4) Take in a Performance at the Royal Theatre. Hu (Vietnamese: ()) is the capital of Tha Thin Hu province in central Vietnam and was the capital of ng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. [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. [4]:201 That day at a meeting at Phu Bai between Generals Abrams, LaHue, Trng and South Vietnamese Vice President Nguyn Cao K, K approved the use of all necessary force to clear the PAVN-VC forces from the Citadel, regardless of damage to historic structures. Those deemed guilty of the most serious "crimes" were speedily tried and executed. Built within a two year span, it has been severely damaged on three occasions. 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. During the Battle of Hue City, most of the civilians hid out in buildings, according to Christmas. [12]:29 The PAVN B5 Front created a special logistical and administrative zone known as the Hu City Front to manage the upcoming battle. Highway 1, passing through the city of Hu, was an important supply line for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and United States forces from the coastal city of Da Nang to the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto border between North and South Vietnam only 50 kilometers (31mi) to the north of Hu. Additional battalions were later identified as coming from the 29th Regiment of the 325C Division, the 90th and 803rd Regiments of the 324B Division and the 24th Regiment of the 304th Division. [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. The Tet Offensive was a military campaign . The Airborne attempted a frontal assault on the graveyard but were unable to force their way through the PAVN positions and found themselves unable to advance or retreat and called for assistance. All he knew was that Trng's headquarters had been under attack, as was the MACV Compound. Company B joined the assault and after six hours the Marines had secured the base of the gate and later the entire gate, at a cost of six Marines killed and 50 wounded and 20 PAVN killed. 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. At about 15:15 the Marines managed to make their way toward the MACV Compound. The distance between the walls varies from 75 meters to 17.5 meters. [4]:230, On 1 February, III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) Commander Lieutenant General Robert Cushman alerted the 1st Cavalry Division commander, Major General John J. Tolson, to be ready to deploy his 3rd Brigade into a sector west of Hu. 33. [7], In addition to the significant civilian casualties inflicted in the battle, eighty percent of the city was destroyed and 116,000 civilians out of the pre-battle population of 140,000 were made homeless. 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. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, then-First Lieutenant James K. Redding arrived in South Vietnam on January 7, 1968, and was assigned as the assistant American advisor to the 7th Airborne . More than half the company's 147 men had been wounded or killed in that day's fighting. 10 Apr 2018| As LaHue later wrote: "Initial deployment of forces was made with limited information. In the resulting confusion, the convoy exchanged fire with a Marine unit already in the city. Hue is a city chock-full of stories. 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. The main body of the 818th Battalion had left camp later than planned and had gotten lost on its way to the city. He previously served as a fellow with the chief of staff of the Armys Strategic Studies Group. During the night, the battalion called helicopter into the landing zone to take out the most badly wounded. He served twenty-five years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. Its alive and well today and is in response to your leadership, said Downs to the SNCOs gathered in the lecture hall. In April 1966, the battalion deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. The Battle [12]:7576, While 1/1 Marines conducted mopping-up operations in southern Hu, 2/5 Marines had been conducting patrols south of the Phu Cam Canal. Entering the building the Marines fought room by room, clearing the building, but many of the PAVN slipped away. [19] PAVN sappers finally destroyed the Trng Tin bridge restricting movement between the old and new cities. One of the offensives chief targets was the city of Hue. This could mean going through the same holes and breaches that you have been through. You know where those decisions come from? Several M41 crews abandoned their undamaged tanks when they found their escape route blocked by burning hulks. RM JA01HR - Crowd at Ba Tang Cemetery where more than 400 victims of the 1968 Communist Tet Offensive lie in a mass grave, Hue, Vietnam, 1968. [12]:57, Gravel's 1/1 Marines had been clearing the area to the east and south of the MACV Compound and on 10 February they captured the soccer stadium (162801N 1073549E / 16.467N 107.597E / 16.467; 107.597), providing a second, safer helicopter landing zone. But, also like Stalingrad and Mosul, Hue was also a fundamentally unique battle in certain key ways, and the case study sheds light on the unique lessons that can be derived from it. As the Marines approached the base at 07:00 they were met by PAVN mortar and machine-gun fire; artillery fire was called in on the PAVN positions and the Marines entered the base at 08:50. Flying through overcast skies, the aircraft returned two hours later, its pilot having seen nothing out of the ordinary. The Post Office also seemed abandoned until the Marines located a vault inside the building, they proceeded to gas out the PAVN inside killing more than 24 of them as they emerged. Beginning in February 1968, in the South Vietnamese city of Hue, 11 battalions of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), two U.S. Army battalions, and three U.S. Marine Corps battalions, for a total of 16 battalions, defeated 10 battalions of the People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong. John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, codirector of MWIs Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast. 