Unlike the official figures, Stubbe’s database of Khe Sanh casualties includes verifiable names and dates of death. The Marines at Khe Sanh and on the outlying hills were forced to dig in and endure a siege that lasted from 21 January until 17 April. Matthew C. Perry, American naval officer, opened Japan to trade with the west. For them, the battle started when the North Vietnamese attacks began in January. Rod Andrew, Jr., a history professor at Clemson University and colonel in the MarineRead More Only those killed in action during Operation Scotland, which began on November 1, 1967, and ended on March 31, 1968, were included in the official casualty count. Click to View Online Archive The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted northwestern Quaag Tri Province, South Vietnam, between January 21 and July 9, 1968 during the Vietnam War. U.S. reconnaissance forces continued to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Lt Jacques was killed while leading a patrol out of Khe Sanh. The Khe Sanh Veterans Association estimates 730 Americans weere killed in action in Khe Sanh, and more than 2,500 wounded. 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. Five Marines were killed on January 19 and 20, while on reconnaissance patrols. Mobile combat operations continued against the North Vietnamese. The official figure of 205 KIA only represents Marine deaths in the Operation Scotland TAOR—that is, Marines killed in proximity to the Khe Sanh Combat Base during the period from November 1, 1967, to March 31, 1968. On May 30, 600 NVA attacked Marines in their night defensive positions around Khe Sanh. The Marines knew that their withdrawal from Khe Sanh would present a propaganda victory for Hanoi. General Disclaimer - This is a private sector project developed by. In an unconventional war without conventional frontlines, statistics became the most critical measure of progress. (Those numbers do not include aviation casualties.) The monumental Battle of Khe Sanh had begun, but the January 21 starting date is essentially arbitrary in terms of casualty reporting. 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. The Marines withdrew all salvageable material and destroyed everything else. The base was officially closed on July 5. About 1600H, 5 or 6 rockets slammed into KSCB. The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.”. But Pisor also pointed out that “205 is a completely false number.” One had to meet certain criteria before being officially considered KIA at Khe Sanh. In March, NVA troops began exiting the area, although shelling of the base would continue. Members of the Spirit of '45 coalition have formed 100s of alliances of organizations around the world. It was the only time Americans abandoned a major combat base because of enemy pressure. In one day, actually 1/2 day, the CAV had put a full Infantry Brigade within 5 miles of Khe Sanh, to the utter disbelief of the Marines. Time magazine, in an April 12, 1968, article titled “Victory at Khe Sanh,” reported General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, after flying into Khe Sanh by helicopter, declaring: “We took 220 killed at Khe Sanh and about 800 wounded and evacuated. Battle of Khe Sanh : American Casualties We have 536 casualty profiles listed in our archive. Saved by Etienne. 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. The Operation Scotland tactical area of responsibility (TAOR) was limited to the area around Khe Sanh along Route 9 in western Quang Tri province. The siege of Khe Sanh would continue through March, 77 days in all. Alpha Co. 1st Bn 9th Marines This article was taken from the "Proud Warrior" Volume 2, Issue 7. The helicopters departed Quang Tri, en route to Dong Ha, where supplies waited. The Marines withdrew all salvageable material and destroyed everything else. 529 of them include images. The losses—indicating that the enemy suffered a major defeat—were 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 NVA continued shelling the base, and on July 1 launched a company-sized infantry attack against its perimeter. It was not sufficient to simply be an American military person killed in the fighting there during the winter and spring of 1967-68. By the middle of January 1968, some 6,000 Marines and Army troops occupied the Khe Sanh Combat Base and its surrounding positions. The American command in South Vietnam gave the … Lima Company finally seized the hill after overcoming determined NVA resistance. 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. 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 too were left out of the official Khe Sanh casualty count. For additional reading, see: Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh, by John Prados and Ray W. Stubbe; and the official Marine Corps history, The Battle for Khe Sanh, by Moyers S. Shore II. It is difficult to support the claim of an overwhelming American victory at Khe Sanh based solely on the ratios derived from the official casualty count. The NVA used Hill 881 North to launch 122mm rockets at the Marines during the siege. Clare Boothe Luce, reporter, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Enemy artillery rounds slammed into the runway. Many American casualties were caused by the 10,908 rounds of rockets, artillery and mortars the North Vietnamese fired into the base and hill positions. These are just a few of the names a person might hear