Battle Story: Tet Offensive 1968

Andrew Rawson

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780752487847
• eBook ISBN: 9780752492506
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

By the end of January 1968 the American people thought their armed forces were winning in South Vietnam after three years of escalating conflict. Then the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong struck back, hitting military and political targets across the country. While the NVA and Viet Cong suffered a military defeat, they dealt a huge blow to US support for the war. If you want to understand what happened and why ? read Battle Story. Detailed profiles examine the background of the opposing commanders, as well as the contrasting tactics and equipment of their fighting forces. Contemporary accounts reveal the true story of this pivotal battle and its consequences for the Vietnam War. Specially commissioned maps analyse the key developments during the battle. Excellent photographs place the reader at the centre of the fighting. Orders of battle show the composition of the opposing forces' armies.

THE BATTLEFIELD:
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

The Battle for Quang Tri

Quang Tri Province was the northernmost province in South Vietnam, bordering the DMZ, and the town of the same name was a key centre in I Corps. During the early hours of 31 January a single platoon of the 10th Sapper Battalion attacked, alerting the ARVN troops manning Quang Tri’s defences. Two battalions of 1st ARVN Regiment were deployed north and north-west of the town while 9th ARVN Airborne Battalion deployed to the east. The rest of 812th NVA Regiment was delayed by flooded streams, but they forced all three ARVN battalions back into the town when they attacked two hours later.

1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division was deployed south and west of Quang Tri and Colonel Donald V. Rattan chose to land his troops on the NVA’s supply routes. In the late afternoon, 1/12th Cavalry’s Company B led the air assault, landing east of Quang Tri. Company C followed, landing in the middle of an enemy heavy weapons unit, fighting for their lives while helicopter gunships circled overhead. The NVA battalion eventually withdrew.

1/5th Cavalry followed, landing two companies in the middle of a second NVA battalion, south-east of Quang Tri. The NVA were taken by surprise and they soon broke contact, using refugees to cover their withdrawal. While sporadic fighting continued into the night, the battle had been won by Rattan’s bold use of his helicopters.

A platoon advances rapidly across a paddy field as it closes in on an NVA position. (NARA-111-CCV-377)

Quang Tri was clear by the following afternoon but 1st Brigade went on the pursuit, looking to hunt down 812th NVA Regiment before it could escape. Many were trapped as 1st Brigade moved in ever-increasing concentric circles, with helicopters leap-frogging troops ahead of the escaping NVA. By the time Rattan closed down the operation, over 900 NVA soldiers had been killed and more than eighty had been captured.

The Battle for Da Nang

During the days before Tet, Colonel Ross R. Miner’s 7th Marines had noticed that the contacts around Da Nang were ‘increasing in frequency and ferocity; the Viet Cong were seen to be probing their defences. Infrared detectors and XM-3 People Sniffers mounted on helicopters reported strong troop concentrations in the hills west of Da Nang. Patrols also noted that booby traps were being removed, a sure sign new enemy units were moving into the area. The G-2 intelligence officer stated, ‘They are finally coming out to fight. We don’t know why, but we know they are!’ Captured documents confirmed that an attack was imminent and they even stated when it would start.

2nd NVA Division moved onto Go Noi Island on the Thu Bon River, 15km south of Da Nang, while rocket launchers deployed west and north-west of the city. The plan was for two attacks, with an overland one to capture I Corps headquarters and a waterborne one to knock out the bridge between Da Nang and the Tien Cha Peninsula north-east of the city. A rocket bombardment would follow before the Main Force units made their move. Meanwhile, Viet Cong units in Da Nang would force the people to demonstrate, causing chaos on the streets.

Shortly before midnight on 29 January, 1st Marine Division was on standby when ‘the alert sounded, and it was all hands to the wire.’ Sporadic firing increased in intensity as over a dozen installations were hit by mortars and rockets, with the sound of explosions merging with the Tet fireworks. The bombardment continued until dawn, but while material losses were high, there were few casualties. Five aircraft on Da Nang airbase were destroyed and another fourteen were damaged.

