Battle+of+Khe+Sanh

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 * The Battle of Khe Sanh**

Late January 1968, two North Vietnamese divisions began attacking the marine base at Khe Sanh with the idea of using its airstrips. Beginning on January 21, North Vietnamese began attacking Khe Sanh heavily, in fact, so heavily that the battles there have been compared to the battles at Dien Bien Phu. During these attacks, President Johnson was convinced Khe Sanh was the main objective for the communists, and that the signs of communism in urban areas were just diversions. Therefore he sent the order for more troops to be sent to the marine base. He was wrong. While there were 50,000 United States and South Vietnamese troops defending Khe Sanh, the communists launched a fierce attack all throughout South Vietnam. They attacked 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, 5 of 6 major cities, and more than two-dozen airfields and bases. A Viet Cong squad even penetrated the compound of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. This communist offensive was called the Tet Offensive. Luckily, the United States and South Vietnamese forces recovered well and struck back at the North Vietnamese communists. Because of poorly coordinated attacks by the North Vietnamese, they ended the communist threat while also holding the North Vietnamese back at Khe Sanh, which was very impressive, for the North Vietnamese troops at Khe Sanh outnumbered the defenders by 25,000! Two important operations made this victory possible for the U.S. troops, Operation Niagra and Operation Pegasus. Operation Niagra consisted of many United States planes that were meant to bomb the North Vietnamese troops. Operation Pegasus was a major counter-attack by marine, army, and South Vietnamese forces that was launched outside of the marine base. In March 1968, these forces finally broke through to the defenders at Khe Sanh, marking the beginning of the victory over the North Vietnamese siege troops. Opposite of what President Johnson said, it turned out that the Battle of Khe Sanh was a diversion for the Tet Offensive. After this incident, many politicians in Washington D.C anticipated another major attack on Khe Sanh, or further communist attacks on South Vietnamese provinces. Including all of the battles in the entire war, the Battle of Khe Sanh was by far one of the largest sieges by the North Vietnamese communists as it lasted 77 days. On July 5, 1968, Khe Sanh was abandoned; the United States army citing the vulnerability of the base to enemy artillery. However, closure permitted the 3rd Marine Division to construct mobile firebase operations along the northern border area. In 1971 it was reactivated, then abandoned again in 1972, then North Vietnamese troops took the base over in 1973 and used the airstrips for bombing raids.

Sources: "The Battle of Khe Sanh." Wikipedia. No place specified: GNU Free Documentation License. May 23, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh

"The Battle of Khe Sanh." World Book Encyclopedia. No place specified: World Book, Inc. 2007. No date specified. http://w.worldbookonline.com/wb/Media?id=bt169116&st=the+battle+of+khe+sanh