The Kings of the Nguyen Dynasty built their feudal capital along Hue's fertile riverbanks and atop its forested hills, but their imperial legacy is just one of many reasons to visit. for Advanced Operational Culture Lrng. Anyone in violation of that can be charged with a war crime. The lightly armored dusters did not provide as much armor as a tank, but they were effective. It helps him remember them. However, they were soon stopped by strong PAVN defenses; after two days the Vietnamese Marines had only advanced 400 meters. The human and material resources of the entire kingdom, which extended from the Chinese border to the Gulf of Siam, were rounded up for . [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. [9]:475[13]:45, On 21 February following intensive radar-guided airstrikes and artillery strikes, the four Cavalry battalions launched a four-pronged attack from the north, west and south on Que Chu and La Chu. The convoy was then turned around and sent towards Hu. Because of enemy mortaring of the LCU ramp in southern Hu, the allies had stopped all river traffic to the city. Some were marched north into captivity, while others were executed, including three West German doctors, two French Benedictine monks and two U.S. government employees. At 02:33, a signal flare lit up the night sky, and two battalions from the PAVN 6th Regiment attacked the western wall of the Citadel. Upon their flashlight signals, the 800th Battalion and several teams from the 12th Sapper Battalion rushed through the gate and headed northwest towards Ty Lc Airfield. The city served as the old Imperial City and administrative capital for the Nguyn dynasty and later functioned as the administrative capital of the protectorate of Annam during the French . You have to deal with it. This time they crossed the An Cuu Bridge into the new city. And more than a half century on, what lessons should we take from the battle as we prepare for a future of warfare that is increasingly likely to be urban? Whether you like it or not you are all leaders and someday, one way or another, you will be involved in urban operations, Christmas said. We take care of civilians, added Downs. Vietnamese young boys and girls fill sandbags. [9]:28086 After securing the Jeanne d'Arc High School, Company A, 1/1 Marines recaptured the Le Loi Elementary School. US Marines spent nearly a month fighting a brutal urban battle to retake the city which was 80% destroyed by the battle's end, according to H.D.S. 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. But as the intensity of the battle increased, the policy was eliminated. The offensive was an attempt to foment rebellion among. 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. [12]:27 The 1st Division's units were spread throughout I Corps, two battalions of the 3rd Infantry Regiment were west of Hu, one on a routine sweep mission and the other undergoing training at the Van Thanh center, while the remaining two battalions of the regiment were searching for the PAVN-VC near the coast southeast of Hu. The company spent the better part of the afternoon trying to reach the isolated communications site. The PAVN's Department of Warfare gives figures of 2,400 killed and 3,000 wounded from 30 January until 28 March. Joe Ronnie Hooper", "Command Chronology for period 1 February to 29 February 1968", "Communist political executions at Hue in the 1968 Tet Offensive", "Soldiers of North Vietnam strike a pose for her camera", "Who, What, When, Where, Why: Report from Vietnam by Walter Cronkite", "Chris Matthews invokes the 'if I've lost Cronkite' myth in NYT review", "The Grim Calculations of Retaking Fallujah", "Many U.S. The enemy was so close to us that when the round went up, it went up so high that we thought it was going to come down right on top of us.. On that first day, the two Marine companies in Hu had sustained casualties of 10 killed and 56 wounded. Cntr. An Ontos was brought forward to blast an entry into the building, but was disabled by a B-40 rocket. The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied the city of Hue . The Marines eventually broke into the west building and cleared it room by room. About mid-day, the PAVN continued to block any advance to the south. Nguyen Hue is now a walking street, where thousands of people get together every night for selfies and snacks. After the launch of the Tet Offensive campaign on January 30, 1968, in South Vietnam, a series of battles were fought between the southern Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and the Northern People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). At 05:00 on 24 February they raised the South Vietnamese flag on the Citadel flag tower and proceeded to secure the southern wall by 10:25. On 15 February Company D led the renewed attack against the Dong Ba Gate with Company C defending its flank. [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. In some of the buildings today, the remnants of the fight remain; there are pock marks in some of the buildings exteriors that were hit with machine gun fire and M16 bullets. Due to the Tt holidays, large numbers of ARVN forces were on leave and the city was poorly defended. [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. In one village, the troops dismounted and