when discussing famous battles of the Vietnam War. Had the plane been shot down departing Khe Sanh, the casualties would have been counted. One of the casualties of Khe Sanh was photographer Robert Ellison. The Marine Corps casualty reporting system was based on named operations and not geographic location. MN: 05-12-1968: Vietnam: Army: 2: James Patrick Achterhoff . Paul Theroux, author (The Great Railway Bazaar). On April 20, Operation Prairie IV began, with heavy fighting between the Marines and NVA forces. The official, public estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 North Vietnamese KIA stands in contrast to another estimate made by the American military. This helps raise public awareness about activities that are being organized by various groups to commemorate the 75th anniversary of important events that took place during World War II (1941 - 1945). 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. At 0330 hours, soldiers of the NVA 6th Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 325C Division, attacked the Marines on Hill 861. 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. If a battle tallied a sufficiently favorable body count ratio, American commanders declared victory, as they did after Khe Sanh. Shortly after midnight on February 7, a large NVA force, reinforced with tanks, attacked the camp. The new anchor base was established at Ca Lu, a few miles down Route 9 to the east. 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. CAPT EGGER suffered 3d degree burns, partial decapitation of head, loss of right arm and left leg. Tet Offensive. Two days later another battle took place when a large NVA force attacked Marine positions two miles southeast of Khe Sanh. The Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968 became the longest and bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War. Lew Wallace, Civil War general, lawyer, diplomat and author of Ben Hur. attack in the Khe Sanh area. Indeed, had enemy forces not been at Khe Sanh, they could have joined the NVA and VC who occupied Hue, a much more important strategic target. Its mission was to destroy the Special Forces and their Vietnamese allies and to ambush any reinforcements coming from Khe Sanh. 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. US troops were eventually able to break through the remaining attacking forces and put an end to the battle. Scotland was a 26th Marine Regiment operation, so only the deaths of Marines assigned to the regiment, and attached supporting units, were counted. After the siege ended, … MI: 03-18-1968: Vietnam: Marines: 3: Fighting around Khe Sanh was continuous. On June 19, 1968, another operation began at Khe Sanh, Operation Charlie, the final evacuation and destruction of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. At 1530 hours the first C-123, with 44 passengers and a crew of five, began to land. Operation Pegasus casualties included 59 U.S. Army and 51 Marine Corps dead. Since the Marines on board were not yet officially attached to the 26th Marine Regiment, their deaths were not included in the official Khe Sanh count, nor were the several other deaths associated with aircraft crashes. On April 6, a front-page story in The New York Times declared that the siege of Khe Sanh had been lifted. During the second half of 1967, the North Vietnamese instigated a series of actions in the border regions of South Vietnam. Operation Pegasus, begun the day after Scotland ended, lasted until April 15. Unlike the official figures, Stubbe's database of Khe Sanh casualties includes verifiable names and dates of death. Ten more Marines and 89 NVA died during this period. Forty two Marines and corpsmen died on or near the hill, and another 200 were wounded. SISSON suffered shrapnel to head. In a typical “Super Gaggle” mission, a TA-4 flew first to Khe Sanh on weather reconnaissance. From a numbers standpoint, the offensive was a huge loss for the NVA. They produced a body count ratio in the range between 50:1 and 75:1. 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. Due to severe losses, however, the NVA abandoned its plan for a massive ground attack. The official statistics yield a KIA ratio of between 50:1 and 75:1 of North Vietnamese to U.S. military deaths. The enemy by my count suffered at least 15,000 dead in the area.” Ten American soldiers were killed; the rest managed to escape down Route 9 to Khe Sanh. It also became the most controversial as the real purpose and significance of Khe Sanh came under the spotlight. On July 11, the Marines finally left Khe Sanh. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. Fall of Saigon. SHANNON suffered shrapnel in both arms, right leg, back, and head. By comparison, according to another Army general, a 10:1 ratio was considered average and 25:1 was considered very good. One struck the bunker housing the 37th Signal Battalion TROPO unit, killing the Officer in Charge, 1/Lt ALFANO, and three of his men. The figures of 5,500 NVA dead and 1,000 U.S. dead yield a ratio of 5.5:1. 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). The Marines at Khe Sanh Combat Base broke out of their perimeter and began attacking the North Vietnamese in the surrounding area. As C-130 casualties continued to rise, leadership eventually forbade the four-engine aircraft from landing at Khe Sanh. The battle took place just south of the 17th Parallel which divided North and South Vietnam and was just east of the border of Laos. PAVN losses are not known with accuracy but are estimated at between 10,000 to 15,000 dead and wounded. A closer look at the Khe Sanh body count, however, reveals anything but a straightforward matter of numbers. 