The change is incredible, and yet you can still make out familiar sights. The cultural and historical capital city, Hue was the centerpiece of Hanoi's 1968 Tet Offensive, a surprise attack by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong that sought to win the war in one stroke . Soldiers wave from truck. Sightseeing can include the ornate Imperial Citadel, colorful Thanh Toan Bridge, royal tombs and the Forbidden Purple City. RF soldiers opened fire and radioed a warning to Trng's headquarters. [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. [12]:59, Also on 7 February, the North Vietnamese tried to bring their own air support into the battle, sending four Vietnam People's Air Force Il-14 transport aircraft from an airfield near Hanoi. The 1st Regiment was stationed near Qung Tr 50 kilometers (31mi) to the northwest and the 2nd Regiment was another twelve kilometers farther up Highway 1 near ng H. [9]:269 The battalion consolidated its night defensive positions and waited to renew its attack the following day. 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. A PAVN blocking force from the 806th Battalion in the graveyard stopped the ARVN relief force about 400 meters short of the Citadel wall destroying two M113s. While the ARVN 1st Division had cancelled all Tt leave and was attempting to recall its troops, the South Vietnamese and American forces in the city were unprepared when the Vit Cng (VC) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched the Tet Offensive, attacking hundreds of military targets and population centers across the country, including Hu. Truck convoy enters gate of the camp. 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. [9]:519. In one instance, Downs says there was a machine gun directly down a street that his Marines needed to cross to advance their attack. After a day of attacks the Marines withdrew to their night defensive positions. In another part of the city, where Downs company was flown in by helicopter, he was leading his men from building to building but had to use ingenuity and tear gas to do so. Vietnamese young boys and girls fill sandbags. A special thanks to Modern War Institute intern Harshana Ghoorhoo, whose initial research and framework of this and following case studies set the conditions for success. Company B then walked into an ambush north of Que Chu and was pinned down in the open with little cover, they were only able to withdraw after calling in close artillery support. [4]:213, The fighting in other parts of South Vietnam during Tet was generally confined to a week or sometimes less; the battle for Hu was the longest, lasting from 31 January through 2 March 1968. He proceeded to gather the necessary equipment including M20 Bazookas, M40 106mm recoilless rifles mounted on M274 Mules, C-4 explosive, flamethrowers, tear gas and gas masks. God Bless these two Marines , who in the heat of battle, find the opportunity to escort this blind local girl to safety. But in the 1968 Tet Offensive, the war spilled out of the jungle into the streets of Hue City. 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. Several companies of PAVN armed with mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles and RPGs were strongly entrenched along the south side of the Sau Canal, a deep waterway that ran toward the Citadel perpendicular to the Perfume River. 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. 14 Feb 1968, Hue, South Vietnam --- A flowered arm sling is worn by a wounded U.S Marine in this makeshift communications #vietnamwarfootageandstories Source: Bettmann/CORBIS G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #62 G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #63 US Marines fighting in Hue, Vietnam. 12 February - 5 March 1968 - Operation "HUE CITY." Citadel Fortress of Hue. Its not just the round but all the debris that comes off of it. On the night of 23 February the PAVN attempted another counterattack, but were forced back by artillery fire. 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. Everybody is a rifleman. Death in the Citadel: U.S. Marines in the Battle for Hue City, 31 January to 2 March 1968 (2017). [14]:81 On 5 February the Marines recaptured the Hu Central Hospital complex (162747N 1073513E / 16.463N 107.587E / 16.463; 107.587), rescuing Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Khoa (the Mayor of Hu and Thua Thien Province chief), who had been hiding in the grounds. The fighting in Hue City, Vietnam, was as intense and confusing as anything the Marines there had ever seen. 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. Of course, with any firefight, there will be mistakes made. Both generals went back to Hue City decades after the battle. The generals said that Hue City was unique in that it is divided into two parts by the Perfume River. [23] Cadres called out the names on their lists over loudspeakers, ordering them to report to a local school. [31][32], Militarily, Hu and the entire Tet Offensive were Allied victories. [17] On reaching the ARVN base, the 2/12th Cavalry dug in there for the next 4 days. As the PAVN-VC area of control within Hu shrank, the pace of executions increased to prevent the "enemies of the people" being freed by ARVN or U.S. forces or identifying the VC who had revealed themselves. The ambush destroyed several vehicles and threw the 1st Troop, 7th Cavalry, into confusion. 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. [12]:69, On 16 February the 1/5 Marines advanced approximately 140 meters for a cost of seven Marines killed and 47 wounded and 63 PAVN killed. Were all emotional, we care about our Marines. One of their battalion commanders, (then) Major Robert Thompson became a close friend during and after the war. This lecture was part of the commemoration of the Vietnam War era. [People would say] that weapon isnt for use in an urban environment. [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. 