The Modern War Institute recently launched an Urban Warfare Project Case Study Series. . Gravel launched a two-company assault supported by tanks towards the Provincial Headquarters and Thua Thien Prison, seven blocks west of the MACV Compound where the ARVN were believed to still be holding out. The 1st Cavalry Division was in the midst of relocating from Bnh nh Province in II Corps to Qung Tr and Tha Thin Provinces in I Corps. Christmas was leading Hotel Company into Hue City from the south. Downs said that Hue City has been rebuilt since the battle; however, there are still reminders of the fight that occurred there. The Battle of Hue City, Vietnam has come to be regarded as one of the most infamous urban battles in Marine Corps history. The lead elements of the southern wing, the 1st Sapper Battalion and part of the 804th Battalion, arrived two hours ahead of schedule, which meant that they reached the crossing well before the sun had set. RM JA01HR - Crowd at Ba Tang Cemetery where more than 400 victims of the 1968 Communist Tet Offensive lie in a mass grave, Hue, Vietnam, 1968. During this fighting Company A, 1/1 Marines commander Captain Batchellor was wounded and Gunnery Sergeant John L. Canley assumed command of the Company. The Kings of the Nguyen Dynasty built their feudal capital along Hue's fertile riverbanks and atop its forested hills, but their imperial legacy is just one of many reasons to visit. Remember, an urban fight is a casualty producing fight. for Advanced Operational Culture Lrng. 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. The highway also provided access to the Perfume River (Vietnamese: Sng Hng or Hng Giang) at the point where the river ran through Hu, dividing the city into northern and southern parts. [4]:168, Three USMC battalions were protecting Phu Bai Combat Base, Highway 1 and all western approaches to Hu. [12]:2729, At least two PAVN regiments, two sapper battalions, and an assortment of VC local forces were based in Tha Thin Province. One company occupied a six-way intersection on Highway 1 a few blocks southeast of the MACV Compound to prevent Allied mechanized forces from entering the city. Truck convoy enters gate of the camp. By the last week of January, most of its combat units had arrived, but many of the division's logistical components were still in transit. 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. In Fallujah, Sunni insurgents turned mosques into fortresses, in a similar way to how PAVN-VC forces utilized Buddhist temples in Hu. RM 2B00WAF - Vietnam: U.S. Marines advance past an M48 Patton tank during the battle for Hue, Tet Offensive, 1968. On the night of 23 February the PAVN attempted another counterattack, but were forced back by artillery fire. [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 battalion returned to Camp Pendleton in 1971, and in 1975 participated in Operation New Arrival, the relocation of Southeast Asian Refugees. The supporting fire continued throughout the day, but the PAVN did not abandon their positions. A great storm in 1904 closed the bridge until 1906; in . Rather, the Modern War Institute provides a forum for professionals to share opinions and cultivate ideas. Meanwhile, the other two IL14s, which had been modified to drop bombs, had orders to bomb Mang Ca. The walls of the Citadel form a square with sides of 2,500 meters. God Bless these two Marines , who in the heat of battle, find the opportunity to escort this blind local girl to safety. Cntr. Like previous case studies focusing on Stalingrad and Mosul, the Battle of Hue also plays an outsized role in the way the US military conceptualizes urban warfare. PAVN forces blocked the 1st and 4th Battalions of the regiment, operating to the southeast, as they attempted to reinforce the units in Hu. The year 1968 marked a crucial turning point in the Vietnam War. For example, anti-aircraft vehicles called dusters were used in the front and the back of a 12-truck convoy heading into Hue City since there were no tanks available. In the battle for the tower, six men died and 50 were wounded. [9]:519. Forget that. Y Young Ki Moon Hue city 1968 Usmc Marines Staff Sergeant Korean War Some elements of the battalion had been delayed by South Vietnamese paramilitary troops while others had gotten lost. Marine units were located on the outskirts of the city to the south and west when they were attacked by the NVA Jan. 30 as part of the Tet Offensive. On 27 February the entire battalion attacked the hill but the PAVN had withdrawn during the night, leaving behind 14 dead. Its alive and well today and is in response to your leadership, said Downs to the SNCOs gathered in the lecture hall. In the end, although the Allies declared a military victory, the city of Hu was virtually destroyed, and more than 5,000 civilians were killed, including more than 2,000 of them executed by the PAVN and VC. Joe Ronnie Hooper", "Command Chronology for period 1 February to 29 February 