Khe Sanh Vietnam 1968

PCC HIS 142 Doug Thompson

The siege at Khe Sanh, Vietnam Jan. 21 1968-Apr. 8 1968In the summer of 1967 Americans responded to a build up of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in the Khe Sanh area, which is in the NW corner of South Vietnam. The response was to build a Marine Corp Firebase on a plateau near Khe Sanh Village. In the fall of 1967 a US re-supply convoy was attacked by the NVA on Route 9, the only road to Khe Sanh and the base. That was to be the last resupply over land until April of 1968. During the siege that started in January, the rest of the resupply missions would be by air, as the base had an airstrip.

Khe Sanh Marine Corps Combat Base 1968

www.wikimedia.org

US/ARVN Troops on the Base and the NVA Units that were involved in the fighting during the siege.

The 26th Regiment/ 3rd Division USMC, elements of the 13th Regiment/1st Division Marine Corps (Artillery), elements of 1st Battalion/9th Division Marines, 37th ARVN Rangers, and US Special Forces at Lang Vei. Totaling approximately 6000 troops. The Air Force, Navy and Marines supplied air support as well.

The NVA Units were 304th, 320th, 324th and 325th NVA Divisions. Approximately 20,000 troops

www.pbs.org

www.wikimedia.org

Summary of the siege:

In January 1968 General Westmoreland decided to defend the base and not pull out. On Jan 20th NVA attacked hill 861 near the base. The Marines repulsed the attack on 861 as the Main base was shelled unmercifully.

This was the beginning of 77 days of daily mortar, rocket and artillery fire as well as repeated attempts to overrun the main base and the hills surrounding the base. Also at this time the 1968 Tet Offensive went into full swing throughout Vietnam around Jan. 30th.

During the siege at Khe Sanh US airstrikes were used at a rate of approximately 1300 tons daily. 158,000 artillery rounds were used during the siege as well. The airstrikes coordinated for the defense of Khe Sanh were code named Operation Niagara. It was the most intense bombing campaign in the history of the US military.

The base could only be resupplied by air. The NVA had the airstrip dialed in and would bombard flights trying to land. Airdrops were used when the airstrip was to dangerous to land or weather was bad. But the air resupply methods worked and the base and other hills were held. C-130 and C-123’s did the bulk of the resupply missions. www.pbs.or

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Summary: Khe Sanh Seige

This is how Marines lived on the Combat Base during the siege.

Bunkers at Khe Sanh were to be built to withstand direct hits from NVA rockets and mortars.

www.pbs.org

Operation Pegasus

On April 1st 1968 Operation Pegasus started. The operation was meant to reopen Route 9 and relieve the Marines at Khe Sanh.

The US Army 1st Calvary and battalions from the 1st and 3rd Marines started clearing route 9 from Ca Lu Vietnam toward Khe Sanh.

Battalions from the 5th, 7th and 12th Cavalry did airmobile assaults to clear NVA as the Marines and 1st Cav moved down the road. B-52 strikes and artillery were also used to clear the enemy from surrounding areas.

On April 4th the Marines from the Khe Sanh Combat base started assaulting outside of the base to clear any enemy still remaining in the area. They took Hill 471 that day and repulsed a counter attack on April 5th.

On April 7th the old French Fort 15 kilometers east of Khe Sanh fell to the 1st battalion/5th Cavalry. The last of the NVA strongholds were eliminated.

On April 8th the 7th Cav and 26th regiment Marines linked up and the siege of Khe Sanh was officially over.

Aftermath Operation Scotland II started on

April 18th . Marines began assaulting the areas surrounding the Khe Sanh base. This operation lasted until June 1968. Nearly another 1000 Marines are killed or wounded during this operation.

On June 19th 1968 the new commander, General Abrams, initiates Operation Charlie which means that the Americans are going to evacuate the Khe Sanh Combat base and destroy it. On July 1st the base was abandoned.

The siege alone at the Combat Base resulted in 205 Marines KIA and over 1600 wounded (official). But some disagree and say the losses were higher.

Losses for the NVA were estimated at 10,000-15,000 KIA or wounded. www.pbs.org

Videos on Khe Sanh

This first video is all about the air power that was used during the siege its about 15 minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vDgBNFpQEs

This second video is a lot longer but if you have the time. It goes into great detail about this siege. 58 mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0-6s03pX1Q

Works CitedAir Power at Khe Sanh, Youtube, 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.

Battlefield Vietnam: Part 08 Khe Sanh. Youtube, 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.

Battle of Khe Sanh. History, 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.

Operation PEGASUS. Dep’t of Emergency and Military Affairs. N.d. Web.28 Nov. 2015.

Vietnam War:Battle of Khe Sanh, 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.