John Spencer and Jayson Geroux | 11.04.21. 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. Only two buildings in the city were held by Marines. Everybody will fight. Downs said that Hue City has been rebuilt since the battle; however, there are still reminders of the fight that occurred there. [In urban combat] you may want to know that one of the things youre supposed to do is isolate the city, said Christmas. The Marines on the outskirts of the city were able to fend off the initial Tet Offensive attack and back the NVA up to the river, but within a few days the Marines were ordered to take back the entire city, which had become overrun by NVA. On the 31st, two of its battalions, the 2nd and 3rd, advanced east from encampments southwest of the city along the northern bank of the Perfume River, but PAVN defensive fire forced them to fall back. The Cavalry force soon encountered two dug-in PAVN Battalions around the villages of Thon Que Chu and Thon La Chu which they were unable to overcome as fog prevented their usual gunship support. The Citadel, or Imperial City, is the walled-in portion of Hu sitting on the north bank of the Perfume River. 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. The attackers were engaged by a machine gunner in a guard tower and troops in a bunker who were able to hold off the attack for long enough to allow others in the compound to form a cohesive defense. A 75mm recoilless rifle knocked out one of the supporting tanks. 14 Feb 1968, Hue, South Vietnam --- A flowered arm sling is worn by a wounded U.S Marine in this makeshift communications #vietnamwarfootageandstories Source: Bettmann/CORBIS G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #62 G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #63 US Marines fighting in Hue, Vietnam. In mid-morning the 5/7th Cavalry, came under heavy fire from an estimated company-size force who occupied the hamlet of Thon An, approximately one kilometer from the An Hoa Bridge. In the end, although the Allies declared a military victory, the city of Hu was virtually destroyed, and more than 5,000 civilians were killed, including more than 2,000 of them executed by the PAVN and VC. On the morning of 25 February 1968 Nguyen heard screaming coming from the far side of her village of Ha My - not far from the now-popular tourist town of Hoi An - and saw smoke filling the sky . Your email address will not be published. The plans for celebration were well under way, with fireworks and traditional religeous and social activities planned, but there were those who had other plans. On August 20, 2009, Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret.) Younger soldiers were convinced by the party propaganda that they were on the verge of a great victory that would end the war. 1/7th Cavalry then dug in to night defensive positions. Brigadier General Foster LaHue, the Task Force X-Ray commander, actually had very little reliable intelligence on the situation. The Battle of Hu (31 January 1968 - 2 March 1968), also called the siege of Hu, was a major military engagement in the Tt Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Vit Cng during the Vietnam War.After initially losing control of most of Hu and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. [4]:20810, To the west, the South Vietnamese forces continued to meet stubborn resistance. At the end of January in 1968, the Viet Cong launched an offensive that turned the tide of the Vietnam War. 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. 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. [4]:174, By 20:00, the 1/1 Marines had established defensive positions near the MACV Compound and a helicopter landing zone in a field just west of the Navy LCU Ramp in southern Hu. During Tet, the lunar New Year holiday, the North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies staged attacks across South Vietnam, none more dramatic than the assault on Hu, the old imperial capital. The 804th Battalion of the newly created 4th Regiment was reported to be near Ph Lc District, 30 kilometers (19mi) southeast of the city. Vietnamese young boys and girls fill sandbags during 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division base operations in Phu Bai. [13]:43[14]:29. [4]:208 Company L, 3/5 Marines was then tasked with clearing the area to the Thuong Tu Gate and out to the Trng Tin Bridge. for Advanced Operational Culture Lrng. [34] In his analysis of the Battle of Fallujah, Jonathan F. Keiler, a military historian and former officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps wrote:[36]. Afterward, massive reconstruction and rehabilitation had been undertaken to restore the precious historic relics in the ancient capital. [9]:525 Estimates of Vietnamese civilians killed by the PAVN-VC at Hu range from 2,800 (based on bodies exhumed from mass graves) to almost 6,000. Built within a two year span, it has been severely damaged on three occasions. 