Combat Operations: Staying the Course, October 1967-September 1968: Staying the Course, October 1967-September 1968
Autor Erik B Villard Center of Military History (U.S. Army)en Limba Engleză Paperback – 23 oct 2017 – vârsta de la 17 ani
Heavily
illustrated
with
a
collection
of
full
color,
and
black
and
white
photos,
including
maps
scattered
throughout
this
historical
text,
the
story
of
the
US
Army
timeless
engagement
in
the
Vietnam
War
unfolds.
You
will
learn
about
popular
historical
leaders
for
this
wartime
era
including
President
Lyndon
B.
Johnson’s
role
as
Commander-in-Chief,
Admiral
Secretary
of
Defense,
Robert
McNamara,
General
William
Childs
Westmoreland,
and
popular
terms,
such
as
Tet
offensive,
MACV
(Military
Assistance
Command-Vietnam),
Operation
Rolling
Thunder,
use
of
helicopter
assault
companies
and
aircraft
fighter
bombers,
Operation
Carentan,
Viet
Cong
Communist
peoples,
key
geographical
locations
such
as
Laos,
Cambodia,
South
Vietnamese,
North
Vietnamese,
Southeast
Asia,
China
and
Soviet
Union’s
position
during
this
timeframe,
Communist
troops,
U.S.
soldiers
and
infantry
battalion
troops,
search
and
destroy
operations,
border
control
operations,
clear
and
hold
operations,
and
security
operations
to
deter
guerilla
combat,
and
more.
This volume, produced by the US Army, Center of Military History, is dedicated to the Vietnam War veterans and published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
High school students, community college, and university students learning about Vietnam War, their professors, Vietnam War veterans and their families, and military historians may be most interested in this easy-to-read, authoritative text. Additionally, public and academic libraries should have a copy of this rich historic component about the U.S. military’s perspective as a primary source research document in their Vietnam War and historical war collections. Prospective and current ROTC and military science students may also find this document enlightening for research about the military strategic tactics during the Vietnam War.
Related products:
Check out moreVietnam War resources
Discover additional titles produced by theU.S. Army, Center of Military History
This volume, produced by the US Army, Center of Military History, is dedicated to the Vietnam War veterans and published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
High school students, community college, and university students learning about Vietnam War, their professors, Vietnam War veterans and their families, and military historians may be most interested in this easy-to-read, authoritative text. Additionally, public and academic libraries should have a copy of this rich historic component about the U.S. military’s perspective as a primary source research document in their Vietnam War and historical war collections. Prospective and current ROTC and military science students may also find this document enlightening for research about the military strategic tactics during the Vietnam War.
Related products:
Check out moreVietnam War resources
Discover additional titles produced by theU.S. Army, Center of Military History
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Colecția Defense Acquisition University
Cuprins
Contents
PART ONE
Opening Battles
1. A Question of Momentum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 3
Westmoreland’s Strategy for 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Chain of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The U.S. Army in Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The South Vietnamese Armed Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Hanoi’s Decision to Launch a General Offensive–General
Uprising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … 37
2. Opening Moves: Battles North and West of Saigon. . . . . . . . . . . 43
Planning the Dry Season Offensive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Other Side of the Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Battle for Loc Ninh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Second Wave at Song Be and Bo Duc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Thunder Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Screaming Eagles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Assessing the Campaign North of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Tropic Lightning Strikes War Zone C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
The Situation at the Beginning of the New Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3. Protecting the Heartland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Binh Duong and Hau Nghia Provinces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Gia Dinh: A Province in Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
East of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Opening Highway 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Long An Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Taking Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4. Operations in the Mekong Delta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Taking the Offensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Firebase Cudgel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. 132
Coronado IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….. 135
Supporting the South Vietnamese Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 136
The Delta at Year’s End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5. Across the Central Highlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..145
New Threats in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
The Battle Begins, 2–6 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
The Allied Counteroffensive, 7–15 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Into the Dak Klong Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The Pursuit Continues: 15–18 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Hill 875: 18–24 November. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Results and Interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Good Neighbors in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6. Defending the Central Coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Pacification Support in Binh Dinh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Battling theYellow Star Division. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Fighting for Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa Provinces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Defending Southern II Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
The Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
7. Reinforcing I Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
The Struggle for the Que Son Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
The2d DivisionAttacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
The Battle for Quang Tin and Quang Ngai Provinces . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Balance Sheet in I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
8. The Gathering Storm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Enemy Preparations for Tet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Warning Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Khe Sanh Besieged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Allied Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
PART TWO
The General Offensive Begins
9. Tet Unleashed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
First Strikes on the Central Coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Clashes in Binh Dinh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Hard Fighting in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Initial Fighting in Southern I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
The Thrust at Da Nang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
