by Robert Pisor
Evans, Rowland and Novak, Robert. “Policy Makers and Generals Worry Over Massive Buildup at Khe Sanh.” Washington Post, January 31, 1968.
Farrer, Fred. “Dak To Called Start of Great Defeat for Commies,” Chicago Tribune, November 23, 1967.
“Force at Khe Sanh,” New York Times, January 26, 1968.
Frankel, Max. “White House: Ultimate Vietnam Command Post,” New York Times, February 10, 1968.
“General Westmoreland Shift Held Unlikely,” Washington Post, February 6, 1968.
“General Says U.S. Can Hold Khe Sanh,” AP. New York Times, 25 March, 1968.
“General’s Biggest Battle, The,” Time, February 16, 1968.
“General’s Illusions, The,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 27, 1968.
Gould, Jack. “U.S. is Losing War in Vietnam, N.B.C. Declares,” New York Times, March 12, 1968.
Greene, Jerry. “Johnson Turns the Dotted Line into a Hot Spot,” New York Daily News, February 6, 1968.
Harwood, Richard. “The War Just Doesn’t Add Up,” Washington Post, September 3, 1967.
“History Book Battle: The Red Defeat at Khe Sanh,” U.S. News & World Report, May 6, 1968.
“How the Battle for Khe Sanh was Won,” Time, April 17, 1968.
Just, Ward. “Khe Sanh: Holding the End of the Line,” Washington Post, January 31, 1968.
Kann, Peter R. “Value and Price in Battle of Dak To,” Wall St. Journal, November 28, 1967.
Kelly, Orr. “The Enemy in Trouble—18 Months and No Big Victory,” Washington Star, November 8, 1967.
________ . “In a Military Sense, the War is Just About Won,” Washington Star, November 7, 1967.
________ . “Loc Ninh Emerging as Significant Fight,” Washington Star, November 21, 1967.
________ . “U.S. Watches Buildup Near Outpost,” Washington Star, January 21, 1968.
“Khe Sanh: U.S. Girds for Red Blow,” U.S. News & World Report, February 26, 1968.
“Khe Sanh: 6000 Marines Dug in for Battle,” Life, February 9, 1968.
Lescaze, Lee. “Dak To Battleground: The Enemy’s Choice,” Washington Post, November 25, 1967.
________ . “Reds Edging Closer to Base at Khe Sanh,” Washington Post, January 24, 1968.
Martin, Robert P. “Million Americans Soon in Vietnam?” U.S. News & World Report, March 18, 1968.
“Man on the Spot,” Newsweek, February 19, 1968.
Mohr, Charles. “Khe Sanh and Dien Bien Phu: A Comparison,” New York Times, March 7, 1968.
Mortimer, Edward. “Vets of Dien Bien Phu Appraise Khe Sanh,” Washington Post, February 14, 1968.
Perry, Merton. “The Dusty Agony of Khe Sanh,” Newsweek, March 18, 1968.
Potter, Phillip. “U.S. Ready for Showdown with Viet Reds at Dak To,” Baltimore Sun, November 15, 1967.
Roberts, Gene. “U.S. Command Sees Hue, Not Khe Sanh, as Foe’s Main Goal,” New York Times, March 7, 1968.
“Sees Hanoi Needing a Victory,” New York News, September 5, 1967.
Sheehan, Neil. “5,000 U.S. Marines Face 20,000 of Foe,” New York Times, February 23, 1968.
Taylor, Frederick. “The Eve of Battle,” Wall Street Journal, February 15, 1968.
Touhy, William. “Marines’ Leaders Disappoint U.S. Command,” Washington Post, March 3, 1968.
Walt, Lewis W. “Khe Sanh—the Battle That Had to be Won,” Reader’s Digest, August, 1970.
Weinraub, Bernard. “Tense Dak To G.I.s Hunt Elusive Foe,” New York Times, November 17, 1967.
________ . “U.S. Aides Say Khe Sanh Will be Held at All Costs,” New York Times, February 9, 1968.
Wilson, George C. “U.S. Bombing of Two Vietnams Tops Its World War II Drop in Europe,” Washington Post, December 3, 1967.