2/5 Marines killed 18 PAVN or VC and captured one, at a cost of three Marines killed and 13 wounded. As he later remembered, the American M48s were too heavy for the bridge and the ARVN tankers "refused to go." However at 10:30, 31 January Company G was ordered to Phu Bai as the Task Force reserve and Company F was removed from Hughes' operational control later that afternoon. HUE, VIETNAM -- After Vietnamese Communists briefly occupied this picturesque former imperial capital during the 1968 Tet offensive, nearly 3,000 people were found buried in mass . [9]:51920, The battle was an ARVN-U.S. victory in only the narrowest sense in that they had evicted the PAVN-VC from the city at heavy cost, but failed to annihilate them. This lecture was part of the commemoration of the Vietnam War era. Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam is Black Hawk Down author Bowden's worthy effort to give the battle its due. I live with that to this day, Christmas said. This will differ by city, it will differ by what the NVA does. These ambushes killed 20 Marines and wounded 39. A VC company armed with 82mm mortars and 57mm recoilless rifles veered north and took up a position near PK17 outpost to shell the ARVN airborne and armored units stationed there once the offensive began. 6) Enjoy the Co Ha Gardens. [8] Other objectives included the Ty Lc Airfield and the Imperial Palace. [4]:177, During the mid-afternoon of 2 February, the 2/12th Cavalry arrived in a landing zone about 10 kilometres (6mi) northwest of Hu. Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret. New Hue was located on the southeast bank of the river. [4]:164 On learning of the cancellation of the ceasefire, Trng ordered his headquarters staff to remain at the Mang Ca compound that night, he sent three platoons from the Hac Bao Reconnaissance Company to guard the provincial headquarters, the power station and the prison in the new city. Coming upon the central police headquarters in southern Hu, the tanks attempted to relieve the police defenders, but a B-40 rocket made a direct hit on Chi's tank, killing him instantly. Hue 1968 is also an exploration of what is common to all wars: humankind's capacity for violence, cruelty, self-sacrifice, bravery, cowardice and love. [9]:34749 On 9 February 5/7th Cavalry resumed their advance with artillery support from PK-17 and naval gunfire; they overran Lieu Coc finding PAVN bodies and fighting positions. While Downs was deciding how to approach this problem a young lance corporal and a private first class came up with an idea. The two aircraft radioed that they were scrubbing the mission, then headed out to sea to jettison their bombs. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense, or that of any organization with which the authors are affiliated, including the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Canadian Department of National Defence. The main body of the 818th Battalion had left camp later than planned and had gotten lost on its way to the city. In preparation for this, MACV was in the middle of Operation Checkers: moving the 1st Marine Division to Qung Tr Province in order to support Khe Sanh and defeat any other PAVN attack across the DMZ. The 804th Battalion and the 1st Sapper Battalion remained south of the canal near the An Cuu Bridge while the 810th Battalion began preparing to sneak west across the Perfume River by raft and boat to Gia Hoi Island. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Half the population lived within the Citadel in 1 or 2 story houses surrounded by stone walls. Beginning at 1:15 AM January 31, 1968, 2 battalions of the 6th NVA Regiment spookily sauntered through the Chanh Tay Gate west of the Imperial Citadel in Hue, Vietnam. [8] Hu had great symbolism, having been the capital of Vietnam under the Nguyn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. In the early morning hours of 31 January 1968, a division-sized force of PAVN-VC soldiers launched a coordinated attack on the city of Hu. Owned and operated by the Its alive and well today and is in response to your leadership, said Downs to the SNCOs gathered in the lecture hall. To isolate the Hue fight and judge it in the context of the overall Viet Nam conflict is a mistake. [14]:2930 East of the MACV Compound, a heavy weapons team from the 2nd Sapper Battalion attempted to destroy the communications facility. Later that night a radio message from the commander of PAVN forces in the Citadel was intercepted, he stated that his predecessor had been killed and requested