cleared the houses on either side of the main street before proceeding. They were to relieve a MACV Microwave/Tropo communications facility approximately 2.5km southeast of the MACV Compound surrounded by a VC force. [34][35] Both battles were fought in close quarters in an urban setting where the enemy ensconced itself in the midst of civilians. The Modern War Institute does not screen articles to fit a particular editorial agenda, nor endorse or advocate material that is published. [9]:33235 The Marines raised an American flag to celebrate their victory, but shortly thereafter were ordered to lower it, as according to South Vietnamese law, no American flag was permitted to be flown without an accompanying South Vietnamese flag. [9]:269 The battalion consolidated its night defensive positions and waited to renew its attack the following day. Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . The Army gunners and the Marine Ontos quickly responded. PAVN forces blocked the 1st and 4th Battalions of the regiment, operating to the southeast, as they attempted to reinforce the units in Hu. Hue City - MCA HIGH INTENSITY URBAN FIGHTING IN THE MIDST OF A JUNGLE GUERRILLA WAR. For his actions Ferguson was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor. On Jan. 31, 1968, communist forces had taken control of Hue, the third largest city in South Vietnam. At 10:45 on 11 February Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines was airlifted aboard Marine CH-46s into Mang Ca, but enemy fire forced several of the helicopters to return to Phu Bai. Gravel met with Army Colonel George O. Adkisson, the senior U.S. advisor to the ARVN 1st Division. 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. 14 Feb 1968, Hue, South Vietnam --- A flowered arm sling is worn by a wounded U.S Marine in this makeshift communications #vietnamwarfootageandstories Source: Bettmann/CORBIS G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #62 G guest0001 Guest Aug 9, 2020 #63 US Marines fighting in Hue, Vietnam. (p. 192) Fur-ther, the National Security Agency had detected an unusually large number of messages among Com-munist units between 17 and 25 January 1968, 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 . Bowden has also written for Talk, Men's Journal, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and Playboy, among others. This pictorial is a testament to their will and their sacrifice. The Battle of Hue City, Vietnam has come to be regarded as one of the most infamous urban battles in Marine Corps history. [12]:38, A company each from the 815th and 818th Battalions entered the western edge of the new city around 04:50, eighty minutes behind schedule. The 806th Battalion, which was dug into a cemetery along Highway 1 near the western corner of the Citadel, dispatched a group of soldiers to capture the An Hoa Bridge, driving off the RF detachment guarding the bridge and opening a line of communication with the other PAVN-VC in the Citadel. [12]:29 The PAVN B5 Front created a special logistical and administrative zone known as the Hu City Front to manage the upcoming battle. The armored troop at Tam Thai was first to respond to Trng's order. 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. Its not just the round but all the debris that comes off of it. That evening Company B was replaced by Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. [13]:43[14]:29. The change is incredible, and yet you can still make out familiar sights. If you get emotional about it you wont.. The initial press statements by MACV played down the events in Hu, claiming that only a part of the city had fallen to a small enemy force, that the city would soon be fully restored to South Vietnamese Government control and that the main attack would be directed against Khe Sanh. attacked the compound from the east, but failed to penetrate the compound. [16] While a new supply port was being constructed on the coast, the Division relied on the Marine supply base at Tn M and supply convoys along Highway 1 from Da Nang. He led the Marine push to capture the Citadel on the north side of the Hue river. Sightseeing can include the ornate Imperial Citadel, colorful Thanh Toan Bridge, royal tombs and the Forbidden Purple City. 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. 3 kilometers (1.9mi) southwest of the Citadel, on the north bank of the Perfume River, was the Van Thanh divisional training center and a two-gun detachment of 105mm howitzers. The Hu City Sapper Unit and the 12th Sapper Battalion were also located in Base Area 114. Over the next month, they were gradually driven out during intense house-to-house fighting led by the Marines and ARVN. After failing to take Mang Ca and the MACV Compound in their initial assaults, the PAVN-VC did not attempt to seize them again, instead keeping them under fire and generally adopting a defensive posture, this tactical mistake allowed the ARVN and U.S. to bring in the reinforcements that would eventually clear the city. In spite of the beating they took in November, they will continue to assert they repelled the initial attack and fought well thereafter. [4]:171, Up to this point the fighting for Hu had been entirely a South Vietnamese affair. Inguyen Anh, whose regal name was Gia Long, founded the new citadel of Hue in 1802. To date it is the only U.S. Navy ship named after a battle in the Vietnam War.