Joe Ronnie Hooper", "Command Chronology for period 1 February to 29 February 1968", "Communist political executions at Hue in the 1968 Tet Offensive", "Soldiers of North Vietnam strike a pose for her camera", "Who, What, When, Where, Why: Report from Vietnam by Walter Cronkite", "Chris Matthews invokes the 'if I've lost Cronkite' myth in NYT review", "The Grim Calculations of Retaking Fallujah", "Many U.S. The year 1968 marked a crucial turning point in the Vietnam War. [4]:176, Shortly after 15:00, Company F, 2/5 Marines made a helicopter landing into southern Hu. Following this visit two more cavalry battalions (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment) and additional air and artillery support were committed to the attack on La Chu. On 16 February two companies from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, fought elements of the 803rd Regiment, 324B Division, about 20 kilometers (12mi) northeast of Hu, killing 29 PAVN before they broke contact the following day. [9]:268, The PAVN set up provisional authorities shortly after capturing Hu, charged with removing the existing Republic of Vietnam administration from power within the city and replacing it with a "revolutionary administration". Four days would pass before they were at last able to punch a hole in the PAVN-VC lines and reach the MACV compound. At 10:45 on 11 February Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines was airlifted aboard Marine CH-46s into Mang Ca, but enemy fire forced several of the helicopters to return to Phu Bai. That young Marine of yours, that corporal who has always been the joy of everybody and always has a joke, gets killed next to you. The heavy damage was the result of the artillery, air, and mortar pounding the area received for 25 days while the Viet Cong/NVA held the area. The patrol commander reported by radio what he had seen, Trng immediately dispatched a light observation airplane from the Ty Lc Airfield to look for the enemy force. During the night, the battalion called helicopter into the landing zone to take out the most badly wounded. As the Marine infantry started across, a machine gun on the other end of the bridge opened fire, killing and wounding several Marines. [5][6][21], 844 civilians were killed and 1,900 wounded during the battle. This equipment was loaded onto a convoy which arrived at the MACV Compound at 13:00 on 3 February. The Battle of Hu (also called the Siege of Hu), was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War. This was only beaten back with heavy artillery fire. Hue, city, central Vietnam. U.S. 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division base camp operations in Phu Bai near Hue, Vietnam. By dawn, our troops were still unable to advance". The cost had been heavy: the ARVN suffered 131 casualties including 40 dead, and lost four of the 12 armored personnel carriers in the convoy. Under I Corps command, but available to Trng upon his request were two battalions of the ARVN 1st Airborne Task Force and a troop of armored personnel carriers from the 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron at PK-17, the ARVN base located near a road marker on Highway 1, 17 kilometers (11mi) north of Hu. The Post Office also seemed abandoned until the Marines located a vault inside the building, they proceeded to gas out the PAVN inside killing more than 24 of them as they emerged. Why is that important? [31][32], Militarily, Hu and the entire Tet Offensive were Allied victories. 2 kilometers (1.2mi) to the northwest, an engineer unit moved within sight of its target, the An Lo Bridge that spanned the Bo River, as it did, the 806th Battalion, one company from the 800th Battalion and a sapper platoon of forty men, all from the 6th Regiment, quietly occupied a forward staging area in a graveyard 2 kilometers (1.2mi) northwest of the Citadel. RM 2B00WAF - Vietnam: U.S. Marines advance past an M48 Patton tank during the battle for Hue, Tet Offensive, 1968. [9]:33235 The Marines raised an American flag to celebrate their victory, but shortly thereafter were ordered to lower it, as according to South Vietnamese law, no American flag was permitted to be flown without an accompanying South Vietnamese flag. in January 1968, North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive, a series of coordinated attacks aimed at demonstrating to the governments in Washington and Saigon that continuing the war was futile. [4]:213 MACV gave figures of 5,133 PAVN-VC killed at Hu. Vietnam War veterans and retired Marines Lt. Gen. George Ron Christmas and Brig. While the helicopters and men of the Division were soon in position, most of their heavy and support equipment was loaded on trucks that would have to proceed by convoy up Highway 1. Company D was also engaged by PAVN in the village of Lieu Coc and forced to withdraw. With the city finally in sight, the three companies that made up the 804th Battalion headed off in different directions. [4]:230, On 1 February, III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) Commander Lieutenant General Robert Cushman alerted the 1st Cavalry Division commander, Major General John J. Tolson, to be ready to deploy his 3rd Brigade into a sector west of Hu. The fighting for the airfield continued to seesaw, with first the ARVN having the upper hand and then the PAVN. Shortly after 04:30, a column of M41 tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the compound and headed up Highway 1. The base remained under fire from PAVN positions in a Buddhist temple to the south and from a ridgeline to the west and at 07:00 on 25 February Companies F and G began to attack the ridgeline, but were met by intense mortar fire. 31 January-25 February 1968 . The city of Hue was the capital of a unified Vietnam from 1802 until 1945. [3] A PAVN document captured by the ARVN stated that 1,042 troops had been killed in the city proper and that several times that number had been wounded. Captain Gordon Batcheller later recalled that "we were rousted