permission to withdraw from the city, but this was denied and he was told to stand and fight. [9]:490, At 09:30 on 22 February, Company A, 1/5 Marines led the day's attack to find that the PAVN had largely disappeared and the south wall was soon secured. The following pictures are real eye-openers for anyone who's been to Ho Chi Minh City recently. The Battle of Hue, part of the Tet Offensive, 1968 The Tet Offensive. Comments will be moderated before posting to ensure logical, professional, and courteous application to article content. This book is the capstone volume of the entire series in that 1968, as the title indicates, was the defining year of the war. PAVN soldiers also fired 130 82mm mortar rounds into the Mang Ca Compound the opening minutes of the battle. It was mid-February 1968, and American and South Vietnamese forces were. G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #64 RL64RL Mi Lieutenant The Army gunners and the Marine Ontos quickly responded. Some were marched north into captivity, while others were executed, including three West German doctors, two French Benedictine monks and two U.S. government employees. The PAVN/VC crossed the river without incident on the evening of 30 January, but the delay meant that only the 1st and 2nd Sapper Battalions and an 82mm mortar company would be in their forward positions when the offensive began. 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. Hue City,, Vietnam, 1968 On 27 February the entire battalion attacked the hill but the PAVN had withdrawn during the night, leaving behind 14 dead. The battle started on Jan. 30, 1968 and didnt end until March 3, 1968. [9]:475[13]:45, On 21 February following intensive radar-guided airstrikes and artillery strikes, the four Cavalry battalions launched a four-pronged attack from the north, west and south on Que Chu and La Chu. Where emperors lived and died. Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. In the battle for the tower, six men died and 50 were wounded. What happened in Hue in February, 1968, may have been the biggest, longest battle of the war, but it did not represent a contradiction in Cronkite's conclusion that the United States was stuck in a stalemateboth military and politicalin the long, deadly Viet Nam War. This is also where the Marine needs to use their ingenuity. 4,856 civilians and captured ARVN personnel were executed by the PAVN-VC or went missing during the battle according to the South Vietnamese Government. On 24 February 2/5 Marines launched an operation to the southwest of Hu to relieve the ARVN 101st Engineering Company compound which had been under siege by the PAVN since the start of the battle. At dawn the only areas of the new city still under Allied control were the prison defended by a Hac Bao platoon; the Le Loi transportation camp; the Huang Giang Hotel; the MACV Compound; the communications facility; and the Navy loading dock. Shortly after 04:30, a column of M41 tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the compound and headed up Highway 1. [34][35] Both battles were fought in close quarters in an urban setting where the enemy ensconced itself in the midst of civilians. [4]:195 On 11 February the Vietnamese Marines Task Force A comprising the 1st and 5th Battalions, began to be lifted by helicopter into Mang Ca to replace the Airborne, however due to poor weather this deployment would not be completed until 13 February. [4]:201 That day at a meeting at Phu Bai between Generals Abrams, LaHue, Trng and South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyn Cao K, K approved the use of all necessary force to clear the PAVN-VC forces from the Citadel, regardless of damage to historic structures. The strategic objective at Hu was to capture (or "liberate") and hold the city, leading to the establishment of a revolutionary government. As LaHue later wrote: "Initial deployment of forces was made with limited information. Throughout the entire battle, the U.S. command consistently underestimated the size of the PAVN-VC forces engaged and the Allied forces necessary to deal with them. [9]:17174 French journalists Catherine Leroy and Francois Mazure were captured by the PAVN, but were allowed to return to U.S. lines bringing photos of the PAVN side of the battle which were subsequently published in Life Magazine.[27]. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History. About mid-day, the PAVN continued to block any advance to the south. Marine units were located on the outskirts of the city to the south and west when they were attacked by the NVA Jan. 30 as part of the Tet Offensive. However, less is known about America's involvement with the city during World War II. 33. 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