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. A company from the 2/5th Marines finally relieved the MACV communications facility that morning. The lightly armored dusters did not provide as much armor as a tank, but they were effective. On 31 January 1968, the Marines of 1/5 were spread out over a large area of I Corps. A Mule was brought forward to blow a hole in the building and the Marines advanced under cover of tear gas. This is also where the Marine needs to use their ingenuity. The combined force then swept toward the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge along the southwestern face of the Citadel, where a few PAVN still held out in a narrow band of trees between the moat and the wall. 3) Stroll Through the Imperial City. On the 7th the 3rd Regiment, which had been futilely trying to break into the southeast corner of the Citadel, was moved by Mike boats to Mang Ca to reinforce his units inside the Citadel. 5/7th Cavalry would be stalled north of La Chu for 2 weeks, probing but failing to penetrate the PAVN defenses. [4]:20810, To the west, the South Vietnamese forces continued to meet stubborn resistance. In the battle for the tower, six men died and 50 were wounded. [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. While the Marines seized the surrounding wall easily, the area between the wall and the building was covered by fire from every window and from spider-holes in the grounds. You have to deal with it. One Marine, Lance corporal Lester A. Tully, later awarded the Silver Star for his action, ran forward, threw a grenade, and silenced the gun. The Modern War Institute does not screen articles to fit a particular editorial agenda, nor endorse or advocate material that is published. Christmas says theres not a day that goes by that he doesnt think about two mistakes he made during the Battle for Hue City. It started on Jan. 30, 1968, the eve of Tet (the Vietnamese lunar new year): More than 80,000 soldiers from the People's Army North Vietnamese and southern allies staged simultaneous attacks on cities, towns and U.S. bases throughout the south, a mass occupation meant to inspire the rest of South Vietnam to rise up . The Battle of Hue, part of the Tet Offensive, 1968 The Tet Offensive. Image credit: Staff Sergeant J. L. Harlan, US Marine Corps, The study neglects to mention the Cronkite apparently had a change of heart (of some kind) as he reported this 13 days earlier: The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, and the battle negatively affected American public perception of the war. Those not reporting voluntarily were hunted down. Marine Corps Base Quantico. Greenway, a photographer embedded with the Marines . North Vietnamese casualties were twice those of the Marines, but the number of killed and wounded on both sides was heavy. 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. [12]:59 On 6 February, the 1st Battalion captured the An Hoa Gate on the northwest corner of the Citadel and the 4th Battalion captured the southwest wall. With the building secured the Marines then methodically cleared out the spider-holes, shooting their occupants. He essentially made a memorial of each Marine by keeping a book in which he wrote down the names and dates of all Marines killed and injured during the battle. On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, United States troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr. carried out a massacre of about 500 unarmed men, women and children in the village. The PAVN-VC failed to hold the city or spark a general uprising, but they had undermined confidence in the Thiu-K government and the prospect of victory. [4]:176, At about 15:00, the ARVN 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment reached the 1st Division command post at the Mang Ca compound. Connecting the Citadel and new city were the Trng Tin Bridge (162805N 1073520E / 16.468N 107.589E / 16.468; 107.589), which carried Highway 1, and further west the Bach Ho rail bridge. The Marines together with five M48s from the 1st Tank Battalion would later be loaded onto Mike boats at the LCU ramp in southern Hu and ferried across to Mang Ca. The heavy damage was the result of the artillery, air, and mortar pounding the area received for 25 days while the Viet Cong/NVA held the area. . Marine units were located on the outskirts of the city to the south and west when they were attacked by the NVA Jan. 30 as part of the Tet Offensive. While PAVN-VC defeat was inevitable in the face of U.S. firepower, the failure to sever the PAVN-VC supply lines and isolate the battlefield meant that the battle lasted longer and was more costly to the ARVN and U.S. than was necessary. The Marines decided to withdraw. Afterward, massive reconstruction and rehabilitation had been undertaken to restore the precious historic relics in the ancient capital. February 1968. [18], On the morning of 22 February, the 1/7th Cavalry, remained in Thon Que Chu and Thon La Chu to mop up pockets of resistance while the remaining units under 3rd Brigade control began marching toward the Citadel. The 815th Battalion had been delayed because South Vietnamese paramilitaries had ambushed the battalion at a river crossing three kilometers south of the city. Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . The cavalrymen fought their way into the PAVN-occupied hamlet and found beneath its shattered remains a honeycomb of tunnels and bunkers and spent the rest of the day searching the ruins for survivors and combing through the adjacent cemetery, where the 806th Battalion had ambushed the ARVN 7th Airborne Battalion on 31 January. At dawn the only areas of the new city still under Allied control were the prison defended by a Hac Bao platoon; the Le Loi transportation camp; the Huang Giang Hotel; the MACV Compound; the communications facility; and the Navy loading dock. Both the Marine and the airmobile units operating near Hu were in a state of flux as the Tt holiday began. After a day of attacks the Marines withdrew to their night defensive positions. He has been involved in urban operations training for two decades and is an urban operations subject matter expert and urban warfare historian, having participated in, planned, executed, and intensively instructed on urban operations for the past seven years. The 1/5 Marines commander Major Robert Thompson ordered Company B up to relieve Company A and the advance continued slowly until it was halted by PAVN flanking fire from the Dong Ba Gate (162837N 1073459E / 16.477N 107.583E / 16.477; 107.583). Hue City Vietnam - Etsy Check out our hue city vietnam selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Two platoons successfully made their way to the other side. screened on 27 February 1968, Cronkite closed the report with the editorial comments: We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. Hue vietnam 1968 Stock Photos and Images. After marching southwest approximately 4 kilometers (2.5mi), the team concealed itself in some bushes near the river and waited. [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. The PAVN-VC lost somewhere between 1,042 and 5,133 killed, while Allied forces lost 668 dead and 3,707 wounded. The Marines eventually broke into the west building and cleared it room by room. The enemy usually pulls them all together and tries to build a buffer, said Christmas. The passing down of information from Marine to Marine is a cornerstone Marine training. [24], The PAVN-VC's actions were based on a series of orders issued by the PAVN High Command and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG). The operational plan was for the Marines to move west from Ty Lc and then turn south. [14]:140, Within the ARVN 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment and 2nd and 7th Airborne Battalions cleared out the north and western parts of the Citadel including the Chanh Tay Gate, while the 4th Battalion, 2nd Regiment moved south from Mang Ca towards the Imperial Palace, killing over 700 PAVN-VC by 4 February. [9]:269, About 11:00, Company H, 2/5 Marines, crossed the An Cuu Bridge in an armed convoy. Battle of Hue During the TeT Offensive - Vietnam 1968. The ARVN 3rd Regiment launched a night attack along the southern wall of the Citadel. This was only beaten back with heavy artillery fire. PAVN forces blocked the 1st and 4th Battalions of the regiment, operating to the southeast, as they attempted to reinforce the units in Hu. VIETNAM Hue is home to a plethora of intricate imperial structures, such as the Meridian Gate Matthew Pike Writer 26 October 2021 View From 1802 to 1945, Hue was the capital of Vietnam and home to the Nguyen dynasty. Shortly after 04:30, a column of M41 tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) left the compound and headed up Highway 1. The Battle of Hue City occurred during the Tet Offensive, where. 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]:18990 After resting his men at the Provincial Headquarters, Cheatham resumed his advance west towards the Phu Cam Canal, then swung south and east to clear the area with the canal to his right. Sir, Ill roll my gun right out the door (a 106mm mortar launcher with 50 caliber attached), Ill turn my gun, Ill fire it, sir you know how big the round is. We take care of civilians, added Downs. The Marine Corps' military operations in urban terrain doctrine recognizes that tactical success does not necessarily translate to strategic victory the Battle of Hu in the Vietnam War, when Marines defeated an enemy that sought to put up a good fight but never expected to win. Company D was also engaged by PAVN in the village of Lieu Coc and forced to withdraw. The patrol commander reported by radio what he had seen, Trng immediately dispatched a light observation airplane from the Ty Lc Airfield to look for the enemy force. Death in the Citadel: U.S. Marines in the Battle for Hue City, 31 January to 2 March 1968 (2017). Significant architectural element in Hue, the bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the French structural engineer famous for Paris's Eiffel