They tried again five days later, but once again, bad weather prevented them from locating Mang Ca. Few returned. Highway 1, passing through the city of Hu, was an important supply line for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and United States forces from the coastal city of Da Nang to the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto border between North and South Vietnam only 50 kilometers (31mi) to the north of Hu. During the months and years that followed, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Hu. Hue was a city of cultural influence, religious importance, and architectural significance and as a result was deeply revered by generations of the Vietnamese people. [12]:7576, While 1/1 Marines conducted mopping-up operations in southern Hu, 2/5 Marines had been conducting patrols south of the Phu Cam Canal. Image credit: Staff Sergeant J. L. Harlan, US Marine Corps, The study neglects to mention the Cronkite apparently had a change of heart (of some kind) as he reported this 13 days earlier: After a day of attacks the Marines withdrew to their night defensive positions. He went on to say that what is important is that each Marine stay above the emotion of the fight. [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 enemy usually pulls them all together and tries to build a buffer, said Christmas. The Marines on the outskirts of the city were able to fend off the initial Tet Offensive attack and back the NVA up to the river, but within a few days the Marines were ordered to take back the entire city, which had become overrun by NVA. . Following this visit two more cavalry battalions (1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment) and additional air and artillery support were committed to the attack on La Chu. The walls of the Citadel form a square with sides of 2,500 meters. Hue City,, Vietnam, 1968 He led the Marine push to capture the Citadel on the north side of the Hue river. Richmond,Virginia23220, Galleries, Store, & Caf daily 10:00 am-5:00 pm The Marines had to use the weapons that were available and often, they were used for other than their intended purpose. The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied Hue City. Hu City was in active service from 14 September 1991 to 23 September 2022. Research Library open Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am-5:00 pm, EMAIL: Info@VirginiaHistory.org Rather, the Modern War Institute provides a forum for professionals to share opinions and cultivate ideas. 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 . Lying on a plain backed by foothills of the Annamese Cordillera (Chane Annamitique) and situated 5 miles (8 km) from the South China Sea coast, Hue is traversed by the broad, shallow Huong River (Hue River, or Perfume River ). After initially losing control of most of Hu and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. [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. Both the Marine and the airmobile units operating near Hu were in a state of flux as the Tt holiday began. The Battle of Hue City occurred with the Tet Offensive, where Marines were surprised by a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) attack during what was supposed to be a cease fire negotiated during a. The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. Hue's university has for centuries played an important role in Vietnam. [4]:21011[20], On 22 February the ARVN 21st and the 39th Ranger Battalions boarded junks and traveled to Gia Hoi Island (162834N 1073520E / 16.476N 107.589E / 16.476; 107.589), between the east wall of the Citadel and the Perfume River where the Communist provisional government had been headquartered since the start of the offensive. [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. [9]:288 That evening VC sappers succeeded in blowing up the An Cuu bridge, cutting the road link to Phu Bai. To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To understand why, Mark Bowden's searing "Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam" takes us deep into the bloodiest single battle of that bitter conflict, tracking Americans . It was mid-February 1968, and American and South Vietnamese forces were. "[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. [9]:343, On 8 February 5/7th Cavalry began moving southwest from PK-17 towards La Chu while 2/12th Cavalry were ordered to retrace their route to form the southern pincer for an attack on the PAVN stronghold. Then, you need to select where you enter the city, then you can determine what you are going to use to take the city. 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. Another mistake was that he didnt move his snipers around and the NVA found the snipers and fired many RPGs at them. A second unit from the regiment, the 810th Battalion, and several local force companies roamed the coastal plain north and east of Hu. delivered a Banner Lecture entitled The Battle of Hu City, South Vietnam, 1968.. Meanwhile, the team of thirty sappers who had scaled the northwestern wall overpowered the guards standing watch at the An Hoa and Hau Gates, then opened their doors to the infantry company waiting outside. 