As for making an impact in the United States, it had not been our intention—but it turned out to be a fortunate result.” Despite the overwhelming tactical victory achieved by the allies in Hue and on other battlefields throughout South Vietnam, in the end the Tet offensive proved a strategic defeat for the United States. At the same time, the NVA 810th Battalion took up blocking positions on the southern edge of the city to prevent reinforcements from that direction. At 8:15 am on February 13, with heavy rain falling, Company A moved out and followed the wall in the direction of a distinctive archway tower. The Marines Battle to Recapture Hue On the fourth day of the fighting, the United States III Marine Amphibious Force managed to establish a command post in the MACV compound. Not until the next day, after Company D, 1/5 was inserted into the fighting by boat, was the wall tower finally recaptured. Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines (A/1/1) was ordered to move up Highway 1 from Phu Bai by truck to relieve the surrounded advisers at the MACV enclave. [Hue] is obviously a setback. The Marines caught the enemy force beginning to withdraw from the CAP enclave and took it under fire. Just outside the walls of the Citadel to the east was the densely populated district of Gia Hoa. The Marines also constituted the tip of the spear in both battles.[13]. The NVA 806th Battalion blocked Highway 1 northwest of Hue, while the 804th and K4B Battalions took up positions in southern Hue and the 810th dug in along Highway 1 south of the modern city. There were U.S. Army units in the area as well. The vast majority of U.S. advisers — both at the local level where I served and in the major battles where the legendary Ray “E-Tool” Smith, a prominent figure in Bowden’s book, served — admired their doughtiness and developed a deep affection for our counterparts. Orders canceling leaves came too late or were disregarded. Among the casualties on the bridge was Major Walter M. Murphy, the 1st Battalion S-3 or operations officer, who later died of his wounds. The number of wounded was rising, the Marines commandeered some abandoned Vietnamese civilian vehicles and used them as makeshift ambulances to carry out the wounded. Aware of the allied buildup, the Communist forces prepared to hold their positions at all costs.

The other objective was called nation-building or counterinsurgency. On the night of February 14, a U.S. Marine forward observer, working with ARVN units inside the Citadel and monitoring enemy radio frequencies, learned that the NVA was planning a battalion-sized attack through the west gate of the Citadel. The Marines launched their advance toward the treasury building, but made slow progress. For 25 days a confused, chaotic battle raged up and down the city’s streets. By the evening of February 3, they had made little progress and were taking increasing casualties. Working from lists previously developed by intelligence officers, the Viet Cong began to round up South Vietnamese soldiers, civil servants, political party members, Vietnamese and American civilians as well as other foreigners. Gravel launched a two-company attack supported by tanks, but the Marines immediately ran into trouble. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, From Tolkien to Hitler: Famous Soldiers of World War I, The Battle for Omaha Beach: The Men of the D-Day Invasion, Napoleon Bonaparte’s Last Campaign: The Battle of Waterloo, Operation Barbarossa: World War II’s Eastern Front, The Battle of Gettysburg: Turning Point of the American Civil War, What Made the German Luger the Most Famous Pistol in Modern Warfare, The Essential Role of Navy PBR Boats in the Vietnam War, Band of Brothers’ Buck Compton: One Man’s Call of Duty, Francis Stebbins Bartow at First Manassas, The AK-47 vs. the M16 Rifle During the Vietnam War, World Airlines Flight 253: Hostage of the Soviet Union.

Gen. Foster LaHue, assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division, the task force consisted of two Marine regimental headquarters and three battalions—the 5th Regiment, with two battalions; and the 1st Regiment, with one battalion. The nearest U.S. combat base was at Phu Bai, eight miles south on Highway 1.
After losing 15 killed and 40 wounded, the Marine advance against the south wall stalled; Thompson pulled A Company back and sent in B and C Companies. In the fall of 1967, Giap launched a series of big battles near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that had two objectives: draw American forces north, away from the heavily populated coastal and lowland cities, and determine if the Americans would respond with an invasion of the north. At 3 am on January 31, NVA and Vietcong forces launched a countrywide general offensive.

