The ambush destroyed several vehicles and threw the 1st Troop, 7th Cavalry, into confusion. The 804th Battalion, 4th Regiment, began marching from Ph Lc to a mountain camp 20 kilometers (12mi) south of Hu where the majority of the southern wing was gathered. They were unsuccessful and Company F sustained casualties of three dead and 13 wounded. 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. Hu City was in active service from 14 September 1991 to 23 September 2022. He led the Marine push to capture the Citadel on the north side of the Hue river. Your email address will not be published. The PAVN-VC lost somewhere between 1,042 and 5,133 killed, while Allied forces lost 668 dead and 3,707 wounded. [4]:167 At 04:40 sappers captured the Huu Gate and the command group of the PAVN 6th Regiment entered the Citadel. With Company A, 1/1 Marines as the Phu Bai reserve, Hughes directed Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Gravel to prepare the company for any contingency. Michael Bowden's new history Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam pulls off a rare feat: it takes a conflict of terrible scale and consequence, and allows us to see it. Victims included women, men, children, and infants. The 815th Battalion had been delayed because South Vietnamese paramilitaries had ambushed the battalion at a river crossing three kilometers south of the city. The 2/12th Cavalry withdrew to a night defensive perimeter, but at dawn on 3 February following a mortar barrage the PAVN attacked their position. The 150 ARVN at Ty Lc Airfield withdrew east through the city, avoiding PAVN forces and sneaked into the Mang Ca compound shortly after 07:00, just in time to help repulse another major assault from the 802nd Battalion. [9]:268, The PAVN set up provisional authorities shortly after capturing Hu, charged with removing the existing Republic of Vietnam administration from power within the city and replacing it with a "revolutionary administration". The main body of the 818th Battalion had left camp later than planned and had gotten lost on its way to the city. 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. [12]:37 At 08:00, PAVN troops raised a liberation flag over the Citadel flag tower. In the early morning hours of 31 January 1968, a division-sized force of PAVN-VC soldiers launched a coordinated attack on the city of Hu. Sightseeing can include the ornate Imperial Citadel, colorful Thanh Toan Bridge, royal tombs and the Forbidden Purple City. Hue City - MCA HIGH INTENSITY URBAN FIGHTING IN THE MIDST OF A JUNGLE GUERRILLA WAR. Two of the aircraft carrying explosives, antitank ammunition and field telephone cables managed to find an opening in the cloud layer about 10 kilometers (6.2mi) north of Hu. After a few minutes, the RF soldiers stopped shooting, and some began to wonder whether they had seen enemy troops or had been firing at shadows. 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. [4]:16667 At 05:00 a reinforced company from the 1st Sapper Battalion Due to Hu's religious and cultural status, Allied forces were ordered not to bomb or shell the city, for fear of destroying the historic structures. Photo of me in Hue City. But in the 1968 Tet Offensive, the war spilled out of the jungle into the streets of Hue City. 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. Firing at long range, they missed their target and made no further effort to take the position. Shortly after 04:30, a column of M41 tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the compound and headed up Highway 1. G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #64 RL64RL Mi Lieutenant News of the cancelled cease-fire never reached the MACV Compound. The Battle of Hue City occurred during the Tet Offensive, where. This was an operational area that actually required two complete regiments to secure. 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. During Tet, the lunar New Year holiday, the North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies staged attacks across South Vietnam, none more dramatic than the assault on Hu, the old imperial capital. 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. An Ontos was brought forward to blast an entry into the building, but was disabled by a B-40 rocket. The enemy force, the forty sappers and an infantry company from the 800th Battalion that had been waiting in the graveyard northwest of An Hoa, did not return fire but crept away before they could be illuminated by the descending flares. MAIL: PO Box 7311, Richmond, Virginia 23221, Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret.). 