up about 04:00 on the 31st and launched south on trucks to rendezvous with and reinforce ARVN forces about a map sheet and a half south of Phu Bai." Comments will be moderated before posting to ensure logical, professional, and courteous application to article content. They advanced along parallel tracks, with the 5/7th Cavalry, following the course of Highway 1; the 2/501st Infantry, searching the central route; and the 2/12th Cavalry, sweeping the area to the south. The General Offensive was to comprise conventional and guerilla military action aimed primarily at the "puppet" South Vietnamese military and government, attempting to destroy their legitimacy among the South Vietnamese population. [9]:32022 The PAVN-VC no longer tenaciously defended each building, relying more on sniper fire, mortars and rockets. The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied the city of Hue . [12]:3132, On the afternoon of 30 January Trng dispatched a Hac Bao platoon and an Australian Army adviser to scout the north bank of the Perfume River which provided the simplest route from Base Area 114 into the city. [4]:17778 That night the PAVN 815th Battalion overran the ARVN defenders at the Thua Thien Prison releasing the 2,500 prisoners, including 350 VC who were soon armed with captured ARVN weapons and joined the fighting. The 150 ARVN at Ty Lc Airfield withdrew east through the city, avoiding PAVN forces and sneaked into the Mang Ca compound shortly after 07:00, just in time to help repulse another major assault from the 802nd Battalion. Among the new arrivals was the 7th Battalion of the 29th Regiment, 325C Division, a unit that until recently had been laying siege to Khe Sanh. Lessons Learned, Charlie 1/5, Operation Hue City, 31 January 1968 to 5 March 1968 To the uninitiated in Rules of Engagement, they're a set of rules established by high command that dictate what weapons and tactics may be used. [15][9]:12728, The embattled Trng called in reinforcements ordering all four battalions of the 3rd Regiment in the countryside to return to the Citadel, he also instructed two armored units, the 3rd Troop, 7th Cavalry, stationed at PK17, and the tank-equipped 1st Troop, 7th Cavalry, at the Tam Thai camp southeast of new city to proceed to Mang Ca. Two platoons successfully made their way to the other side. Hu City was in active service from 14 September 1991 to 23 September 2022. . The United States and other allied nations fought on the side . Built within a two year span, it has been severely damaged on three occasions. [4]:16667 At 05:00 a reinforced company from the 1st Sapper Battalion [14]:99101 On 13 February Companies F and H crossed the bridge again with the aim of securing the entire area. For the board wargame based on this battle, see, The 1st Cavalry Division attacks PAVN supply lines, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:50, Massacre perpetrated by Vietcong and the PAVN, dressed in ARVN uniforms killed the guards, Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support, Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Developments in the war, News media and the Vietnam War Tet Offensive, 1968, November 2004 anti-insurgent Marine operation, United States Army Center of Military History, "The History Place Vietnam War 19651968", "Urban Operations: An Historical Casebook", "An Excerpt from the Viet Cong Strategy of Terror", "Pham Van Dong, Voice of Vietnam's Revolt, Dies at 94", "Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipients (AL)", "Medal of Honor Monday: Army Sgt. Vietnamese young boys and girls fill sandbags. He split up two more platoons to reinforce security at the various gates leading into the Citadel. The 804th Battalion, 4th Regiment, began marching from Ph Lc to a mountain camp 20 kilometers (12mi) south of Hu where the majority of the southern wing was gathered. The American command still had little realization of the situation in Hu. The passing down of information from Marine to Marine is a cornerstone Marine training. Unable to enter the Citadel, the two battalions established their night positions outside the southeast wall of the Citadel. The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied Hue City. The South Vietnamese armor pulled back. There are endless must-see historic sites, especially those that are UNESCO World Heritage designated. Where emperors lived and died. The combined force then swept toward the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge along the southwestern face of the Citadel, where a few PAVN still held out in a narrow band of trees between the moat and the wall. In another part of the city, where Downs company was flown in by helicopter, he was leading his men from building to building but had to use ingenuity and tear gas to do so. Take advantage of all the exciting benefits that membership offers including access to member-only publications. Become a member! The Day Things Fell apart in Hue City, February 1968 - with Hotel/2/5, 1st Marine Div. G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #64 RL64RL Mi Lieutenant Half the population lived within the Citadel in 1 or 2 story houses surrounded by stone walls. attacked the compound from the east, but failed to penetrate the compound. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The articles and other content which appear on the Modern War Institute website are unofficial expressions of opinion. Meanwhile, the 416th Battalion began fortifying the twin villages with spider holes, trenches and camouflaged fighting positions. Finally, a small detachment of U.S. Navy personnel was stationed at a boat ramp just north of the MACV Compound. Overnight the PAVN counterattacked and briefly regained control of the gate before being forced out by Company D.[4]:201, Also on 14 February the South Vietnamese Marine Task Force A joined the battle. The units intended to use a ferry station 10 kilometers (6.2mi) south of the city to cross the river. 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