The first attacks were made against the two main bridges connecting Da Nang with the surrounding countryside. Demolition teams were stopped from reaching Tien Cha Bridge and the bridge carrying Route 1 over the Cu De River, north of Da Nang. A later Viet Cong attempt to reach the main Da Nang Bridge on sampans was also stopped.

XM PEOPLE SNIFFER

While the XM People Sniffer traced the ammonia in human sweat, urine and waste, it could not distinguish between the enemies and civilians. While it could trace where the enemy was hiding, it sometimes confused human and animal concentrations. The XM-2 was a backpack version while the XM-3 was a helicopter-mounted version.

The remains of a Chinook helicopter after being hit by a rocket. (NARA-111-CCV-147)

At 2.50am sappers penetrated the perimeter of the command post of Southern Sector Defense, just north of the Cau Do River. Although they entered the Communications Support Company area, they were driven out before causing too much damage. The next attack hit the operations centre on Hill 200 and the communications bunker was destroyed.

R-20th and 25th Battalions attacked I Corps headquarters at 3.30am, but General Lam refused to believe that the Viet Cong had the audacity to do so. Four ARVN armoured personnel carriers held the complex while Popular and Regional Force units stopped Viet Cong reinforcements from moving through Hoa Vang village. Reinforcements eventually secured the headquarters and airstrikes eventually dispersed the Viet Cong.

By the end of the day the troops who attacked Hoa Vang had been hemmed in and they escaped by swimming to an island on the river. Helicopters flew in a company of the 3/5th Marines and pinned them down while airstrikes and artillery zeroed in. The trapped troops tried to break out overnight but the following morning eighty-eight men were taken prisoner and another 100 bodies were found on the island. The planes dropped their bombs with pinpoint accuracy on the island and Marine John Gundersen recalled the ‘… concussion from each bomb shaking my face and eyeballs. The explosions blurred by vision momentarily. Small pieces of shrapnel were falling on us with larger pieces buzzing over my head … I couldn’t imagine anyone escaping such a pounding.’

There was sporadic fighting all around Da Nang throughout the following day. Some NVA units tried unsuccessfully to cut Route 1 where it climbed the Hai Van Pass, north of the city. Other units attacked Dien Ban, the capital of Quang Nam Province, south of the airbase. Viet Cong units captured part of the Chi Long camp, near Hoi An, to the south-east. In all cases the ARVN held its ground, but sporadic fighting continued into the following day.

Military Region 5, the headquarters responsible for the northern part of South Vietnam, also attacked many other targets across the Central Highlands, confirming that Da Nang was not the only target. Two NVA battalions overran large parts of Kontum but airstrikes dispersed the reinforcements, killing over 300. To the south, 22nd ARVN Rangers were on full alert when the NVA sappers attacked in Pleiku. They held onto key locations before counterattacking and driving the enemy out of the town. Further south, in Ban Me Thuot, the MACV compound and airfield were hit by mortar and rocket attacks while sapper attacks were repulsed. On the coast, sappers captured the radio station and the railway station in Qui Nhon while recoilless rifles hit a nearby supply dump, destroying two ammunition stores. South Korean troops would later recapture the radio station while ARVN Special Forces seized the rail station. Further south, two NVA battalions captured both the provincial and sector headquarters in Nha Trang; the town radio station was also taken.

A fuel dump bursts into flames after being hit by Viet Cong mortars. (NARA-111-CCV-456)

By daylight on 31 January, most of the attacks made by Military Region 5 had run out of steam. In many places the NVA and Viet Cong were on the defensive and the US Army artillery and mortars were targeting pockets of resistance, while the US airplanes and helicopters hit anything moving in the open. The NVA were unable to move reinforcements easily while the US and ARVN could deploy theirs rapidly by helicopter or road.

North of Da Nang, 4th NVA Regiment temporarily closed Route 1 by destroying three bridges and a culvert. Later that night the NVA attacked Hai Van Pass but were unable to overrun the ARVN outposts and withdrew at dawn. On the northern outskirts of Da Nang the NVA failed to destroy Nam O Bridge, so they entered the nearby hamlet and killed the head of the community.

