"The Legacy of Khe Sanh" Topic

"On July 9th, 1968, Viet Cong troops occupied the remnants of a US Marine base that crowned the Khe Sanh plateau in Quang Tri province. After months of trying to overrun the base, communist forces could only capture it after the Americans decided to leave. It was a face-saving move. From January through April, the communists poured in artillery, tanks, and thousands of troops, but American forces fought them off through logistics and firepower delivered principally from the air. Khe Sanh became a moment in American military history where, in real time, the battle for the narrative eclipsed the battle for terrain. We can't be overrun took on a strategic and tactical meaning at Khe Sanh, and became an important lesson for developing military capabilities decades later.

Khe Sanh would consequently become the largest effort to defend an American outpost in history.

As North Vietnamese forces massed near the base in January 1968, word of the impending siege reached President Johnson and the press. The humiliating French defeat 14 years before at Dien Bien Phu was on everyone's mind as Khe Sanh became cut off from ground resupply and reinforcement. As Americans watched the Tet Offensive unfold from their living rooms, U.S. military leaders knew a retreat from Khe Sanh would have disastrous implications for the Vietnam and broader Cold War. General Westmoreland, who had the backing of the Pentagon, believed Khe Sanh could and must be defended. We can't be overrun because the strategic costs, they believed, would be too great. Khe Sanh would consequently become the largest effort to defend an American outpost in history…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

We'll never know the truth about this battle. Both sides are lying for obvious reasons and that is unlikely to change within our lifetimes.

My feeling is the US did rather less well than they claimed and fell into a trap. The PAVN were never able to wipe out the base but it forced a massive diversion of forces away from the cities to help the forthcoming Tet offensive. Perhaps that was always the plan. Not that many actually garrisoned Khe Sanh but a lot were moved to the area to support the effort to hold the base 'come hell or high water'. I get the impression those in charge of PAVN/NLF strategy were trying to apply diffuse pressure to spread out US forces and garner returns wherever they presented themselves.

Likewise, the Tet offensive did not achieve the hoped for results though it did force a change of direction from the US so cannot be dismissed.

There are often unintended consequences in war as in other endeavors – some positive and some negative.

Agree.

Amicalement
Armand