2/5 Marines killed 18 PAVN or VC and captured one, at a cost of three Marines killed and 13 wounded. [4]:208 Company L, 3/5 Marines was then tasked with clearing the area to the Thuong Tu Gate and out to the Trng Tin Bridge. Firing at long range, they missed their target and made no further effort to take the position. Among the new arrivals was the 7th Battalion of the 29th Regiment, 325C Division, a unit that until recently had been laying siege to Khe Sanh. Those not reporting voluntarily were hunted down. The Modern War Institute does not screen articles to fit a particular editorial agenda, nor endorse or advocate material that is published. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps. On 31 January 1968, the Marines of 1/5 were spread out over a large area of I Corps. [12]:3436, At 04:00 the PAVN reached the Ty Lc Airfield, where 50 men of the Hac Bao reconnaissance company, reinforced by the 1st Division's 1st Ordnance Company, stopped the PAVN 800th Battalion. Ret.) [4]:195 On 11 February the Vietnamese Marines Task Force A comprising the 1st and 5th Battalions, began to be lifted by helicopter into Mang Ca to replace the Airborne, however due to poor weather this deployment would not be completed until 13 February. At 02:33, a signal flare lit up the night sky, and two battalions from the PAVN 6th Regiment attacked the western wall of the Citadel. On 24 February, the 5/7th Cavalry, rejoined its detached company and the armored cavalry platoon from the 3/5th Cavalry, near the western corner of the Citadel. At Thon La Chu a South Vietnamese official who was a VC agent had earlier used aid money to build a three-story concrete and steel bomb shelter for local villagers and the command group of the Hu City Front used this as its headquarters. 5/7th Cavalry would be stalled north of La Chu for 2 weeks, probing but failing to penetrate the PAVN defenses. [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. 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. A small group of Army technicians manned a communications facility a few hundred meters to the east of the MACV Compound. [12]:38, Just before dawn the 804th Battalion reached the eastern outskirts of the new city, three hours behind schedule. [12]:31, Premature Tet Offensive attacks at Nha Trang and Qui Nhn on the morning of 30 January led to the cancellation of the Tt ceasefire, but many ARVN soldiers were already away on leave, meaning that defenses in and around Hu were undermanned. Several local force companies operated in the districts surrounding Hu. Unknown to Allied intelligence, the PAVN had recently shifted several more regiments and support units from Qung Tr Province to the vicinity of Hu. for Advanced Operational Culture Lrng. On Feb. 15, 1968, U.S. Marines carry out an assault on Dong Ba Tower in Hue, South Vietnam. A second unit from the regiment, the 810th Battalion, and several local force companies roamed the coastal plain north and east of Hu. 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. [4]:200 Company D, 1/5 Marines arrived in the Citadel on the evening of 14 February after taking fire while crossing the Perfume River. [9]:23943, Many of the Marines of Task Force X-Ray had little or no urban combat experience and the U.S. troops were not trained for urban close-quarters combat, so this battle was especially tough for them. . Bowden has also written for Talk, Men's Journal, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and Playboy, among others. With the departure of Company F about 16:30, the PAVN-VC successfully disengaged and Companies H and E took up night defensive positions. Then, you need to select where you enter the city, then you can determine what you are going to use to take the city. [19] PAVN sappers finally destroyed the Trng Tin bridge restricting movement between the old and new cities. It helps him remember them. Flying through overcast skies, the aircraft returned two hours later, its pilot having seen nothing out of the ordinary. The original series of articles which became "Black Hawk Down" earned him the Overseas Press Club's Hal . Task Force X-ray including 1/5 and 2/5 Marines (2,500) and 1st ARVN Battalion. [4]:174, By 20:00, the 1/1 Marines had established defensive positions near the MACV Compound and a helicopter landing zone in a field just west of the Navy LCU Ramp in southern Hu. US Marines spent nearly a month fighting a brutal urban battle to retake the city which was 80% destroyed by the battle's end, according to H.D.S. The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The Marines then pushed into the Treasury building which the PAVN had hastily abandoned. The attack resumed the following morning and the ridge was secured with 20 PAVN and two Marines killed. These North Vietnamese regulars had arrived to invade the provincial capital city of 140,000 as part of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong's (VC . The year 1968 marked a crucial turning point in the Vietnam War. Under cover of the tear gas and the 106mm backblast the Marines crossed the street and blew holes in the wall using C-4 and Bazookas. There are endless must-see historic sites, especially those that are UNESCO World Heritage designated. 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.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. Helicopter gunships and artillery and the pair of Dusters systematically leveled any structure that appeared to serve as a strong point. For the board wargame based on this battle, see, The 1st Cavalry Division attacks PAVN supply lines, Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 12:50, Massacre perpetrated by Vietcong and the PAVN, dressed in ARVN uniforms killed the guards, Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support, Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Developments in the war, News media and the Vietnam War Tet Offensive, 1968, November 2004 anti-insurgent Marine operation, United States Army Center of Military History, "The History Place Vietnam War 19651968", "Urban Operations: An Historical Casebook", "An Excerpt from the Viet Cong Strategy of Terror", "Pham Van Dong, Voice of Vietnam's Revolt, Dies at 94", "Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipients (AL)", "Medal of Honor Monday: Army Sgt. H and E took up night defensive positions strong point be stalled north La. 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