[37]. [21][4]:216[22], The PAVN-VC were generally greeted with little enthusiasm by the population of Hu. [4]:21113, On 28 February 1/5 Marines and 2/5 Marines launched an operation to the east of Hu to try to cut off any PAVN forces moving from Hu towards the coast. 23 February saw little progress, prompting a frustrated Abrams to suggest that the Vietnamese Marine Corps should be dissolved. 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. One of my more memorable experiences during the monthlong battle for Hue City, February 1968, was when my assistant machine-gunner, Marcus, and I were ordered to stay behind on the enemy's side of . On the 31st, two of its battalions, the 2nd and 3rd, advanced east from encampments southwest of the city along the northern bank of the Perfume River, but PAVN defensive fire forced them to fall back. That young Marine of yours, that corporal who has always been the joy of everybody and always has a joke, gets killed next to you. Christmas was leading Hotel Company into Hue City from the south. The Allies did not send ground forces to investigate the incident, and no evidence exists that it generated much concern in any of the allied headquarters. The lead elements of the southern wing, the 1st Sapper Battalion and part of the 804th Battalion, arrived two hours ahead of schedule, which meant that they reached the crossing well before the sun had set. In mid-morning the 5/7th Cavalry, came under heavy fire from an estimated company-size force who occupied the hamlet of Thon An, approximately one kilometer from the An Hoa Bridge. [7]:49 Mark Bowden suggests that PAVN-VC anger at the lack of enthusiasm among the population of Hu may have fuelled the purges, particularly as defeat loomed closer. The Rangers swept the island as thousands of local residents came out of hiding and ran through their ranks to escape the battle. MAIL: PO Box 7311, Richmond, Virginia 23221, Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret.). The imperial city of Hue has for centuries played a significant role in Vietnam. A U.S. Army UH-1 Huey piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Frederick Ferguson landed in the compound and rescued the crew under fire. 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. Supplies would remain tight for the next week as the Division's helicopters tried to build up a reserve of materiel. A rotating group of staff personnel from the compound was stationed at Trng's headquarters day and night. By dawn, our troops were still unable to advance". The offensive ended in crippling military defeat for the attackers, and yet the strength of their assault led to a political setback for the United States, as critics at home gained traction and public support for the war eroded. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. I know how to do this, said the lance corporal according to Downs. 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. Of course, the U.S. Marines were proud of their achievement in retaking the territory of the city. He led an armored column toward Hu, but like the other South Vietnamese units, found it impossible to break through. and, more recently, The Finish: "The Killing of Osama bin Laden", and Hue 1968: A Turning point of the American war in Vietnam. One company occupied a six-way intersection on Highway 1 a few blocks southeast of the MACV Compound to prevent Allied mechanized forces from entering the city. At about 15:15 the Marines managed to make their way toward the MACV Compound. 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. They dropped their cargoes in a large lagoon for local forces to retrieve. After a day of attacks the Marines withdrew to their night defensive positions. 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. The Terrible Toll. Meanwhile, the team of thirty sappers who had scaled the northwestern wall overpowered the guards standing watch at the An Hoa and Hau Gates, then opened their doors to the infantry company waiting outside. [12]:69, On 16 February the 1/5 Marines advanced approximately 140 meters for a cost of seven Marines killed and 47 wounded and 63 PAVN killed. Valerie OBerry/CommStrat Office Make An Appointment to View Photographs & Museum Objects, Order Photocopies & Digital Reproductions, The Garden Club of Virginia Historic Restorations Project, Confederate Memorial Literary Society (CMLS) Image Collection, Major Business Record Collections at the Virginia Historical Society, Basic Virginia business and economic history bibliography and online resources, Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names, Virginia's Civil War: A Guide to Manuscripts at the Virginia Historical Society, Civil War in Virginia Published & Primary Sources, Index to African American material in the broadside collection, Index to African American material in the sheet music collection, Manuscript Collections for the Environmental History Resources Guide, Other Related Collections for the Environmental History Resources Guide, Virginia Historical Society Gift Calculator, Tax Information & Charitable Accountability, The Battle of Hu City, South Vietnam, 1968. 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