Spotting Target Sites. Our mission at Khe Sanh was to defend the northern perimeter (blue sector), which ran parallel to the airstrip (approx. Khe Sanh, South Vietnam: A load of supplies is parachuted into the beleaguered U.S. Marine stronghold at Khe Sanh. On July 10, Pfc Robert Hernandez of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, was manning an M-60 machine gun position when it took a direct hit from NVA mortars. On July 11, the Marines finally left Khe Sanh. They were not included in the official Khe Sanh counts. Home of the Veterans who served at Khe Sanh Combat Base, Hill 950, Hill 881, Hill 861, Hill 861-A, Hill 558 Khe Sanh Village, Lang-Vei and Surrounding Area Home Command Responding to this, the Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB), located on a plateau in a valley of the same name, was reinforced by elements of the 26th Marine Regiment under Colonel David E. Lownds. Lying on the edge of my subterranean condominium (too crowded inside) when a shell came over and hit fairly far away. Private first class Pressley (left) and Corporal Russell (right) of Bravo Company, 1st battalion, 26th Marines, watch for enemy activity at Khe Sanh. They had not dug in. He’s referencing the French defeat by the Viet Minh in March of 1954. The Ho Chi Minh Trail I saw wasn’t a trail. In June or July of 1971, I had a bird’s eye view of Khe Sanh, anyway what was left of it. John Bolte: My name is John Bolte. The shelling at night was bad enough, because the NVA and VC had their artillery on wheels and could move around at will, but the rocket launches also gave away their positions because of the flash at launch. It was a massive unpaved road network which was right in the open on bald ridgelines because we had blasted off all the vegetation with our bombing. Say what you will about the VC/NVA, they did some beautiful civil and military engineering. Odd there was no mention of the Lang Vei special forces camp just to the west of Khe Sanh which was overrun at the beginning of the battle. The local (CBS) was all gloom and doom that them boys were toast. Beautiful work, all done with hand tools. maintained by Tom Eichler and John "Big John" Pessoni Hernandez was killed. The 26th Marine Regiment (26th Marines) is an inactivated infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Thanks for the linky Ex…other than having to hear LBJ running his mouth. Cut off and surrounded, about 5,000 Marines and their supporting forces, including the men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, seen here, successfully defended Khe Sanh … After the loss of the Ghost Patrol on … That got squelched. LBJ is quoted as stating “I don’t want any damn Dien Bien Phu,” seeking assurances from the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Khe Sanh would not be overrun. I was in Vietnam in February 1967 until March of 1968. An aerial view shows part of the U.S. Marine outpost and airfield at Khe Sanh with bunkers, ammunition dump and huts smoldering from rocket and mortar attack, January 21, 1968. Rod Andrew, Jr., a history professor at Clemson University and colonel in the MarineRead More HUBER, SP4 Leon Fairden 1st Sig Bde. I’ve seen tanks use worse roads in Germany. The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty: United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968 is a well-written book in the view of a soldier fighting in the Vietnam War. They also had a telegraph system running through those mountains. B as in boy, o-l-t-e. Ronald Ridgeway, just 18-years-old at the time, was one of those Marines. I lost the souvenir, along with my rucksack, in a flood a few months later. Also unfortunately, in that area at that time the ground fog doesn’t lift until about noon. : 62 From 21 January 1968 the 26th Marines were under siege at Khe Sanh until the conclusion of Operation Pegasus on 14 April 1968 and were replaced by the 1st Marines on 15 April 1968.: 289 The 26th Marines were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for their actions during the Battle of Khe Sanh as were the Seabees that supported them. A second or so later felt a Thwack! I was born in Baltimore at, I believe it was a woman's hospital in Maryland at one time. Over 100,000 tons of bombs. Marines Fought in Hand to Hand Combat with Bayonets. are much less gooey and sticky than civilian mashed potatoes. See more ideas about vietnam war, vietnam war photos, marines. The legendary siege at Khe Sanh occurred in 1968, but during the spring of 1967, the United States Marines fought in northwestern Quang Tri Province in what became the first stage of the Khe Sanh battles. Unfortunately that round had landed on a unit further down the ridge. Honoring those who died at Khe Sanh. Well made “T” poles with two strands of heavy gauge copper wire, running up some pretty steep slopes. Home of the Veterans who served at Khe Sanh I learned that Army powdered mashed potatoes (there’s an “e” in that!) It was worse in the daytime. Khe Sanh KIAs by Name When we landed at LZ Wharton there was some urgency to dig in. Deserves a book of its own. Dec 26, 2019 - Explore Kenny Duane's board "With the Marines at Khe Sanh" on Pinterest. Copyright 2009 Khe Sanh Veterans Inc. All rights I was in the 3rd Battalion 9th