The Battle of Khe Sahn was a nearly 7 month battle (January 21st 1968- July 5th 1968) that was held in the Quang Tri Province in South Vietnam. The battle was between 2 regiments of U.S. Marines, backed up by components of U.S. army and Air Force, against 2 or 3 divisions of the North Vietnamese Army.
The battle started when the People’s Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) attacked the U.S. regiment stationed at Khe Sahn with a massive artillery bombardment. The reason why the PAVN wanted Khe Sahn was because it was in a area of strategic importance because the PAVN could get that and then secure a bunch of northern cities and have a strong position because of that. General William Westmoreland anticipated a attack because of this and started stockpiling weapons and mortar rounds to repel said attack.
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| Battle of Khe Sahn |
The attack came as a surprise and as such, 90% of the U.S. stockpiled weapons were destroyed. President Lyndon B. Johnson agreed with General Westmoreland on the fact that the base should be held. President Johnson allowed U.S. and South Vietnamese forces to embark on Operation Niagara which was all about artillery bombardments on areas in the hills around Khe Sahn suspected to have PAVN artillery. They completely ignored communist buildup in urban areas of South Vietnam which would lead to the Tet Offensive. Tet Offensive was PAVN and Viet Cong forces launching attacks on over 100 South Vietnam cities. A full on battle at Khe Sahn never came and the base was shut down July 5th.
Takeaways:
- Battle of Khe Sahn was a 7 month battle that included the Tet Offensive
- General Westmoreland stockpiled U.S. weapons
- PAVN artillery blew up stockpiled U.S. weapons
- President Johnson ordered Operation Niagara
- Blow up suspected areas where PAVN artillery were
- Completely ignored Coummunism growing in South Vietnam
- Led to Tet Offensive
- Viet Cong attacked over 100 South Vietnam Cities
- Full out battle never came
- Base shut down on July 5th
History Channel source: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/battle-of-khe-sanh-1
Very interesting how the actual battle never came. I wonder if the PAVN and US forces exchanged artillery fire through out the entire 7 months or not. I like how you gave a timeline of the battle, it is really helpful to organize the events.
ReplyDeleteWhy did the base shut down I wonder? were the troops too powerful for them or did they pull out for unrelated reasons?
ReplyDeleteWow 90% of US stockpiled weapons were destroyed. So since the battle never came, was it just artillery bombardment for the 7 months?
ReplyDelete90% loss is U.S. weapons is a huge number. Did the U.S. ever make up for this loss later? Did the War end with only the 10% left?
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