10. Saigon Embattled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
The Capital Military Region on Alert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Attacks Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
The Battle for Tan Son Nhut Air Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
The Joint General Staff Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Cholon and the Phu Tho Racetrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Battles on the Periphery of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346
Battles Outside of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353
Assessing the Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
11. Mekong Firestorm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359
The Delta in Flames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
The Mobile Riverine Force to the Rescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..367
Firebase Jaeger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….372
Coronado XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……377
The Post-Tet Situation in IV Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...379
12. Fighting in the Northern Provinces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
The Assault on Quang Tri City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..381
Target: Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …387
A City Besieged: 31 January–1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …393
Enter the Cavalry: 2–10 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. 401
Going on the Attack in the Triangle and the Citadel:
2–10 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..412
West of Hue: 11–20 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..415
Stalemate in the Citadel: 11–20 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..419
The Final Push: 20–25 February. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……423
Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….428
PART THREE
Thrust and Parry
13. Reverberations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
The Communist Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……435
The View from Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..438
America Reacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……445
Whither from Here? The Reinforcement Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….447
14. The Allies Strike Back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Restoring Security in Central III Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...459
Regaining the Initiative in the Northern Mekong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………468
Operations on the Central Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….473
Patrolling the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………479
The Americal Division in Southern I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………483
The My Lai Massacre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….488
A Sense of Urgency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………496
15. To Khe Sanh and the A Shau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..499
Operation Carentan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …………..502
Operation Pegasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …………506
Into the A Shau Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………519
16. The General Offensive Renewed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Fighting on the Demilitarized Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………531
Safeguarding Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 537
The Fall of Kham Duc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………539
Ambush in Binh Dinh Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………547
Renewed Pressure at Ben Het and Dak Pek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………555
17. Mini-Tet in Saigon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..561
Opening Clashes to the East and North of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………..563
The Fight on the Western Outskirts, 5–12 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………567
The Battle for South Saigon, 7–12 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...575
Saigon: Interlude and the Second Phase, 13 May–7 June. . . . . . . . . . . ……...583
Assessing the May Offensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….589
18. A Summer of Attrition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Continuity and Change in I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...599
Operations in II Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..614
II Field Force and the Approaches to Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..626
19. Thwarting the Third Wave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
Allied Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..643
The Battle for Tay Ninh Begins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….646
The Offensive Widens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……655
Fighting Continues in Tay Ninh Province. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….....662
The September Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… . . 666
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….671
20. An Evolving War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Bibliographical Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..681
Map Symbols and Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..699
PART ONE
Opening Battles
1. A Question of Momentum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 3
Westmoreland’s Strategy for 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Chain of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The U.S. Army in Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The South Vietnamese Armed Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Hanoi’s Decision to Launch a General Offensive–General
Uprising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … 37
2. Opening Moves: Battles North and West of Saigon. . . . . . . . . . . 43
Planning the Dry Season Offensive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Other Side of the Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Battle for Loc Ninh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Second Wave at Song Be and Bo Duc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Thunder Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Screaming Eagles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Assessing the Campaign North of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Tropic Lightning Strikes War Zone C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
The Situation at the Beginning of the New Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3. Protecting the Heartland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Binh Duong and Hau Nghia Provinces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Gia Dinh: A Province in Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
East of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Opening Highway 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Long An Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Taking Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4. Operations in the Mekong Delta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Taking the Offensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Firebase Cudgel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. 132
Coronado IX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….. 135
Supporting the South Vietnamese Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 136
The Delta at Year’s End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5. Across the Central Highlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..145