Marines. Remember following this story as a teenager, watching a very fuzzy picture from the Columbus GA TV Station. X 1/2 in. My name is Michael Phillips, and I was a Marine Corps pilot with HMM-364 Purple Foxes helicopter squadron during the siege at Khe Sanh. It's A Marine Thing. The riveting story of the heroic three-month defense of Khe Sanh by 6,000 Marines--an epic confrontation at a pivotal moment in America's war in Vietnam Last Stand at Khe Sanh is a vivid, fast-paced account of the dramatic 1968 confrontation, when 6,000 US Marines held off 30,000 North Vietnamese Army regulars at a remote mountain stronghold. If you’re gone, it’s gone with you. There was a hole in my poncho and my shirt, a small red swollen spot on my shoulder, and I had a nice souvenir; a piece of still warm piece of shrapnel about 1 in. | Check out 'MARINES OF KHE SANH' on Indiegogo. And because it was winter, and the bitter cold winds of the north blew down off the Annamese Cordillera, it also rained or occasionally snowed up in the north. This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here. One struck the bunker housing the 37th Signal Battalion TROPO unit, killing the Officer in Charge, 1/Lt ALFANO, and three of his men. Khe Sanh KIAs By Name; ACALOTTO: Robert Joseph: SSGT: 48 Aslt Helo: 2/20/1971: ADAME: Gilbert Jimmie: PFC: G/2/26: 4/7/1968: ADAMS: Edward Cody: SWF2: CBMU-301 B: 4/16/1968: ADDINGTON: Zach Taylor: LCPL: M/3/4: 5/16/1968: AGUIRRE: Carlos Cruz: CPL: E/2/26: 2/24/1968: AHLMEYER: Heinz Jr: 2/Lt: A/3d Recon: 5/10/1967: AKINS: Ronald Paul: LCPL: B/1/26: 2/25/1968: ALDRICH: … Also at Wharton I jumped into a garbage pit once as a message from our friends to the west flew over. The North Vietnamese had ringed the lines of the Marines with a buildup of entrenched infantry and a multitude of antiaircraft weapons. About 1600H, 5 or 6 rockets slammed into KSCB. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were two regiments of the United States Marine Corps supported by elements from the United States Army and the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as a small number of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. Khe Sanh Guestbook KheSanh Message Center . In February 1968, two platoons of Marines from a combat base near Khe Sanh went out on a combat patrol. Marine at Khe San….”They got us surrounded, the poor bastards.”. BETTS, SP5 Albert Leon 1st Sig Bde. When the ammo dump was hit during the initial VC/NVA shelling and exploded, it was as bad as if the barrage by the NVA and VC had been within 10 feet of the base instead of in the surrounding jungle. Yes, it was some serious engineering. Throughout the weeks that the 1st Cavalry Division was engaged in the Tet Offensive, the 26th Marines at Khe Sanh were besieged by heavy artillery bombardment and ground attack. The Battle of Khe Sanh began 50 years ago this week when roughly 20,000 North Vietnamese troops surrounded an isolated combat base held by roughly 5,500 Marines. resolution of 1024X768. RANEY, SP4 Steven Leon 1st Sig Bde. This is a movie made from 130 original Kodachrome slides of US Marines in Vietnam at Khe Sanh. reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any August 1966 - March 1970, This website is owned by the Khe Sanh Veterans Inc. Lang-Vei and Surrounding Area, Command by ’68, I seem to recall that almost all of the US broadcast media was against the war, and slanted their “they’re DOOMED!” coverage of our guys accordingly. Orders came down pretty quickly to build overhead cover on all positions. We spent a lot of time working the mountains south of Khe Sanh, and one day we stumbled upon a couple of completed sections of road. Earned a Kerry Purple Heart the first night. These were pitted against two to three divisi… This is a movie made from 130 original Kodachrome slides of US Marines in Vietnam at Khe Sanh. form, This Web Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content. I hope you’re getting all that written down for your kids and grandkids. The attack on the Khe Sanh base came ahead of the Tet Offensive, starting on 21 January 1968 and essentially ending 30 March 1968, but actually lasting until 9 July 1968. From what I have read some of their construction and repair units took as many or more casualties than infantry units. My pilot was showing me the Ho Chi Minh Trail and we flew over Khe Sanh on the way back to Da Nang. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aoVkdeYqw. Filling and stacking sandbags seems to be the limit of our expertise. Ten more Marines and 89 NVA died during this period. I was told that when we blasted holes in the roads, they were repaired or the road was routed around the large bomb craters within 24 hours. The 2nd link below is to a video regarding the 1968 Battle for Khe Sanh, a USMC base built in the northern highlands of Vietnam. Me being wrapped in my poncho didn’t help in that confined space. 