536 Results : page 1 of 54. The Pegasus force consisted of the Army 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) plus the 1st Marine Regiment. Besieged, Khe Sanh could only be resupplied by air. Many of their bodies lay in the field for weeks, but Lt Jacques was dragged back to base. On Easter Sunday, April 14, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines (3/26), assaulted Hill 881 North in order to clear the enemy firing positions. The Army’s 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), with more than 400 helicopters under its control, conducted airmobile operations deeper into enemy-controlled areas. Frances Perkins, U.S. labor secretary, first female cabinet member. An additional 413 Marines were killed during Scotland II as of the end of June 1968. Airdrop became the first alternative, utilizing the container delivery system for the less bulky items. Hernandez was killed. The next operations were named Crockett and Ardmore. The distinctions between Operations Scotland, Pegasus and Scotland II, while important from the command perspective, were not necessarily apparent to individual Marines. The Marines, fearing an ambush, did not attempt a relief, and after heavy fighting the camp was overrun. Marines stayed in the area, conducting operations to recover the bodies of Marines killed previously. The attack was to have been supported by armor and artillery. The siege was finally lifted on April 6 when the cavalrymen linked up with the 9th Marines south of the Khe Sanh airstrip. A small village of the same name was located about two miles away. The plane, carrying more than 40 people, was hit by anti-aircraft fire as it approached Khe Sanh and crashed, killing all on board. These combined sources report a total of 354 KIA. 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 initial reconnaissance by the 1st of the 9th Cavalry and the excellent job of artillery and air strikes were so good, that plans were accelerated and the 2nd Brigade was sent in … 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. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. The patrol was ambushed by an overwhelming enemy, and 27 Marines were quickly killed. The year 1968 was the year of the Tet Offensive including Khe Sanh and Hue City. Battlefield boundaries extended from eastern Laos eastward along both sides of Route 9 in Quang Tri province, Vietnam, to the coast. Those 10 deaths were also left out of the official statistics. Located in Quang Tri province in the northwest part of South Vietnam, Khe Sanh lay 10 miles from Laos and 15 miles from the line marking the demilitarized zone. The A-4s took off from Chu Lai en route to Khe Sanh. The Marines fought long, hard and well at Khe Sanh, but they sacrificed in much greater numbers than has been acknowledged by official sources. 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. Home > Features > Battle of Khe Sanh > View All. Careful compilation of Marine Corps and other casualty figures for the campaign indicate overall allied losses of 730 dead, 2,642 wounded, and seven missing. Siege of the Khe Sanh. MACV therefore initiated an operation to open Route 9 to vehicle traffic. Maps of Khe Sanh and Area Khe Sanh Chronology 1962 - 1968 Khe Sanh Medal of Honor Citations A history of the Hill Battles of 1967 2016 San Antonio, TX Reunion Books About Khe Sanh Links to other military Sites Poems and Stories from our visitors Awards this site has received. Less likely to … 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. Marine losses were 13 killed and 44 wounded. Khe Sanh- Battle for Hill 64 1st Plt. The hills surrounding Khe Sanh were the high ground that American forces sought to control and maintain to allow for the defense of the base. Taking a larger but more realistic view, the Khe Sanh campaign resulted in a death toll of American military personnel that approached 1,000. As early as 1962, the U.S. Military Command–Vietnam (MACV) established an Army Special Forces camp near the village. 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. At about 0640 hours the NVA 7th Battalion, 66th Regiment, 304th Division, attacked the Huong Hoa District headquarters in Khe Sanh village. RANEY, SP4 Steven Leon 1st Sig Bde. This is the battle’s end date from the North Vietnamese perspective. HUBER, SP4 Leon Fairden 1st Sig Bde. Khe Sanh had long been responsible for the defense of Lang Vei. Vietnam Map Danang Vietnam Vietnam History Vietnam Veterans American Line American War American History Battle Of Ia Drang Soldier 10. On March 6, two U.S. Air Force C-123 cargo airplanes departed Da Nang Air Base en route to Khe Sanh. Consequently, and unknown at the time, Operation Scotland became the starting point of the Battle of Khe Sanh in terms of Marine casualty reporting. Strategically, however, the withdrawal meant little. (George William Russell), Irish poet and mystic. The NVA 304th Division’s 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 9–Khe Sanh Front affirming “our victory at Khe Sanh.”