[12]:3436, At 04:00 the PAVN reached the Ty Lc Airfield, where 50 men of the Hac Bao reconnaissance company, reinforced by the 1st Division's 1st Ordnance Company, stopped the PAVN 800th Battalion. 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. February 1968. 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. The Battle of Hue City . The second company from the 804th Battalion seized the An Cuu Bridge while the third company stormed a smaller bridge over the canal a short distance to the west. The PAVN strongly defended the perimeter, but once the Cavalry forces broke through with the support of two newly arrived M42 Dusters, they found that the base had been largely abandoned while the Cavalry had been building up their forces for the attack. Two platoons successfully made their way to the other side. With its stately, tree-lined boulevards, Buddhist temples, national university, and ornate imperial palace within a massive walled city known as the Citadel, Hue was the cradle of the country's culture and heritage. The main body of the 818th Battalion had left camp later than planned and had gotten lost on its way to the city. But if you can do that you will make the right decision. A Leaders Guide to Conducting Research Staff Rides, The Overlooked Irregular Warfare Expert the Pentagon Should Study Today, MWI Podcast: When Cities Become Battlefields, Frank Sobchak Joins MWI as Chair of Irregular Warfare Studies, Announcing the Modern War Institutes 202223 Senior and Research Fellows, Call for Submissions: Civil-Military Relations and Modern War, Call for Applications: MWIs 202223 Fellows Program. Truck convoy enters gate of the camp. [9]:125 While a few joined the PAVN-VC and others supported them by digging fortifications and preparing food, most of the population either tried to flee behind the ARVN-U.S. lines or took shelter in their homes or in churches and pagodas, which they hoped would be safe. If military forces find themselves in a future battle like Hue, how can it be fought more effectively, more quickly, and with less damage to the city and its people? Downs said that Hue City has been rebuilt since the battle; however, there are still reminders of the fight that occurred there. At 03:00 on 21 February, three ten-man teams from 2nd Platoon of Company A launched their assault, quickly capturing the sparsely defended strongpoints which the PAVN had withdrawn from overnight. "[33], The November 2004 anti-insurgent Marine operation in the city of Fallujah, which took place during the Iraq War, has been compared to the Battle of Hu. 2/5 Marines killed 18 PAVN or VC and captured one, at a cost of three Marines killed and 13 wounded. The initial press statements by MACV played down the events in Hu, claiming that only a part of the city had fallen to a small enemy force, that the city would soon be fully restored to South Vietnamese Government control and that the main attack would be directed against Khe Sanh. 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. The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied Hue City. The armored troop at Tam Thai was first to respond to Trng's order. 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. 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. [12]:37 At 08:00, PAVN troops raised a liberation flag over the Citadel flag tower. [8] Other objectives included the Ty Lc Airfield and the Imperial Palace. As the Marine infantry started across, a machine gun on the other end of the bridge opened fire, killing and wounding several Marines. The Terrible Toll. Become a member! One of the offensives chief targets was the city of Hue. Virginia Historical Society, 428 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard MAIL: PO Box 7311, Richmond, Virginia 23221, Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret.). They dropped their cargoes in a large lagoon for local forces to retrieve. One of my more memorable experiences during the monthlong battle for Hue City, February 1968, was when my assistant machine-gunner, Marcus, and I were ordered to stay behind on the enemy's side of . The lightly armored dusters did not provide as much armor as a tank, but they were effective. ARVN troops in the Citadel fired flares over the village to help the RF troops there assess the situation. The following pictures are real eye-openers for anyone who's been to Ho Chi Minh City recently. We take care of civilians, added Downs. All he knew was that Trng's headquarters had been under attack, as was the MACV Compound. The world is urban and thats where youre going to fight and its up to you to ensure that you prepare yourself. "[29][30] This account has been questioned in a book on journalistic accuracy. [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. [13]:43[14]:29. 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. Its all up in here, Christmas said, pointing to his head. The Hu City Sapper Unit and the 12th Sapper Battalion were also located in Base Area 114. Gravel met with Army Colonel George O. Adkisson, the senior U.S. advisor to the ARVN 1st Division. With the building secured the Marines then methodically cleared out the spider-holes, shooting their occupants. They turned left and immediately came under automatic weapons and recoilless rifle fire from the Citadel wall. Neither flight crew could find the city in the fog, however, and both aircraft returned to North Vietnam without dropping their bombs. [9]:331, On 6 February the Marines attacked the Provincial Headquarters which served as the command post of the PAVN 4th Regiment. Your email address will not be published. You have to work out how to deal with it. Once again, NCOs must think outside of the box to accomplish the mission. On Jan. 31, 1968, communist forces had taken control of Hue, the third largest city in South Vietnam. On that first day, the two Marine companies in Hu had sustained casualties of 10 killed and 56 wounded. 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. With the promise of U.S. Marine reinforcements, Chi's column, with three tanks in the lead, tried once more. This was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty. Notes were created from Richard Camp's (Col. 