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? Whether you like it or not you are all leaders and someday, one way or another, you will be involved in urban operations, Christmas said. In a 539-page narrative, Bowden delivers a work of grand. [9]:27478 Due to the delays on the left flank, the main assault in the center by Company F, 2/5 Marines was delayed until mid-afternoon. The United States and other allied nations fought on the side . [12]:3839, In the early morning a U.S. Army helicopter was shot down over the city; the crew sought refuge with a group of ARVN in a small compound. At dawn the only areas of the new city still under Allied control were the prison defended by a Hac Bao platoon; the Le Loi transportation camp; the Huang Giang Hotel; the MACV Compound; the communications facility; and the Navy loading dock. Marine Corps Base Quantico. The PME was planned in honor of the 50th anniversary of the battle and it also honored Vietnam Veterans Day, which is March 29. The convoy was then turned around and sent towards Hu. [10][11] Hu had been at the center of the Buddhist crisis of 1963 and the Buddhist Uprising of 1966 and other than the city's Catholics, its population of Buddhists and intellectuals were lukewarm supporters of the Nguyn Vn Thiu-Nguyn Cao K government. 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. [4]:167 Meanwhile, the PAVN 802nd Battalion moved north of Ty Lc to attack Mang Ca. [9]:269 The battalion consolidated its night defensive positions and waited to renew its attack the following day. Victims included women, men, children, and infants. Lessons Learned, Charlie 1/5, Operation Hue City, 31 January 1968 to 5 March 1968 To the uninitiated in Rules of Engagement, they're a set of rules established by high command that dictate what weapons and tactics may be used. The distance between the walls varies from 75 meters to 17.5 meters. At the end of January in 1968, the Viet Cong launched an offensive that turned the tide of the Vietnam War. [23] Cadres called out the names on their lists over loudspeakers, ordering them to report to a local school. The human and material resources of the entire kingdom, which extended from the Chinese border to the Gulf of Siam, were rounded up for . Both battles also had insurgents and other forces utilizing snipers, significantly increasing the combat potential of the combatants, while the Marines also constituted the advanced fighting elements of the US forces deployed in both Hu and Fallujah. With darkness approaching the attack was postponed until the next morning. Hu was also a base for United States Navy supply boats. But, the city overall is beautiful. [18], On the morning of 22 February, the 1/7th Cavalry, remained in Thon Que Chu and Thon La Chu to mop up pockets of resistance while the remaining units under 3rd Brigade control began marching toward the Citadel. New Hue was located on the southeast bank of the river. 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. An Ontos was brought forward to blast an entry into the building, but was disabled by a B-40 rocket. The outer stone wall is one meter thick, five meters high and is separated from the inner wall by dirt fill. 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. [4]:20810, To the west, the South Vietnamese forces continued to meet stubborn resistance. He and Sergeant Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez led the Marines in the defense of the convoy, actions for which both men would later be awarded the Medal of Honor. 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. [14]:28, On the night of 1/2 February PAVN sappers successfully brought down the Bach Ho (railroad) bridge across the Perfume River, restricting movement from the south towards the Citadel, but failed to destroy the An Cuu Bridge over the Phu Cam Canal. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. The Citadel, or Imperial City, is the walled-in portion of Hu sitting on the north bank of the Perfume River. [12]:27 The 1st Division's units were spread throughout I Corps, two battalions of the 3rd Infantry Regiment were west of Hu, one on a routine sweep mission and the other undergoing training at the Van Thanh center, while the remaining two battalions of the regiment were searching for the PAVN-VC near the coast southeast of Hu. The sappers mission was to scale the Citadel's wall near the Mang Ca compound, open and hold the Hau and An Hoa Gates and assist the infantry company with its attack on Trng's headquarters. Significant architectural element in Hue, the bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the French structural engineer famous for Paris's Eiffel Tower, and was completed in 1899 by the French Colonial government. At the Chanh Tay gate (162826N 1073340E / 16.474N 107.561E / 16.474; 107.561) on the west wall of the Citadel, a six-man PAVN sapper team dressed in ARVN uniforms killed the guards and opened the gate. The 806th Battalion, which was dug into a cemetery along Highway 1 near the western corner of the Citadel, dispatched a group of soldiers to capture the An Hoa Bridge, driving off the RF detachment guarding the bridge and opening a line of communication with the other PAVN-VC in the Citadel. Although the PAVN battalion penetrated the division compound, an ad hoc 200-man defensive force of staff officers and clerks staved off the assaults. In April 1966, the battalion deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. [4]:174, North of the Perfume River, on 1 February, the ARVN 1st Division enjoyed some limited success. At about 04:00 a PAVN company attacked the ARVN security detachment defending the Highway 1 bridge over the Truoi River (161916N 1074623E / 16.321N 107.773E / 16.321; 107.773) and the nearby CAP H-8. Y Young Ki Moon Hue city 1968 Usmc Marines Staff Sergeant Korean War The U.S. Navy Ticonderoga class-guided-missile cruiser USSHu City, commissioned in 1991, is named after the battle. 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