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Division, 4th Marine Division, 5th Marine Division, 6th Marine Division, Aviation, Corpsmen, Force Recon, MARSOC, Middle East, Vietnam A Face of War (1968) – U.S. Marines, Vietnam War from a poem by Talis Kaminskis, 1994 . We are proud to be a part of the Marine Corps’ storied history. So what you describe doesn’t surprise me. Source: Dan Doyle Col. Lownds was later known as “the Lion of Khe Sanh.” The Veterans Site honors the lifetime of service that Col. Lownds gave to the Marine Corps and to the nation. He and 26 of his fellow Marines would not be coming back that night, their patrol would live on, forever known as “The Ghost Patrol.”. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it. Every analysis I have ever read of the Tet offensive says that as a battle, the North lost convincingly… but as a propaganda offensive, they won just as handily, mostly courtesy of the US media. Westmoreland wanted 200,000 more troops sent to Vietnam. the battle for khe sanh by captain moyers s. shore ii, usmc pcn 19000411000 history and museums division headquarters, u. s. marine corps washington, d. c. For nearly 80 days, Marines on the hills surrounding Khe Sanh endured one of the war’s fiercest fights. President Johnson was determined to hold Khe Sanh at all costs. The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted northwestern Quaag Tri Province, South Vietnam, between January 21 and July 9, 1968 during the Vietnam War. The video is narrated and is restored color, transferred to video. Listen listen close there is a voice for each and every name a silent picture for a distant friend a memory shared with subdued words timeless conversations easing the pain of loss. Also, outposts on the surrounding hills were occupied by American forces . JOHN BOLTE USMC ’67 – ’68 SIEGE OF KHE SANH . 3d Battalion, 26th Marines at Khe Sanh in March 1968, observed that "the first thing I undertook was a total reconstruction of our defensive positions starting with the company commanders buildin g Thus no medevacs until about noon. The top of what became known as Hill 861-A was just virgin land covered with elephant grass and bamboo when I first saw it. I was in the back seat of an OV-10 FAC aircraft. We could (and should) have learned a lot from them. As I wait at the Seattle/Tacoma airport for my flight, I am excited about seeing my old Bravo Co. 3rd Recon Bn., 3rd Marine Division brothers again. “Trail” is certainly an understatement. Every day during the siege, we sent 8 CH-46’s to resupply the hills and Khe Sanh between 24 February 1968 until 9 April 1968. There was lots more of the Ho Chi Minh trail you flew over but didn’t see. Combat Base, https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-at-50-legacy/the-bloody-battle-of-khe-sanh-77-days-under-siege-1.314627. Bravo Co. 3rd Recon at Khe Sanh. We had local boys in that fight, several that didn’t make it, and even more that was part of the Air Cav Relief Troops. Reviewed by Diana Ahmad, PhD. 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Evidently it was determined there was an unusually high risk of ground fire. By hand. Index, Command Chronologies The jungles surrounding Khe Sanh were burned and bombed barren and Khe Sanh became the major news headline coming out of Vietnam in late March 1968. Hill 950, Hill 881, Hill 861, Hill 861-A, Hill 558 Khe Sanh Village, The Battle of Khe Sanh (21 January – 9 July 1968) was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), during the Vietnam War. Category: Historical, Marine Corps, Marines, Vietnam. The airfield runway was blocked with trenches and had barbed wire fences erected across it so it couldn’t be used to land aircraft. Eventually we sorted things out. He reported to Thanh, and disagreed with Thanh’s plans, but was not prohibited from starting the attack on the Tet base, and later, the start of the Tet offensive. I am sure that road served them well in 1972. Five tons of bombs for every one of the 20,000 NVA soldiers in the fight. The next few minutes were spent trying to untangle and get ourselves organized. The 26th Marines were activated in 1944 and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II and were activated again on March 1, 1966, and fought in the Battle of Khe Sanh … Documentary about the men who fought the longest battle of the Vietnam war, told by the men who fought. In retrospect, it may have been a distraction that Giap used initially to cover his setups for Tet. Those of us who served under him at Khe Sanh are proud of that PUC. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! X 1/4 in. The parts I saw were certainly not a “trail”. It is very realistic and when I was reading it, I felt like I was watching a detailed documentary about Patrick's military life. It wasn’t long before we found out why. Col. David E. Lownds was a Marine’s Marine. I remember when we flew into the Khe Sanh area the helicopters flew at an unusually high altitude. The engagement would be one of the deadliest days at Khe Sanh for the men of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, with 27 killed, one taken prisoner and 19 wounded, according to survivors and official reports. Carved out of the sides of the mountains, nice and wide, downhill slopes covered with rip rap, shelters dug into the mountainsides, invisible from the air. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-at-50-legacy/the-bloody-battle-of-khe-sanh-77-days-under-siege-1.314627 A real modern marvel of organization and management. 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