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. The combined force then headed for the Mang Ca compound with the goal of neutralizing Trng's headquarters before it had time to organize the city's defenders. [9]:52425, PAVN General Trn Vn Tr later wrote of the Tet Offensive, "We did not correctly evaluate the specific balance of forces between ourselves and the enemy [its objectives] were beyond our actual strengthin part an illusion based on our subjective desires. U.S. 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division base camp operations in Phu Bai near Hue, Vietnam. A 40-man assault team that was tasked with attacking Mang Ca through a sewer found the entrance blocked and moved around to assault the Huu Gate (162758N 1073405E / 16.466N 107.568E / 16.466; 107.568) at the southwest corner of the Citadel; they were engaged by an ARVN machine gun and lost 24 men before seizing their objective. The PME was planned in honor of the 50th anniversary of the battle and it also honored Vietnam Veterans Day, which is March 29. He previously served as a fellow with the chief of staff of the Armys Strategic Studies Group. [14]:105 On 13 February, Abrams established MACV Forward at Phu Bai, effectively replacing Cushman and assuming overall control of all U.S. forces in I Corps. [5][6][21], 844 civilians were killed and 1,900 wounded during the battle. The Tet Offensive was a military campaign . At Thon La Chu a South Vietnamese official who was a VC agent had earlier used aid money to build a three-story concrete and steel bomb shelter for local villagers and the command group of the Hu City Front used this as its headquarters. His remaining Hac Bao platoon, made up of the most experienced soldiers, took up position at the centrally located Ty Lc Airfield to act as a rapid-reaction force. VIETNAM Hue is home to a plethora of intricate imperial structures, such as the Meridian Gate Matthew Pike Writer 26 October 2021 View From 1802 to 1945, Hue was the capital of Vietnam and home to the Nguyen dynasty. [4]:205 On the night of 16 February a radio intercept indicated that a battalion-size PAVN force was about to launch a counterattack over the west wall of the Citadel. . The General Uprising was the expectation that the oppressed South Vietnamese population would then spontaneously rise up and overthrow the Thiu-K government and that this would force the United States to withdraw in the face of the will of the people. Their objective was to capture the Mang Ca Garrison. Anyone in violation of that can be charged with a war crime. By dawn, our troops were still unable to advance". [9]:28086 After securing the Jeanne d'Arc High School, Company A, 1/1 Marines recaptured the Le Loi Elementary School. Country Maps. Redding's experience in Hue began soon after the city fell. The convoy was then turned around and sent towards Hu. and, more recently, The Finish: "The Killing of Osama bin Laden", and Hue 1968: A Turning point of the American war in Vietnam. Only two buildings in the city were held by Marines. Other PAVN troops split off and attacked the Hu railway station and a police headquarters facility near the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge. Hue Tet Offensive 1968 and city tour Hue Pre Tet January 1968 by Lt. Charles Brown 1/5 Cav. A company from the 2/5th Marines finally relieved the MACV communications facility that morning. [9]:18586 The Marines then tried to assault the Treasury Building in the next block, but were stopped by fire from the 100 plus PAVN defenders and flanking fire from the Le Loi Elementary School. Helicopter gunships and artillery and the pair of Dusters systematically leveled any structure that appeared to serve as a strong point. [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. In spite of the beating they took in November, they will continue to assert they repelled the initial attack and fought well thereafter. Some elements of the battalion had been delayed by South Vietnamese paramilitary troops while others had gotten lost. 3 kilometers (1.9mi) southwest of the Citadel, on the north bank of the Perfume River, was the Van Thanh divisional training center and a two-gun detachment of 105mm howitzers. It was mid-February 1968, and American and South Vietnamese forces were. The Marines together with five M48s from the 1st Tank Battalion would later be loaded onto Mike boats at the LCU ramp in southern Hu and ferried across to Mang Ca. [4]:168, Three USMC battalions were protecting Phu Bai Combat Base, Highway 1 and all western approaches to Hu. Upon their flashlight signals, the 800th Battalion and several teams from the 12th Sapper Battalion rushed through the gate and headed northwest towards Ty Lc Airfield. The Marines were now only 100 meters from the south wall of the Citadel. February 3, 1988. 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. 1) Walk Through the Imperial Citadel (Kinh Thanh) 2) Visit the Forbidden Purple City. U.S. forces began their counterassault at daybreak on Feb. 15 as the Delta Company moved quietly through the maze-like alleyways and courtyards of the ancient Citadel. The company also helped a group of sappers seize the Treasury Building (162754N 1073524E / 16.465N 107.590E / 16.465; 107.590), the post office and a radio station a few blocks to the north. Near the MACV Compound, the Marines came under heavy machine gun and rocket fire. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, then-First Lieutenant James K. Redding arrived in South Vietnam on January 7, 1968, and was assigned as the assistant American advisor to the 7th Airborne . The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. On January 30, 1968, after months of preparation, North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops and Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas launched a massive, coordinated assault on nearly every city, town, and. Forget that. The Rangers swept the island as thousands of local residents came out of hiding and ran through their ranks to escape the battle. 31 January-25 February 1968 . [9]:32022 The PAVN-VC no longer tenaciously defended each building, relying more on sniper fire, mortars and rockets. G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #64 RL64RL Mi Lieutenant [7], In addition to the significant civilian casualties inflicted in the battle, eighty percent of the city was destroyed and 116,000 civilians out of the pre-battle population of 140,000 were made homeless. 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