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 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. The 6th Battalion, 24th Regiment, 304th Division, originally located near Khe Sanh, reached the Citadel after following a route that took it through Base Area 101, Base Area 114 and Thon La Chu and the 7th Battalion, 90th Regiment, 324B Division, was due to arrive a few days later after a forced march from the DMZ. [9]:268, On the night of 3 February, the PAVN commander, seeing the buildup of Marines at Hu University, thinned out his frontline forces leaving just a platoon to defend the Treasury building and adjacent Post Office. and, more recently, The Finish: "The Killing of Osama bin Laden", and Hue 1968: A Turning point of the American war in Vietnam. The Best Things To Do In Hue, Vietnam. On 4 January 1968, MACV J-2 (military intelligence staff) received a report that a Vietcong sapper team had obtained jobs at the Tan Son Nhut airbase from which they planned to attack MACV. On 16 February two companies from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, fought elements of the 803rd Regiment, 324B Division, about 20 kilometers (12mi) northeast of Hu, killing 29 PAVN before they broke contact the following day. The Allied bombardment lasted intermittently from 17:30 until 03:30 the next day, forcing the entire southern wing to postpone the ferry crossing. [3] A PAVN document captured by the ARVN stated that 1,042 troops had been killed in the city proper and that several times that number had been wounded. Comments will be moderated before posting to ensure logical, professional, and courteous application to article content. It was mid-February 1968, and American and South Vietnamese forces were. [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. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. Much the same can be said of Fallujah's defenders. The ARVN claimed to have killed 250 PAVN, captured five prisoners and recovered 71 individual and 25 crew-served weapons. Hue City,, Vietnam, 1968 Me love you long time! However, less is known about America's involvement with the city during World War II. In spite of the beating they took in November, they will continue to assert they repelled the initial attack and fought well thereafter. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in 0 Cart Holiday Sales Event Jewelry & Accessories Clothing & Shoes 2 kilometers (1.2mi) to the northwest, an engineer unit moved within sight of its target, the An Lo Bridge that spanned the Bo River, as it did, the 806th Battalion, one company from the 800th Battalion and a sapper platoon of forty men, all from the 6th Regiment, quietly occupied a forward staging area in a graveyard 2 kilometers (1.2mi) northwest of the Citadel. The 804th Battalion and the 1st Sapper Battalion remained south of the canal near the An Cuu Bridge while the 810th Battalion began preparing to sneak west across the Perfume River by raft and boat to Gia Hoi Island. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among. There were also many obstacles to navigate including moats and walls. [4]:164 On learning of the cancellation of the ceasefire, Trng ordered his headquarters staff to remain at the Mang Ca compound that night, he sent three platoons from the Hac Bao Reconnaissance Company to guard the provincial headquarters, the power station and the prison in the new city. [In urban combat] you may want to know that one of the things youre supposed to do is isolate the city, said Christmas. Vietnam (Physiography) 2001 (1.6MB) and pdf format (1.9MB) Vietnam (Political) 2001 (208K) and pdf format (214K) Vietnam (Political) 1992 (189K) and pdf format (202K) Vietnam (Shaded Relief) 2001 (258K) and pdf format (261K) [14]:105 On 13 February, Abrams established MACV Forward at Phu Bai, effectively replacing Cushman and assuming overall control of all U.S. forces in I Corps. Entering the building the Marines fought room by room, clearing the building, but many of the PAVN slipped away. [9]:27273 On the morning of 4 February the Marines launched their attack on the Treasury. [12]:29, On 28 January, the PAVN/VC units tasked with attacking the new city began moving into position 48 hours earlier than the northern wing tasked with attacking the Citadel, because it had a longer distance to march and more difficult terrain to cross. On the night of the 6th, the PAVN counterattacked, with a battalion from the 29th Regiment scaling the southwest wall and pushing the 4th Battalion back to Ty Lc. Take advantage of all the exciting benefits that membership offers including access to member-only publications. Valerie OBerry/CommStrat Office Company H withdrew so that air strikes could be launched and these knocked out mortar and machine gun positions killing 20 PAVN; however, one bomb fell short killing four Marines. Afterward, massive reconstruction and rehabilitation had been undertaken to restore the precious historic relics in the ancient capital. A Leaders Guide to Conducting Research Staff Rides, The Overlooked Irregular Warfare Expert the Pentagon Should Study Today, MWI Podcast: When Cities Become Battlefields, Frank Sobchak Joins MWI as Chair of Irregular Warfare Studies, Announcing the Modern War Institutes 202223 Senior and Research Fellows, Call for Submissions: Civil-Military Relations and Modern War, Call for Applications: MWIs 202223 Fellows Program. [4]:191 The PAVN forces in the new city, worn down by more than a week of incessant combat and effectively cut off from their comrades on the other side of the river, began to slowly abandon the city, the 815th and 2nd Sapper Battalions moved to the southern side of the Phu Cam Canal, where the 818th Battalion was already in place. With the building secured the Marines then methodically cleared out the spider-holes, shooting their occupants. 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