Tower, and was completed in 1899 by the French Colonial government. Half the population lived within the Citadel in 1 or 2 story houses surrounded by stone walls. [9]:28086 After securing the Jeanne d'Arc High School, Company A, 1/1 Marines recaptured the Le Loi Elementary School. The year 1968 marked a crucial turning point in the Vietnam War. This book is the capstone volume of the entire series in that 1968, as the title indicates, was the defining year of the war. 5) Walk Around the Thien Mu Pagoda. The PAVN-VC forces rapidly occupied most of the city. [4]:168, South of the river a reinforced company of the 2nd Sapper Battalion launched a simultaneous attack on the MACV Compound in the new city. [4]:199 On 14 February the Marines resumed their attack supported by Marine and Navy gun fire and Marine close air support. [9]:370, On 11 February Company H, 2/5 Marines secured a bridge over the Phu Cam Canal (162725N 1073441E / 16.457N 107.578E / 16.457; 107.578) and the block on the opposite side of the canal. 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. Finally, a small detachment of U.S. Navy personnel was stationed at a boat ramp just north of the MACV Compound. [9]:525 Estimates of Vietnamese civilians killed by the PAVN-VC at Hu range from 2,800 (based on bodies exhumed from mass graves) to almost 6,000. The last pocket of PAVN at the southwest corner of the Citadel was eliminated in an attack by the 4th Vietnamese Marine Battalion in the early hours of 25 February. 23 February saw little progress, prompting a frustrated Abrams to suggest that the Vietnamese Marine Corps should be dissolved. 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. Research Library open Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am-5:00 pm, EMAIL: Info@VirginiaHistory.org As they moved closer to La Chu, PAVN resistance increased and it was obvious that this was a major PAVN base. 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. [14]:2930 East of the MACV Compound, a heavy weapons team from the 2nd Sapper Battalion attempted to destroy the communications facility. The attackers were engaged by a machine gunner in a guard tower and troops in a bunker who were able to hold off the attack for long enough to allow others in the compound to form a cohesive defense. But as the intensity of the battle increased, the policy was eliminated. Redding's experience in Hue began soon after the city fell. The company spent the better part of the afternoon trying to reach the isolated communications site. Approximately 10.5 miles north of the city in Thua Thien Province, the ARVN 1st Airborne Task . [9]:519. Its not just the round but all the debris that comes off of it. Hue was a city of cultural influence, religious importance, and architectural significance and as a result was deeply revered by generations of the Vietnamese people. But, both generals agreed that you learn from those mistakes and you have to live with them. The Marines were now only 100 meters from the south wall of the Citadel. [4]:216 It was estimated that it would have taken at least 16 battalions to establish an effective cordon around Hu, at this time there were only 30 battalions available in all of I Corps. The General Offensive was to comprise conventional and guerilla military action aimed primarily at the "puppet" South Vietnamese military and government, attempting to destroy their legitimacy among the South Vietnamese population. Hue 1968 is also an exploration of what is common to all wars: humankind's capacity for violence, cruelty, self-sacrifice, bravery, cowardice and love. Marine. Youve got to protect your corpsman, said Downs. Bowden has also written for Talk, Men's Journal, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and Playboy, among others. 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. They advanced along parallel tracks, with the 5/7th Cavalry, following the course of Highway 1; the 2/501st Infantry, searching the central route; and the 2/12th Cavalry, sweeping the area to the south. The highway also provided access to the Perfume River (Vietnamese: Sng Hng or Hng Giang) at the point where the river ran through Hu, dividing the city into northern and southern parts. The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. 10 PAVN/VC Battalions with 8,000 Communist soldiers. The imperial city of Hue has for centuries played a significant role in Vietnam. Tolson's plan called for an air assault by two battalions of the 3rd Brigade northwest of Hu. The 4th Battalion, 3rd Regiment, south of the river, crossed the river and assaulted the Thuong Tu Gate near the eastern corner of the Citadel. Power and water supply into the city had been cut off, and people were aware that the ARVN and U.S. forces would soon counterattack. Y Young Ki Moon Hue city 1968 Usmc Marines Staff Sergeant Korean War 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. During the next five years the battalion participated in combat operations in Hue city, Que Son, Phu Bai, Dong Ha and Phu Loc. [4]:167 At 04:40 sappers captured the Huu Gate and the command group of the PAVN 6th Regiment entered the Citadel. , nor endorse or advocate material that is published other side the 818th had! 2/5 Marines, crossed the an Cuu bridge in an armed convoy was stationed at a ramp. Only beaten back with heavy artillery fire city fell of La Chu 2... 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