. During the darkness of January 20-21, the NVA launched a series of coordinated attacks against American positions. The Marine garrison was also reinforced, and on November 1, 1967, Operation Scotland began. the battle for khe sanh by captain moyers s. shore ii, usmc pcn 19000411000 history and museums division headquarters, u. s. marine corps washington, d. c. These forces, including support troops, totaled 20,000 to 30,000. This is the number of Days of clean healthy, WWII 75th Anniversary Commemorations Alliance. The deaths of U.S. Air Force personnel, estimated between five and 20, are also omitted. 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. The most controversial statistic in Vietnam was the number of killed in action (KIA) claimed by each side. the khe sanh hill fights In April 1967, I was the Platoon Commander of the 2nd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. But only by checking my service record while writing this article did it become evident that I had participated in all three operations. On the morning of April 16, Mauro’s unit was due to be helicoptered out of the hill but was ambushed by north Vietnamese forces and suffered numerous casualties. For example, I served with a Marine heavy mortar battery at Khe Sanh during the siege. WWII 75th Anniversary Commemorations Alliance. According to this history, originally classified as secret, the battle deaths for all major NVA units participating in the entire Highway 9–. In the end, there were 703 killed, 2,642 wounded, and 7 missing. If that failed, and it did, they hoped to attack American reinforcements along Route 9 between Khe Sanh and Laos. By early 1967, the Marine position was reinforced to regimental strength. Name State Date War Branch; 1: Steven Glenn Abbott . Since 1962, Khe Sanh Combat Base had been an Army Special Forces site. When it reported favorable conditions, the other aircraft launched from various bases in northern South Vietnam. Ray Stubbe has published a translation of the North Vietnamese history of the siege at Khe Sanh. Battle of Khe Sanh: American Casualties : Showing All Results. Lasting 77 days, the siege of Khe Sanh saw American and South Vietnamese forces suffer. On April 5, 1968, MACV prepared an “Analysis of the Khe Sanh Battle” for General Westmoreland. Khe Sanh Front from January 20 until July 20, 1968, totaled 2,469. Despite radar guidance, weather and drop accuracy continued to hamper mission success. 16. The NVA’s main command post was located in Laos, at Sar Lit. Hugo Grotius, Dutch statesman and scholar. The Khe Sanh battlefield was considerably more extensive from the North Vietnamese perspective than from that of the U.S. Marine Corps, both geographically and chronologically. 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. Omar Sharif (Michael Shalhoub), actor (Dr. Zhivago). Reviewed by Diana Ahmad, PhD. About two hours later, an NVA artillery barrage scored a hit on the main ammunition dump at Khe Sanh Combat Base, killing Lance Corp. Jerry Stenberg and other Marines. September - Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 10 arrives at Khe Sanh to rebuild airstrip. David Halberstam, New York Times correspondent, author, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1964. The engagement would be one of the deadliest days at Khe Sanh for the men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, with 27 killed, … The combatants were elements of the United States (U.S.) III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) and two to three division-size elements of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). ... and stymied either a counter-attack or an effort to retrieve NVA casualties by firing into a platoon size force coming out of the treeline and elephant grass at the bottom of the hill. The Marine defense of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland, officially ended on March 31. All of the attacks were conducted by regimental-size PAVN/VC units, but unlike most of the previous pusual hit-and-run tactics, they were sustained and bloody affairs. Marine Khe Sanh veteran Peter Brush is Vietnam Magazine’s book review editor. These were momentous events in the course of the war and they occurred in the first three months of the year. Ho Chi Minh’s 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 Stubbe’s numbers are accompanied by names and dates of death. On April 15, Operation Pegasus ended and Operation Scotland II began. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. On June 19, 1968, another operation began at Khe Sanh, Operation Charlie, the final evacuation and destruction of the Khe Sanh Combat 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. For more great articles, subscribe to Vietnam magazine today! The NVA surrounded Khe Sanh in an attempt to force the Marines to break out of their fighting positions, which would make it easier to engage and destroy them. Upon closer analysis, the official figure does not accurately portray even what it purports to represent. Among the dead Marines was 18-year-old Pfc Curtis Bugger. Survivors talk of the ambush on the documentary "Bravo; Common Men, Uncommon Valor" on Amazon Prime TV. Time magazine, in an April 12, 1968, article titled “Victory at Khe Sanh,” reported General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, after flying into Khe Sanh by helicopter, declaring: “We took 220 killed at Khe Sanh and about 800 wounded and evacuated. Khe Sanh was situated on Route 9, the major east-west highway.
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