On 21 January 1968 North Vietnamese troops attacked Hill 861, an outpost of the US Marine base at Khe Sanh in the far north-west of South Vietnam, and opened a bombardment of the base itself. It was the start of the siege of Khe Sanh, which held the attention of the American public for roughly eleven weeks, until a relief force reached the base in April. Whether Hanoi meant Khe Sanh to be a second Dien Bien Phu or a diversion from the Tet Offensive is still debated.
A base on the edge of Laos
Khe Sanh Combat Base stood on Route 9 in Quang Tri Province, close to the Laotian border and south of the Demilitarized Zone. According to the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, US Special Forces first built an airfield there in 1962, and Marines took over the base in 1966. The same source describes the Hill Fights of spring 1967, when Marines drove the North Vietnamese from the hills north-west of the base.1
By January 1968 the 26th Marines under Colonel David E. Lownds held the base and its hill outposts. Opposite them stood elements of several North Vietnamese divisions; Texas Tech lists parts of the 304th, 320th, 324th and 325th Divisions.2
The opening blow
The night of 20 to 21 January began the siege. Texas Tech says that a North Vietnamese defector had confirmed on 20 January that an attack was coming, and that about 300 soldiers assaulted Hill 861, held by Company K, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, that evening. According to Texas Tech, the Marines held the hill after hand-to-hand fighting.3
Artillery, rockets and mortars then struck the main base and hit its principal ammunition dump. History.com says the explosion destroyed 1,500 tons of ammunition. On the morning of 21 January North Vietnamese troops also attacked the Huong Hoa district headquarters in Khe Sanh village. Texas Tech adds that Route 9 was cut, leaving the garrison dependent on supply by air, and that it was reinforced by the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines on 22 January and the ARVN 37th Ranger Battalion on 27 January.4
Eleven weeks under fire
General William Westmoreland answered with Operation Niagara, a massive air campaign around the base. Texas Tech counts about 59,500 tons of bombs dropped by B-52 bombers alone. Texas Tech describes cargo planes landing or parachuting supplies through fog, monsoon weather and shellfire. The heaviest bombardment, according to Texas Tech, came on 23 February, when 1,307 rounds fell on the base.5
In early April Operation Pegasus, led by the 1st Air Cavalry Division with Marine and South Vietnamese units, pushed along Route 9. Texas Tech says that troops of the 1st Air Cavalry reached the base on 8 April, while History.com dates the lifting of the siege to 6 April, when the cavalry linked up with Marines south of the airstrip. The Tet Offensive, launched at the end of January, is covered in our article on Tet.6
Counting the cost
The casualty figures are unresolved. The often quoted Marine total of 205 killed covers Operation Scotland, which began on 1 November 1967 and ran to the end of March, so it includes losses from before the siege but leaves out others, such as men killed in aircraft flying into the base. The Marines recorded a body count of 1,602 North Vietnamese, but estimated total enemy dead at 10,000 to 15,000.7
Only weeks after the relief, the base was given up. Texas Tech says that Westmoreland's successor, General Creighton Abrams, decided the base was no longer needed and that it had been destroyed and evacuated by 6 July 1968. For the full story, read our article on the Battle of Khe Sanh.8
