The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in the Khe Sanh area of northwestern Quảng Trị Province, Republic of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The main US forces defending Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) were two regiments of the United States Marine Corps supported by elements from the United States Army and the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as a small number of Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops. These were pitted against two to three divisional-size elements of the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
The Battle of Huế, also called the siege of Huế, was a major military engagement in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. After initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the combined South Vietnamese and American forces gradually recaptured the city over one month of intense fighting. The battle was one of the longest and bloodiest of the war, and the battle negatively affected American public perception of the war.
Da Nang Air Base (1930s–1975) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. During the Vietnam War (1959–1975), it was a major base with United States Army, United States Air Force (USAF), and United States Marine Corps (USMC) units stationed there. Air Vietnam also used the facility from 1951 to 1975 for civilian domestic and international flights within Southeast Asia.
The Kit Carson Scouts belonged to a special program initially created by the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War involving the use of former Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) personnel as intelligence scouts for American infantry units. VC and PAVN combatants who defected and became aligned with the South Vietnamese government were known as Hồi Chánh, a term loosely translated as "members who have returned to the righteous side". Only a very small number of these Hồi Chánh were selected, trained, and deployed with the U.S. Marines and later also other American and Allied (non-Vietnamese) infantry units between 1966 and 1972.
Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War.
The Vietnamese Rangers (Vietnamese: Biệt Động Quân; Chữ Hán: 別動軍), commonly known as the ARVN Rangers or Vietnamese Ranger Corp (VNRC), were the light infantry of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Trained and assisted by American Special Forces and Ranger advisers, the Vietnamese Rangers infiltrated beyond enemy lines in search and destroy missions. Initially trained as a counter-insurgency light infantry force by removing the fourth company each of the existing infantry battalions, they later expanded into a swing force capable of conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations, and were relied on to retake captured regions. Later during Vietnamization the Civilian Irregular Defense Group program was transferred from MACV and integrated as Border Battalions responsible for manning remote outposts in the Central Highlands.
The 21st Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN)—the army of the nation state of South Vietnam that existed from 1959 to 1975, was part of the IV Corps that oversaw the southernmost region of South Vietnam, the Mekong Delta. The 21st Division was based in Chương Thiện Province, the southernmost province in the whole country, in an area dominated by jungles and swamps.
The 2nd Marine Infantry Division, also known as Blue Dragon Division, is an infantry division of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
The year 1968 saw major developments in the Vietnam War. The military operations started with an attack on a US base by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) on January 1, ending a truce declared by the Pope and agreed upon by all sides. At the end of January, the PAVN and VC launched the Tet Offensive.
The inauguration of Richard Nixon in January led to a reevaluation of the U.S. role in the war. U.S. forces peaked at 543,000 in April. U.S. military strategy remained relatively unchanged from the offensive strategy of 1968 until the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May which led to a change a more reactive approach. The U.S. and South Vietnam agreed on a policy of Vietnamization with South Vietnamese forces being expanded and equipped to take over more of the ground combat from the departing Americans which began to withdraw in late June without any reciprocal commitment by the North Vietnamese. The morale of U.S. ground forces began to fray with increasing racial tensions and the first instances of fragging and combat refusal. The antiwar movement in the U.S. continued to grow and public opinion turned increasingly antiwar when the Mỹ Lai massacre was revealed in November.
Happy Valley was the name given by US Marines to a valley southwest of Danang in Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam
The 304 Division is an infantry division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). It was established in January 1950 at Thanh Hoa.
An Hòa Combat Base is a former U.S. Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base west of Hội An in Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam.
Red Beach Base Area is a complex of former U.S. Marines, Navy and Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) logistics and support bases northwest of Danang.
Chu Lai Base Area is a former U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base in Chu Lai in central Vietnam.
Firebase Fuller is a former U.S. Marine Corps, Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) firebase in central Vietnam.
The 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was a United States Marine Corps unit.
Hill 327 is a former U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base southwest of Da Nang in central Vietnam. The base was established on a ridgeline 4 km west of Da Nang Air Base.
Operation Jeb Stuart was a U.S. Army operation during the Vietnam War that took place in Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Provinces from 21 January to 31 March 1968. The original operation plan to attack People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) base areas was disrupted by the Tet Offensive and instead it saw the U.S. Army units fighting in the Battle of Quang Tri and the Battle of Huế.
The attacks on Da Nang, were a series of attacks in the Tet Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. The attacks were repulsed by combined United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) forces with the PAVN/VC suffering heavy losses.
