Lascaris | 16 Mar 2020 10:31 a.m. PST |
Is there a good source for Khe Sanh OOB's for both sides, starting at the hill fights and continuing to the end of the siege? The only book I own on the battle is "Valley of Decision" and it does not have any OOB's in it, unless I overlooked them. :) Thanks for any help. Tom |
Legion 4 | 16 Mar 2020 11:04 a.m. PST |
I know elements of the 26th Marines were there. But what a lot of people don't know is the US ARMY had M42 Dusters and Quad .50s there too. Good for slowing up massed infantry attacks. |
Irish Marine | 16 Mar 2020 11:11 a.m. PST |
The whole 26th Marine Regt was there and on the surrounding hills. |
Bismarck | 16 Mar 2020 2:53 p.m. PST |
Two battalions of the 3rd and one from the 9th Marines took part in the Hill Fights in '67. The one bn. from the 9th was 1/9. They all were replaced by 1/26. 2/26 and 3/26 joined later during the actual siege. It was the only time during the war that the entire 26th fought together. I was with H&S Company, 3/26, Dec '67 to Jan '69. As Legion mentioned the US Army had Dusters and Quad .50s there. Very welcomed. There also was a small Special Forces group there on base in addition to Khe Sanh village and of course, Lang Vei. Valley of Decision is probably the definitive work of the battle. Eric Hammel did two paperbacks, now out of print, but redone as one volume that is basically a personal narrative covering the battle. It is written from personal accounts and interviews from Marines who were there. Reads almost like a novel. Good read. Never read it, but there also is a book called The Hill Fights, the First Battle of Khe Sanh. That one might help you as well. |
Legion 4 | 17 Mar 2020 7:57 a.m. PST |
Didn't know about any SF at Khe Sahn or Khe Sahn Vill. Thanks for that intel ! But yes we all knew about Lang Vei … Glad you are here to tell us about it from a Vet that was there POV. |
deadhead | 17 Mar 2020 8:21 a.m. PST |
I thought there were ARVN units defending Khe Sanh also…..no basis whatsoever for that conviction, like many things I simply "know". I wonder if there is truly anyone who knows which NVA units participated….? I imagine most will know of this, which seems open to view…at least up to page 89 anyway; PDF link Strikes me as very readable and detailed. Repeated mention of NVA divisions 325c and 304. Since entering this I have been impressed at how well Wiki covered the subject. To quote briefly; "According to the official PAVN history, by December 1967 the North Vietnamese had in place, or within supporting distance: the 304th, 320th, 324th and 325th Infantry Divisions, the independent 270th infantry Regiment; five artillery regiments (the 16th, 45th, 84th, 204th, and 675th); three AAA regiments (the 208th, 214th, and 228th); four tank companies; one engineer regiment plus one independent engineer battalion; one signal battalion; and a number of local force units" |
Lascaris | 17 Mar 2020 9:05 a.m. PST |
Deadhead, I just happened upon that same pdf this morning and was coming to TMP to post that I'd found details of the US forces and a good overview of the NVA. I also found the truncated version of Captain Shores report but with a little searching found the entire thing which can be found at: PDF link |
Bismarck | 17 Mar 2020 10:49 a.m. PST |
Deadhead, I am old! You are right that there were ARVN troops, but it was a small group and after the attack on Khe Sanh village were brought into the base. There was a great detail of distrust and they were placed darn near outside of the perimeter. I was in the Red sector and nowhere close to have seen any of them. Not sure, but I do think some were involved in the Hill Fights of '67. Again, that's from memory and I was not in country at that time. |
Bismarck | 17 Mar 2020 10:55 a.m. PST |
WOW, Deadhead! I just clicked on your link to the Marine Corps monograph for Khe Sanh. Never knew it even existed. Great find. Now, I have some more good reading while being self quarantined! thanks again! Sam |
deadhead | 17 Mar 2020 12:27 p.m. PST |
Lascaris has attached a better link to the full text and the appendices are exactly what you were looking for. It does seem a great read. We all need something to keep us busy now. We sneaked out today to spend £200.00 GBP on paint…not Vallejo alas. The kind of paint that comes in cans of 5 Litres instead. Well the house does need a bit of attention and we do seem to have the time now suddenly. Stay safe |
Blutarski | 18 Mar 2020 7:29 p.m. PST |
An older book – "The End of the Line – The Siege of Khe Sanh" 1982 has some interest, in that it was written by correspondent Robert Pisor, who was present in Vietnam 1967-1968. Worth reading for his acerbic commentary on the amount of "truth massage" practiced by MACV, especially in connection with casualties and body counts. 37th ARVN Ranger Battalion was at Khe Sanh and supposedly repulsed the only NVA attack made against the perimeter proper. A lot of the soldiers in this unit were said to have lost wives and children during Tet to NVA assassination squads in Hue and were looking for payback. ….. and then there was the 33rd Laotian Elephant Battalion (for real). FWIW. B |
Legion 4 | 19 Mar 2020 2:47 p.m. PST |
Very interesting, the ARVN Rangers were pretty good overall. But I didn't remember hearing about the Laotian Elephant Bn. But after studying France's war in Indochina, and then the US/SEATO's war. It does not surprise me at all. Much of Indochina is very "rural" and many lived in fairly "simple" conditions. Once you left the bigger cities like Saigon it appears. |
Blutarski | 19 Mar 2020 3:43 p.m. PST |
L4, My best friend's wife helped to settle a number of Hmong tribe families in the Boston MA area after the fall of Saigon. The men had fought as part of SF Mike teams up in the mountains around the borders of VN, Laos and Cambodia, When the end came in SVN, the USA (for a change) did the right thing and spirited them out before the NVA paid a visit to their villages. According to what I heard from my friend's wife, they were little guys, but pretty hard cases. B |
Skarper | 19 Mar 2020 6:45 p.m. PST |
It was only a few years ago an entire tribe [a large group anyway] of Hmong surrendered to the Laotian authorities after roaming around in border regions for decades. link So while some did escape to a new life in America, many [I'd guess the majority] did not. |
Legion 4 | 20 Mar 2020 12:55 p.m. PST |
Yes everything I heard/read about the various indigenous tribes in the jungles and mountains of SE Asia. They were some tough little SoBs. Also I had also read many Vietnamese [South or North] didn't like them too much for a number reasons. Sadly many were left behind and never made it to the US or safety. Just another horrible aspect of a horrible war. |