While the NVA attacked all around the city, the Viet Cong had been on the streets, forcing around 500 people to demonstrate outside a Buddhist Pagoda. The plan was that the demonstration would stop the ARVN and National Police restoring order, allowing the NVA to infiltrate the city. As we have seen, each attack had been stopped in its tracks and General Don J. Robertson summed up the Marines’ bravery with the words ‘Never have so few done so much to so many.’

While there were minor incidents throughout 31 January, MACV was confident that the situation was under control. The problem was what was going to happen next? MACV’s intelligence officer, Brigadier General Davidson, 1st Marine Division, reported ‘this is going to happen in the rest of the country tonight or tomorrow morning’ – and he was right.

THE SPOOKY GUNSHIP

The Spooky Gunship was a Douglas AC-47D armed with three side-mounted 7.62 miniguns. The crew could fire hundreds of rounds a minute at a 50m elliptical area, with a round hitting each 2.2m square during a three-second burst. The gunship could also fire flares, illuminating an area. The stream of tracers gave the gunship its nickname, Puff the Magic Dragon.

Marines board a UH-34D Seahorse helicopter. (NARA-Marine-127-GVC-41)

There were over thirty incidents around Da Nang during the night of 30/31 January. 31st NVA Regiment ambushed squads from 1/7th and 3/7th Marines near Hill 55 and reinforcements failed to trap the ambushers. Patrols from 1st Marine Division also spotted NVA and Viet Cong troops moving towards Da Nang and in each case they were targeted by artillery. One large group of around 500 seen moving in the hills south of An Hoa was decimated by the combined fire of artillery batteries and a Spooky Gunship. Between them they stopped important reinforcements reaching Da Nang.

During the early hours of 31 January, the attacks around Da Nang were renewed while the attacks across the rest of South Vietnam began in earnest. The city awoke to the sound of yet more mortar strikes during the early hours. They were followed by more attacks, including eighteen against the Marine outposts along Route 1 between Phu Bai and Da Nang.

Meanwhile, a demonstration led by armed men was stopped from reaching Nam O Bridge, so it headed towards Da Nang. Marines and ARVN Rangers closed in on 4th NVA Regiment north of the city, killing over 150 near the Hai Van Pass.

31st NVA Regiment was stopped from crossing the Yen River, south-west of Da Nang. Helicopters had flown Korean Marines south-east of the city, where they fought alongside 51st ARVN Regiment. Although Hoi An was cleared, the NVA counterattacked along the riverbanks, capturing Duy Xuyen, west of the town.

While there was no ground attack against the Chu Lai airfield, the base was hit by sustained mortar and rocket attacks and collateral damage continued to rise; three planes were destroyed, another twenty-one were damaged, one hangar was destroyed and others were damaged; a bomb dump was also hit. While the Da Nang area had been much quieter during the night of 31 January, the night sky was again filled with explosions when two ammunition dumps were hit.

By 1 February the danger around Da Nang had subsided and helicopters were able to fly Marines out into the countryside, dropping them astride NVA supply routes. They prepared ambushes and forced enemy units into the open where airstrikes and artillery destroyed them. Patrols also checked out the areas the rocket units were using, limiting where crews could deploy their weapons. As the days passed, the number of incidents fell rapidly, but the big question was whether this was the lull before a second storm.

On the night of 2/3 February, Da Nang airbase was hit again and one aircraft was destroyed while six more were damaged. There were also reports that 2nd NVA Division was on the move again west of the city. When a Marine patrol ambushed a group of sixty NVA carrying mortars and automatic weapons on the evening of 5 February, the shooting began in earnest. 7th Marines were shelled, mortared and then attacked, an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Timeline
• Historical Background
• The Armies
• The Days Before Battle
• The Battlefield: What Actually Happened?
• Prolonged Battles
• After the Battle
• The Legacy
• Orders of Battle
• Further Reading
• Copyright