but MACV's secret report estimated 5,550 killed as of 31 March 1968)[1]. 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. [1], The evacuation of Khe Sanh began on 19 June 1968 as Operation Charlie. 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. The relief of Khe Sanh, called Operation Pegasus, began . Of the 24 Americans at the camp, 10 had been killed and 11 wounded. The launching of the largest enemy offensive thus far in the conflict did not shift Westmoreland's focus away from Khe Sanh. That did not mean, however, that battle was over. The site linked to another microwave/tropo site in Hu manned by the 513th Signal Detachment. Battle of la Drang Valley (26 October - 27 . Battle of Khe Sanh: American Casualties : Showing All Results. [133] The Marines would be accompanied by their 11th Engineer Battalion, which would repair the road as the advance moved forward. At 1530 hours the first C-123, with 44 passengers and a crew of five, began to land. Marine Khe Sanh veteran Peter Brush is Vietnam Magazines book review editor. Strategically, however, the withdrawal meant little. When the weather later cleared in March, the amount was increased to 40 tons per day. Lownds also rejected a proposal to launch a helicopter extraction of the survivors. By the end of May, Marine forces were again drawn down from two battalions to one, the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines. At the same time, the 304th Division withdrew to the southwest. [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. The lossesindicating that the enemy suffered a major defeatwere estimated at 3,550 KIA inflicted by delivered fires (i.e., aerial and artillery bombardment) and 2,000 KIA from ground action, for a total of 5,550 estimated North Vietnamese killed in action as of March 31. The NVAs main command post was located in Laos, at Sar Lit. 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 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. However, even if Westmoreland believed his statement, his argument never moved on to the next logical level. [89] As a result, on 7 March, for the first time during the Vietnam War, air operations were placed under the control of a single manager. The Battle of la Drang was considered essential because it sets up a change of tactics for both troops during the conflict. On April 5, 1968, MACV prepared an Analysis of the Khe Sanh Battle for General Westmoreland. If a battle tallied a sufficiently favorable body count ratio, American commanders declared victory, as they did after Khe Sanh. [139] The 11th Engineers proclaimed Route 9 open to traffic on 11 April. 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. Of the 500 CIDG troops at Lang Vei, 200 had been killed or were missing and 75 more were wounded. For them, the battle started when the North Vietnamese attacks began in January. 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. [173][174], After the ARVN defeat in Laos, the newly-reopened KSCB came under attack by PAVN sappers and artillery and the base was abandoned once again on 6 April 1971.[175][176]. 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. After a ten-day battle, the attackers were pushed back into Cambodia. Several rounds also landed on Hill 881. Military History Institute of Vietnam, pp. [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. [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. The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.. On January 21 at Khe Sanh, 30,000 North Vietnamese troops attacked an air base held by just 6,000 United States Marines. [99] The relief effort was not launched until 15:00, and it was successful. Murphy 2003, pp. A smaller slice of the action saw Americans on the receiving end, defending some firebase or outpost. 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.. For some unknown reason, the PAVN troops did not press their advantage and eliminate the pocket, instead throwing a steady stream of grenades at the Marines. [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". The aircrew then had to contend with antiaircraft fire on the way out. 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. 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. As early as 1962, the U.S. Military CommandVietnam (MACV) established an Army Special Forces camp near the village. [35], American intelligence analysts were quite baffled by the series of enemy actions. [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. They attacked 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, five of the six major cities, and more than two dozen airfields and bases. It was the only time Americans abandoned a major combat base because of enemy pressure. Casualties were heavy among the attacking PAVN, who lost over 200 killed, while the defending Marines lost two men. This base was to serve as the western anchor of Marine Corps forces, which had tactical responsibility for the five northernmost provinces of South Vietnam known as I Corps. 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". [138] At 08:00 on 15 April, Operation Pegasus was officially terminated. In 1966 the Marines built a base adjacent to the Army position, and organized their combat activities around named operations. [59], Making matters worse for the defenders, any aircraft that braved the weather and attempted to land was subject to PAVN antiaircraft fire on its way in for a landing. 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. This caused problems for the Marine command, which possessed its own aviation squadrons that operated under their own close air support doctrine. 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 . The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. [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. [54] In attempting to determine PAVN intentions Marine intelligence confirmed that, within a period of just over a week, the 325th Division had moved into the vicinity of the base and two more divisions were within supporting distance. The adoption of this concept at the end of February was the turning point in the resupply effort. The Marines knew that their withdrawal from Khe Sanh would present a propaganda victory for Hanoi. [28], In early December 1967, the PAVN appointed Major General Tran Quy Hai as the local commander for the actions around Khe Sanh, with Le Quang Do as his political commissar. [31] Mortar rounds, artillery shells, and 122mm rockets fell randomly but incessantly upon the base. The legendary siege at Khe Sanh occurred in 1968, but during the spring of 1967, the United States Marines fought in northwestern Quang Tri Province in what became the first stage of the Khe Sanh battles. January 30 marked the first day of the Vietnamese lunar new year celebration, called Tet. The combat losses in February and March 1967 were a prelude to the "First Battle of Khe Sanh," one of the Vietnam War's hardest-fought battles, . The figures of 5,500 NVA dead and 1,000 U.S. dead yield a ratio of 5.5:1. MACV therefore initiated an operation to open Route 9 to vehicle traffic. Taking a larger but more realistic view, the Khe Sanh campaign resulted in a death toll of American military personnel that approached 1,000.
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