New Threats in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
The Battle Begins, 2–6 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
The Allied Counteroffensive, 7–15 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Into the Dak Klong Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The Pursuit Continues: 15–18 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Hill 875: 18–24 November. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Results and Interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Good Neighbors in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6. Defending the Central Coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Pacification Support in Binh Dinh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Battling theYellow Star Division. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Fighting for Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa Provinces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Defending Southern II Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
The Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
7. Reinforcing I Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
The Struggle for the Que Son Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
The2d DivisionAttacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
The Battle for Quang Tin and Quang Ngai Provinces . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Balance Sheet in I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
8. The Gathering Storm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Enemy Preparations for Tet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Warning Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Khe Sanh Besieged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Allied Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
PART TWO
The General Offensive Begins
9. Tet Unleashed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
First Strikes on the Central Coast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Clashes in Binh Dinh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Hard Fighting in the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Initial Fighting in Southern I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
The Thrust at Da Nang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
10. Saigon Embattled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
The Capital Military Region on Alert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Attacks Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
The Battle for Tan Son Nhut Air Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
The Joint General Staff Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Cholon and the Phu Tho Racetrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Battles on the Periphery of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346
Battles Outside of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353
Assessing the Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
11. Mekong Firestorm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359
The Delta in Flames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
The Mobile Riverine Force to the Rescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..367
Firebase Jaeger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….372
Coronado XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……377
The Post-Tet Situation in IV Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...379
12. Fighting in the Northern Provinces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
The Assault on Quang Tri City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..381
Target: Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …387
A City Besieged: 31 January–1 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …393
Enter the Cavalry: 2–10 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. 401
Going on the Attack in the Triangle and the Citadel:
2–10 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..412
West of Hue: 11–20 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..415
Stalemate in the Citadel: 11–20 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..419
The Final Push: 20–25 February. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……423
Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….428
PART THREE
Thrust and Parry
13. Reverberations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
The Communist Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……435
The View from Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …..438
America Reacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……445
Whither from Here? The Reinforcement Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….447
14. The Allies Strike Back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Restoring Security in Central III Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...459
Regaining the Initiative in the Northern Mekong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………468
Operations on the Central Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….473
Patrolling the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………479
The Americal Division in Southern I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………483
The My Lai Massacre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….488
A Sense of Urgency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………496
15. To Khe Sanh and the A Shau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..499
Operation Carentan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …………..502
Operation Pegasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …………506
Into the A Shau Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………519
16. The General Offensive Renewed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Fighting on the Demilitarized Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………531
Safeguarding Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………. 537
The Fall of Kham Duc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………539
Ambush in Binh Dinh Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………547
Renewed Pressure at Ben Het and Dak Pek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………555
17. Mini-Tet in Saigon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..561
Opening Clashes to the East and North of Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………..563
The Fight on the Western Outskirts, 5–12 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………567
The Battle for South Saigon, 7–12 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...575
Saigon: Interlude and the Second Phase, 13 May–7 June. . . . . . . . . . . ……...583
Assessing the May Offensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….589
18. A Summer of Attrition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Continuity and Change in I Corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……...599
Operations in II Corps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..614
II Field Force and the Approaches to Saigon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..626
19. Thwarting the Third Wave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
Allied Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……..643
The Battle for Tay Ninh Begins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….646
The Offensive Widens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……655
Fighting Continues in Tay Ninh Province. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….....662
The September Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……… . . 666
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …….671
20. An Evolving War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Bibliographical Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..681
Map Symbols and Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..699