1968", "Communist political executions at Hue in the 1968 Tet Offensive", "Soldiers of North Vietnam strike a pose for her camera", "Who, What, When, Where, Why: Report from Vietnam by Walter Cronkite", "Chris Matthews invokes the 'if I've lost Cronkite' myth in NYT review", "The Grim Calculations of Retaking Fallujah", "Many U.S. 1/7th Cavalry then dug in to night defensive positions. [4]:177 As the convoy, accompanied by Army trucks equipped with quad .50 machine guns and two M50 Ontos, entered the city, enemy snipers opened up on the Marine reinforcements. [34] In his analysis of the Battle of Fallujah, Jonathan F. Keiler, a military historian and former officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps wrote:[36]. Greenway, a photographer embedded with the Marines . Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . [12]:3233, On the night of 30 January it started to rain; from 2 February onwards this rain, low cloud and foggy weather (known locally as the crachin) would last through much of the battle and severely hamper Allied air and artillery support. Everybody will fight. Unknown to the Marines, the ARVN Airborne had withdrawn from the area two days previously when the Vietnamese Marines began to arrive at Mang Ca and the PAVN defenders had used this opportunity to reoccupy several blocks and reinforce their defenses, Company A was engaged by the PAVN and quickly suffered 35 casualties. The convoy was then turned around and sent towards Hu. 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 . 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. This blog post will present an American military intelligence map from each era. HUE, VIETNAM -- After Vietnamese Communists briefly occupied this picturesque former imperial capital during the 1968 Tet offensive, nearly 3,000 people were found buried in mass . [9]:525 Estimates of Vietnamese civilians killed by the PAVN-VC at Hu range from 2,800 (based on bodies exhumed from mass graves) to almost 6,000. Redding's experience in Hue began soon after the city fell. A rotating group of staff personnel from the compound was stationed at Trng's headquarters day and night. [4]:167 At 04:40 sappers captured the Huu Gate and the command group of the PAVN 6th Regiment entered the Citadel. There were also many obstacles to navigate including moats and walls. [4]:223 Delaying the counterattack until a clear strategy was developed and the necessary forces assembled might have reduced casualties among the ARVN, U.S. forces and civilians and shortened the battle. [9]:33235 The Marines raised an American flag to celebrate their victory, but shortly thereafter were ordered to lower it, as according to South Vietnamese law, no American flag was permitted to be flown without an accompanying South Vietnamese flag. Theyll pull their heads and you can run the whole company across the street if you want. Thats exactly what Downs decided to do, and it worked. John Spencer and Jayson Geroux | 11.04.21. in January 1968, North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive, a series of coordinated attacks aimed at demonstrating to the governments in Washington and Saigon that continuing the war was futile. Maj. John Canley's actions during the battle of Hue City, Vietnam, in 1968 have him one step away from receiving the nation's highest award for combat valor, the Medal of Honor. [4]:211 The three-day operation netted hundreds of VC cadre, many of whom were university students who, according to local residents, had played a key role in rounding up government officials and intellectuals the PAVN/VC regarded as threats to their new regime. The Battle of Hue, part of the Tet Offensive, 1968 The Tet Offensive. Your email address will not be published. The American command still had little realization of the situation in 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. None of that was available. I live with that to this day, Christmas said. [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. On 10 February 1968, CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite visited southern Hu to film footage for a special report on the Vietnam War. 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. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. MA Candidate, Liberty University (Dept of History) As part of his internship with the Marine Corps History Division The U.S. Navy Ticonderoga class-guided-missile cruiser USSHu City, commissioned in 1991, is named after the battle. [4]:167 Meanwhile, the PAVN 802nd Battalion moved north of Ty Lc to attack Mang Ca. The enemy usually pulls them all together and tries to build a buffer, said Christmas. Hue. Allied intelligence estimated that 1618 PAVN battalions, totaling 811,000 soldiers, were engaged in the battle. 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 Vietnamese holiday. Shortly after 04:30, a column of M41 tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the compound and headed up Highway 1. [4]:199 On 14 February the Marines resumed their attack supported by Marine and Navy gun fire and Marine close air support. Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam is Black Hawk Down author Bowden's worthy effort to give the battle its due. Meanwhile, two kilometers to the northwest, the remainder of the 5/7th Cavalry, resumed its advance toward Thon An. [4]:18586 PAVN tactics were to hold the Marines close, negating the use of artillery and air support. The Treasury building was hit by M-48 and 106mm fire and tear gas, while a M274 Mule-mounted 106mm recoilless rifle engaged the machine gun in the Le Loi Elementary School. The Marine convoy stopped several times to eliminate resistance in heavy house-to-house fighting before proceeding again. [9]:5960 While some senior PAVN leaders were skeptical about the plan, believing that the population was unlikely to rise up and that they could only hold out against the ARVN and U.S. forces for a few days before they would be forced to withdraw, they followed their orders. 10 PAVN/VC Battalions with 8,000 Communist soldiers. 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. While the Marines encountered few PAVN in their sweeps they located various abandoned infrastructure that had been used to support the battle, including a 3km trench system with over 600 fighting holes. 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. By dawn, our troops were still unable to advance". 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. [In urban combat] you may want to know that one of the things youre supposed to do is isolate the city, said Christmas. Beginning at 1:15 AM January 31, 1968, 2 battalions of the 6th NVA Regiment spookily sauntered through the Chanh Tay Gate west of the Imperial Citadel in Hue, Vietnam. Operated by the United States Army Signal Corps 513th Signal Detachment, 337th Signal Company, 37th Signal Battalion, it was the main communications link for the Hu area, the DMZ and for the besieged Khe Sanh Combat Base. Several dozen Army technical specialists and military intelligence personnel were billeted in the Huong Giang Hotel several blocks to the west. Christmas says theres not a day that goes by that he doesnt think about two mistakes he made during the Battle for Hue City. However, they were soon stopped by strong PAVN defenses; after two days the Vietnamese Marines had only advanced 400 meters. The Citadel, or Imperial City, is the walled-in portion of Hu sitting on the north bank of the Perfume River. One of the offensives chief targets was the city of Hue. In the resulting confusion, the convoy exchanged fire with a Marine unit already in the city. [12]:38, Just before dawn the 804th Battalion reached the eastern outskirts of the new city, three hours behind schedule. 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. Other PAVN troops split off and attacked the Hu railway station and a police headquarters facility near the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge. Attacking in a southeasterly direction, the two battalions would then attempt to close the PAVN-VC supply line into Hu. 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 . [12]:29 The PAVN B5 Front created a special logistical and administrative zone known as the Hu City Front to manage the upcoming battle. The Marines decided to withdraw. [4]:171, While the fighting continued in the Truoi River and the Ph Lc sectors, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines had begun to move into Hu. Were all emotional, we care about our Marines. Marine. If you get emotional about it you wont.. Victims included women, men, children, and infants. The Modern War Institute does not screen articles to fit a particular editorial agenda, nor endorse or advocate material that is published. In a 3500-page document issued on 26 January 1968 by the Tr-Thin-Hu Political Directorate, the political cadres were given specific instructions:[25] Operating in close support of the regular military and guerrilla elements, the political cadre were to: destroy and disorganize the Republic of Vietnam's administrative machinery "from province and district levels to the city wards, streets, and wharves; motivate the people of Hu to take up arms, pursue the enemy, seize power, and establish a revolutionary government; motivate (recruit) local citizens for military and "security" forces transportation and supply activities, and to serve wounded soldiers pursue to the end (and) punish spies, reactionaries, and tyrants and maintain order and security in the city. Everybody is a rifleman. [9]:346 As the 5/7th Cavalry approached Que Chu the command and control helicopter was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, the crew was rescued by a dustoff helicopter. By the end of the day, the Marines had sustained two dead and 34 wounded and claimed to have killed nearly 140 PAVN-VC. Few returned. Also on 28 January, the 810th Battalion, 4th Regiment and the 2nd Sapper Battalion