With the promise of U.S. Marine reinforcements, Chi's column, with three tanks in the lead, tried once more. Gravel’s Marines were ordered to attack and recapture the Thua Thien Province headquarters building and prison, located six blocks west of the MACV enclave. The North Vietnamese forces lost an estimated 2,400 to 8,000 killed, while Allied forces lost 668 dead and 3,707 wounded. Earlier, the Burisma executive had asked Hunter to use his influence to quell Ukrainian government officials who were ... Editor’s Note: The following is one of three essays, each from a different perspective, in the latest edition of National Review, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam, Hunter Biden Offered $10 Million Annually by Chinese Energy Firm for ‘Introductions Alone,’ Email Shows, Media Criticize Amy Coney Barrett’s ‘No Notes’ Moment, Re: ‘Someone Else’s Life Is Passing before Biden’s Eyes’, The Supreme Court Should Decide Election-Law Cases. Tell me where we are in three years if I follow your strategy should be the directive the commander-in-chief issues to his generals. In early February, the enemy launched a surprise attack against dozens of cities and bases throughout the 400-mile length of South Vietnam.
In recounting the battle, the observations of these journalists add color, depth, and pathos. The Battle of Hue City was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the entire Vietnam War. It changed the world more than any other single event in history. While the Marines fought house to house to retake the southern part of the city, heavy fighting north of the river continued. By this time, the enemy attackers had pulled back their forces from the immediate vicinity of the compound. By dawn, the NVA 4th Regiment controlled all of Hue south of the river except for the MACV compound and the LCU (landing craft utility) ramp on the waterfront northeast of the compound. The third-largest city in South Vietnam with a wartime population of 140,000, Hue was located astride National Highway 1 just west of the coast, about 50 miles south of the DMZ, on one of the principal land-supply routes to allied troops. 99 $17.99 $17.99. All told, the enemy hit some 18 targets from bridges, Combined Action units, and company defensive positions. Four companies, about 700 men, constitute a battalion led by a lieutenant colonel.

Hooper was serving with Co. D, 2nd Bn, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division when his company was assigned the duty to enter the battle.

They deserved recognition. After this the Marines at Phu Bai were called and the first U.S. Marines to bolster the South Vietnamese in the city were on their way. Passing through the city of Huế, Highway One was an important supply line for ARVN, US and allied forces from the coastal city of Đà Nẵng to the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Yes, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are comparable to Vietnam in two particulars. Ten communist battalions laid siege to the city, defended by ten South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) battalions and five US battalions.

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Unfortunately for Truong, who was regarded by many American advisers as one of the ablest senior commanders in the South Vietnamese armed forces, over half his division was on holiday leave and out of the city when the Tet offensive erupted. Commanded by Brig. The advisers were the only allied military presence in Hue when the battle began. Eventually, the restrictions would be lifted when it was realized that artillery and air support were needed to dislodge the tenacious Communist defenders from the city. In the resulting confusion, the convoy exchanged fire with a Marine unit already in the city. As 1968 dawned, Hue in South Vietnam had largely been spared the violence of war. The Citadel is on the northern bank and residential quarters are on the southern bank.

The Viet Cong flag was torn down from the citadel, and the communists were forced out of the city by the next day. Leonard Blasiol, Charles R. Smith, and Capt. The North Vietnamese were a superb light-infantry force — disciplined and determined to withstand hardship. In the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, a division-sized force of NVA and Viet Cong soldiers launched a coordinated attack on the city of Huế. The Tet offensive and its attendant attack on Khe Sanh was a staggering failure for the Communists. With his outnumbered force pinned down, Gravel was forced to withdraw. The 1st Battalion finally relieved the MACV radio facility that morning and later, after a three-hour fire fight, reached the Huế University campus.'

Much of the old city was destroyed, and the battle was regarded as a political victory for the communists. Since the Communists took great care to bury and conceal the dead, it took nearly a full year for U.S. forces to grasp the true scale of the genocide. Deprived of their supply centers to the west, the Communists were forced to pull back. . Two platoons successfully made their way to the other side. But Hue’s import is not restricted to history. George W. Smith, The Siege at Hue In the early morning hours of 31 January 1968, a division-sized force of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) soldiers launched a well coordinated multi-pronged attack on the city of Hué. With his forces stalled, Truong appealed to the Americans for help. While most of the offensive was beaten back within days, it received enormous press coverage and badly shook the confidence of the military and political leadership in both Saigon and Washington. In 1973, the U.S. Congress declared a termination of all bombing, regardless of the continuing attacks by the North Vietnamese. The next day, Company C joined the battalion as well. Journalists who shuttled in and out of the raging battle are quoted at length. The Battle of Hue became one of intense, intermittent fighting. It was the main communications link for the Huế area, the DMZ, and for Khe Sanh.

Using tanks and 106mm recoilless rifles mounted on mechanical mules (flat-bedded, self-propelled carriers about the size of a jeep), the Marines advanced against heavy automatic-weapon, rocket, and mortar fire. Regardless of their losses, the Marines smashed their way forward, one block a day, pushing the NVA back. Our call sign was rockmatteam Hotel.

Ironically, the overwhelming victory achieved by the allies in the Tet offensive marked the beginning of the end for the American presence in Indochina. In the days that followed, Marines swept the southern portion of the city of all Communist forces.

U.S. Marines deploy a 106mm recoilless rifle from within Huế University and target an NVA machine gun emplacement. In Hue, most battalion commanders were a few streets behind the front lines.

The next morning at 0700, Gravel launched a two-company assault supported by tanks towards the jail and provincial building. Bowden does a first-rate job of showing how the realities of the front lines and the size of the NVA forces were willfully ignored by the higher-ups.

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