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21 January-8 April 1968Reputable source · 2 sourcesDebated

The Siege of Khe Sanh

For 77 days, outnumbered Marines hold a remote combat base while the country watches for another Dien Bien Phu.

On the timeline · around 21 January-8 April 1968 · The American WarThe American WarVietnamization and WithdrawalThe Siege of Khe Sanh196719681969

Quick facts

Duration
77 days, 21 January-8 April 1968
US/ARVN forces
26th Marines, 37th ARVN Ranger Battalion
Bombing
14,000+ tons dropped, Operation Niagara

What happened

Beginning 21 January 1968, roughly 6,000 US Marines and South Vietnamese Rangers at the Khe Sanh Combat Base in far northwestern South Vietnam came under siege from an estimated two to three divisions of North Vietnamese troops. The attack opened when NVA forces overran Hill 861 outside the base and shelled its ammunition dump, destroying much of its above-ground stores. Resupplied only by air for much of the 77-day siege, the Marines endured long stretches of boredom broken by intense artillery bombardment, while US aircraft dropped more than 14,000 tons of bombs on the surrounding hills under Operation Niagara. It has long been debated whether North Vietnam intended Khe Sanh as a decisive battle on the model of Dien Bien Phu or a diversion timed to draw US attention away from the Tet Offensive launched a week later. The siege ended in April 1968 when Operation Pegasus relieved the base; it was closed and abandoned by US forces that July.

Why it matters

Khe Sanh became the story the American public followed most closely in early 1968, and its uncertain purpose, was it Westmoreland's Dien Bien Phu or Hanoi's decoy, only deepened the credibility gap that Tet would blow open weeks later.

How we know

The Texas Tech Vietnam Center's exhibit and archived oral histories with Marines who fought there document the siege's day-by-day course; the debate over its strategic purpose remains unresolved among historians.

Sources

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