began marching toward the city from locations along the coast east of Hu. [9]:290, Following the capture of the Treasury, Cheatham continued his methodical advance to the west leading with tear gas, M-48s and Ontos, followed by Mules and Marines, while PAVN-VC resistance lessened as its manpower and ammunition was depleted. The generals said that Hue City was unique in that it is divided into two parts by the Perfume River. Unplanned by the North Vietnamese, their greatest success was the shock and negative impact of the battle and the entire Tet Offensive on U.S. public opinion. Although the South Vietnamese 9th Airborne Battalion was caught up in the battle for Qung Tr, the 2nd and 7th Airborne Battalions were available at PK17. If you can use the weapon to do what you need to do in the city, you use the weapon. With the city finally in sight, the three companies that made up the 804th Battalion headed off in different directions. [4]:168[12]:44, South of the city, on 31 January Lieutenant Colonel Phan Hu Ch, the commander of the ARVN 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron, attempted to break the PAVN-VC stranglehold. As they moved closer to La Chu, PAVN resistance increased and it was obvious that this was a major PAVN base. With the promise of U.S. Marine reinforcements, Chi's column, with three tanks in the lead, tried once more. 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. The Rangers swept the island as thousands of local residents came out of hiding and ran through their ranks to escape the battle. The base remained under fire from PAVN positions in a Buddhist temple to the south and from a ridgeline to the west and at 07:00 on 25 February Companies F and G began to attack the ridgeline, but were met by intense mortar fire. In February 1968, in the South Vietnamese city of Hu, 11 battalions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), four U. S. Armybattalions, and three understrength U. S. Marine Corps battalions, for a total of . The PAVN occupied a rectangular slice of land between the canal and the Perfume River that was approximately fifteen hundred meters wide and less than a kilometer deep, however U.S. efforts to overrun this position were repeatedly repulsed as the PAVN fought to keep open their escape route from the Citadel. [9]:34749 On 9 February 5/7th Cavalry resumed their advance with artillery support from PK-17 and naval gunfire; they overran Lieu Coc finding PAVN bodies and fighting positions. This book is the capstone volume of the entire series in that 1968, as the title indicates, was the defining year of the war. 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. Cheatham then joined his company commanders in Hu University and they proceeded to develop the tactics to be used in recapturing southern Hu. Apart from the headquarters staff and a handful of support units, the only combat units in the Citadel were the division's 36-man Reconnaissance Platoon and its reaction force, the elite Hac Bao (Black Panther) Reconnaissance Company. In some of the buildings today, the remnants of the fight remain; there are pock marks in some of the buildings exteriors that were hit with machine gun fire and M16 bullets. Company H attacked a nearby hill meeting a stubborn defense, losing one dead and killing six PAVN. Because of enemy mortaring of the LCU ramp in southern Hu, the allies had stopped all river traffic to the city. Hue was a major part of North Vietnam's Tet Offensive, and even. After marching southwest approximately 4 kilometers (2.5mi), the team concealed itself in some bushes near the river and waited. All told, the PAVN-VC hit some 18 targets from bridges, CAP units, and company defensive positions. [9]:45, The North Vietnamese plan for the Tet Offensive was known as the "General Offensive-General Uprising". About 2 kilometers (1.2mi) to its southwest was the 101st Engineering Company compound (162613N 1073455E / 16.437N 107.582E / 16.437; 107.582). Meanwhile, the 416th Battalion began fortifying the twin villages with spider holes, trenches and camouflaged fighting positions. [4]:168, South of the river a reinforced company of the 2nd Sapper Battalion launched a simultaneous attack on the MACV Compound in the new city. The imperial city of Hue has for centuries played a significant role in Vietnam. Hue City - MCA HIGH INTENSITY URBAN FIGHTING IN THE MIDST OF A JUNGLE GUERRILLA WAR. A 75mm recoilless rifle knocked out one of the supporting tanks. [12]:60, On 10 February two forward observers from the Marines' 1st Field Artillery Group were flown into Ty Lc to help coordinate artillery and naval gunfire to support the fighting within the Citadel, however Trng instructed them that the Imperial Palace was not to be fired on. Approximately 10.5 miles north of the city in Thua Thien Province, the ARVN 1st Airborne Task . The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied the city of Hue . 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