Connecting the Citadel and new city were the Trng Tin Bridge (162805N 1073520E / 16.468N 107.589E / 16.468; 107.589), which carried Highway 1, and further west the Bach Ho rail bridge. That evening, the PAVN-VC northern attack wing began moving towards Hu from base camps in the western hills. But in the 1968 Tet Offensive, the war spilled out of the jungle into the streets of Hue City. He previously served as a fellow with the chief of staff of the Armys Strategic Studies Group. [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. He served twenty-five years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. The U.S. Army 1st and 3rd Brigades, 1st Cavalry Division and the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, operated out of a series of firebases and landing zones between Phu Bai and Qung Tr. [9]:356 A pontoon bridge had been built across the Phu Cam Canal, restoring the road access that had been lost when the An Cuu Bridge was blown up. 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. It started on Jan. 30, 1968, the eve of Tet (the Vietnamese lunar new year): More than 80,000 soldiers from the People's Army North Vietnamese and southern allies staged simultaneous attacks on cities, towns and U.S. bases throughout the south, a mass occupation meant to inspire the rest of South Vietnam to rise up . The Day Things Fell apart in Hue City, February 1968 - with Hotel/2/5, 1st Marine Div. In the early morning of 31 January, after the rocket bombardment of the airfield and the initial attack on the Truoi River Bridge, Task Force X-Ray received reports of strikes all along Highway 1 between the Hi Vn Pass and Hu. Power and water supply into the city had been cut off, and people were aware that the ARVN and U.S. forces would soon counterattack. Another mistake was that he didnt move his snipers around and the NVA found the snipers and fired many RPGs at them. The company spent the better part of the afternoon trying to reach the isolated communications site. Other PAVN troops split off and attacked the Hu railway station and a police headquarters facility near the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge. Several M41 crews abandoned their undamaged tanks when they found their escape route blocked by burning hulks. 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. All he knew was that Trng's headquarters had been under attack, as was the MACV Compound. Despite this they made little progress, as they had to withdraw when supporting fire was called in and the PAVN quickly reoccupied abandoned positions. On the 7th the 3rd Regiment, which had been futilely trying to break into the southeast corner of the Citadel, was moved by Mike boats to Mang Ca to reinforce his units inside the Citadel. Also on 28 January, the 810th Battalion, 4th Regiment and the 2nd Sapper Battalion began marching toward the city from locations along the coast east of Hu. On that first day, the two Marine companies in Hu had sustained casualties of 10 killed and 56 wounded. 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. We are going to have to fight our way in piecemeal and then gather up and retake the city from within.. The third installment aims to help answer those questions by examining the Battle of Hue. [12]:6970, By 20 February the 1/5 Marines advance had stalled and after conferring with his commanders Thompson decided to launch a night attack against three PAVN strongpoints that were blocking further movement with the entire battalion attacking at daybreak. After battling RF troops who were guarding a series of four bridges over the canal, some of the PAVN troops crossed into the city and headed for a list of targets that included the Montagnard military school, the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) center, the Le Loi transportation camp, the provincial administration complex and prison and the Tha Thin Provincial Headquarters (162740N 1073455E / 16.461N 107.582E / 16.461; 107.582). [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. The offensive ended in crippling military defeat for the attackers, and yet the strength of their assault led to a political setback for the United States, as critics at home gained traction and public support for the war eroded. [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. [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. One Marine, Lance corporal Lester A. Tully, later awarded the Silver Star for his action, ran forward, threw a grenade, and silenced the gun. Soldiers look on. The following pictures are real eye-openers for anyone who's been to Ho Chi Minh City recently. They tried again five days later, but once again, bad weather prevented them from locating Mang Ca. 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 cultural and historical capital city, Hue was the centerpiece of Hanoi's 1968 Tet Offensive, a surprise attack by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong that sought to win the war in one stroke . Eight CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters made the flight in marginal weather with a 61152 metres (200500ft) ceiling and 1.6 kilometres (1mi) visibility, arriving at an improvised landing zone under enemy mortar fire. [9]:290, Following the capture of the Treasury, Cheatham continued his methodical advance to the west leading with tear gas, M-48s and Ontos, followed by Mules and Marines, while PAVN-VC resistance lessened as its manpower and ammunition was depleted. However, they were soon stopped by strong PAVN defenses; after two days the Vietnamese Marines had only advanced 400 meters. 23 February saw little progress, prompting a frustrated Abrams to suggest that the Vietnamese Marine Corps should be dissolved. [16]:23237 Other attacks along Highway 1 damaged or destroyed 20 bridges and 26 culverts between the Hi Vn Pass and Phu Bai and Highway 1 was closed to convoy traffic until early March. The Battle of Hue was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War. Vietnamese young boys and girls fill sandbags. During the months and years that followed, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Hu. The year 1968 marked a crucial turning point in the Vietnam War. [12]:3233, On the night of 30 January it started to rain; from 2 February onwards this rain, low cloud and foggy weather (known locally as the crachin) would last through much of the battle and severely hamper Allied air and artillery support. No later than February 13, 1968, 1/5 Alpha Co, will rendezvous with 1st ARVN Division at the Northeast of the Citadel to clear Hue City in order to gain control of the city, removing all enemy fighters. Its pretty easy to get emotional, but what leaders get paid for is to stand above the emotion. The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. [4]:168, Three USMC battalions were protecting Phu Bai Combat Base, Highway 1 and all western approaches to Hu. During the Battle of Hue City, most of the civilians hid out in buildings, according to Christmas. Entering the building the Marines fought room by room, clearing the building, but many of the PAVN slipped away. Several companies of PAVN armed with mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles and RPGs were strongly entrenched along the south side of the Sau Canal, a deep waterway that ran toward the Citadel perpendicular to the Perfume River. Owned and operated by the U.S. 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division base camp operations in Phu Bai near Hue, Vietnam. More than half the company's 147 men had been wounded or killed in that day's fighting. 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. Y Young Ki Moon Hue city 1968 Usmc Marines Staff Sergeant Korean War They may be right, that Hanoi's winter-spring offensive has been forced by the Communist realization that they could not win the longer war of attrition, and that the Communists hope that any success in the offensive will improve their position for eventual negotiations For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. The 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry was to arrive in the landing zone first, followed by the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry to be inserted near PK-17. Although the PAVN battalion penetrated the division compound, an ad hoc 200-man defensive force of staff officers and clerks staved off the assaults. [9]:268, Back at Phu Bai, Cheatham was reviewing Marine urban fighting doctrine which recommended staying off the streets and moving forward by blasting through walls and buildings. 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. Take advantage of all the exciting benefits that membership offers including access to member-only publications. The Battle of Hu began on 31 January 1968 and lasted a total of 26 days. [4]:21113, On 28 February 1/5 Marines and 2/5 Marines launched an operation to the east of Hu to try to cut off any PAVN forces moving from Hu towards the coast. RM 2B00WAF - Vietnam: U.S. Marines advance past an M48 Patton tank during the battle for Hue, Tet Offensive, 1968. However, less is known about America's involvement with the city during World War II. The 1st Battalion encountered the 810th Battalion which had been deployed to block the eastern approaches to the new city, running low on ammunition Captain Phan Ngoc Luong, the commander of the 1st Battalion, retreated with his unit to the coastal Ba Long outpost, arriving there with only three eight-round clips per man for their World War II vintage M1 Garand rifles. [9]:288 That evening VC sappers succeeded in blowing up the An Cuu bridge, cutting the road link to Phu Bai. A short time later, their transmissions went dead and they were never heard from again. US Marines spent nearly a month fighting a brutal urban battle to retake the city which was 80% destroyed by the battle's end, according to H.D.S. I live with that to this day, Christmas said. But as the intensity of the battle increased, the policy was eliminated. Marine Corps Base Quantico. [12]:37 At 08:00, PAVN troops raised a liberation flag over the Citadel flag tower. While Downs was deciding how to approach this problem a young lance corporal and a private first class came up with an idea. The PAVN-VC could not afford to engage in a firefight at this point, and they succeeded in sneaking away without raising further alarms. For example, anti-aircraft vehicles called dusters were used in the front and the back of a 12-truck convoy heading into Hue City since there were no tanks available. One company occupied a six-way intersection on Highway 1 a few blocks southeast of the MACV Compound to prevent Allied mechanized forces from entering the city. [9]:18586 Initially forces were identified as coming from the PAVN 4th, 5th and 6th Regiments. Shortly before midnight, the reconnaissance team hiding in the bushes on the north bank of the Perfume River saw a long column of PAVN soldiers emerge from the darkness. [12]:38, Just before dawn the 804th Battalion reached the eastern outskirts of the new city, three hours behind schedule. Company B then walked into an ambush north of Que Chu and was pinned down in the open with little cover, they were only able to withdraw after calling in close artillery support. PAVN-VC losses are a matter of debate. [12]:7577, On 23 February a company from the 5/7th Cavalry, boarded helicopters and flew to the docks near Mang Ca, where it joined a platoon of armored personnel carriers from Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, on loan from the 9th Infantry Division which had just arrived in the Phu BaiHu region after redeploying from Long Khnh Province to northern I Corps by sea. Although the South Vietnamese 9th Airborne Battalion was caught up in the battle for Qung Tr, the 2nd and 7th Airborne Battalions were available at PK17. Allied intelligence estimated that 1618 PAVN battalions, totaling 811,000 soldiers, were engaged in the battle. [4]:168[12]:44, South of the city, on 31 January Lieutenant Colonel Phan Hu Ch, the commander of the ARVN 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron, attempted to break the PAVN-VC stranglehold. The Army gunners and the Marine Ontos quickly responded. [4]:168[12]:4344, The ARVN 3rd Regiment had an even more difficult time. [4]:204, Despite their reducing hold on the city the PAVN seemed determined to prolong the battle for the Citadel. Only two buildings in the city were held by Marines. Losses continued to mount throughout the day from mortar and small arms fire and that night the Battalion commander decided to breakout from the encirclement by a night march to an ARVN position on Nha Nanh hill (162735N 1073022E / 16.4598N 107.506E / 16.4598; 107.506) from where they could be resupplied and the casualties medevaced. Beginning in February 1968, in the South Vietnamese city of Hue, 11 battalions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), two U.S. Army battalions, and three U.S. Marine Corps battalions, for a total of 16 battalions, defeated 10 battalions of the People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong. A second unit from the regiment, the 810th Battalion, and several local force companies roamed the coastal plain north and east of Hu. 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 Marines of Charlie Company were based at Lang Co Village, which was located adjacent to the Lang Co Bridge situated at the northern approach of the Hai Van Pass. Killed in that day 's fighting as coming from the PAVN 4th, 5th and 6th Regiments marked a turning... 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