INDEX
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
A
Abrams, Creighton, 128, 187, 209, 272, 273
“A” camps, 68
A Company (U.S. Marines), 209–10
acoustic sensors, see sensor devices
Agent Blue, 54
Agent Orange, 53–54
Agent White, 54
Air Force, U.S.
French colonialists and, 80–81
intelligence missions of, 12, 18, 107–8
Marines aided by, 129–31
resupply missions of, 106, 215–22; see also Niagara
Ali, Muhammad, 174
Allen, Terry de la Mesa, Jr., 66
A Loui Special Forces camp, attack on (1966), 198
Althoff, David L., 233
ambushes, 81
of Bravo Company, 238–40
as enemy tactic, 10, 65–67
of GM 100, 45–46
on Hill 881 North, 10, 19–20, 135
of 175mm artillery convoy, 94, 119
precautions against, 66
as viewed by Westmoreland, 66
Anha, 265
anti-malaria drugs, 21, 47
Argo, Reamer, 144–46, 212
Army, U.S., 75; see also specific divisions
Marine rivalry with, 32, 129–31, 141, 209, 257
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), 36, 43, 56, 69, 72
in anti-government protests, 89, 134
at Khe Sanh (37th Ranger Battalion), 142, 238, 245–46, 277
Laos invaded by, 177
paralyzed by politics, 34, 39–40
in Pegasus (3rd Airborne Task Force), 255, 269
in Tet Offensive (1968), 184, 186, 188, 251
as viewed by Giap, 175
as viewed by Westmoreland, 34, 35, 134
Arnett, Peter, 73
A Shau Special Forces camp, attack on (1966), 69, 198
Asprey, Robert B., 285
B
Baig, Mirza M., 106, 194, 195
Ball, Roland R., 240
“baseballs” (grenades), 17
Baskin, Richard W., 93
Battle of Dienbienphu, The, (Roy), 123–24
beehive rounds, 69
Bell, Van D. “Ding Dong,” 89
Ben Suc, evacuation and destruction of, 56
“Blue Dragon” brigade, 32
bo doi, see Viet Minh
body counts
accuracy of, 60, 279–81
bookkeeping methods for, 275–81
kill ratios and, 73, 275
as ludicrous concept, 280–81
boot camps, ambush detection courses in, 66
Bordeauducq, Madame, 82, 83, 265
Bradley, Omar, 43
Bravo Company (U.S. Marines)
ambush of, 238–41
detonation of stored ammunition and, 117–18
revenge raid of, 258
Breeding, Earle G., 195–96, 235
Brindley, Tom, 19, 22–27
Brownfield, A. R., 71
Bru Montagnards, 80–81, 84–86, 89, 91, 99, 101, 103, 210, 211, 265
civilian casualties among, 92, 278
Marines’ rapport with, 92
naiveté of, 85, 87
resettlement of, 84–85
U.S. military aided by, 87–88, 106, 199, 201, 206
written language devised for, 85–88
B-52 Stratofortresses, 41, 43, 68, 137
close-in bombing missions of, 241, 243, 245
enemy intelligence on strikes of, 262
in Niagara, 127–28, 227, 228
in strike aimed at Giap, 147
Buddhists, 39, 89
Budge, Larry, 123
Buffington, Niles B., 102
C
Ca Lu, 81, 270, 271
Cambodia, 45, 63
NVA bases in, 40
Ca Montagnards, 210
camouflage, 12, 13, 65, 172
Campbell, Ronald W., 119
Camp Carroll, 105, 112, 136, 196
Can Ranh Bay, 221
Cao Bang, battle at (1950), 163
Carroll, John S., 273–74
Castagna, Edward, 226
casualties, 76, 252; see also body counts; specific battles
attrition strategy and, 63–64, 67, 70–71, 78, 139, 252–53
civilian, 61, 92, 278
on company-sized units, 22
disease-related, 21–22, 46–47
increase in (1967), 65–67
medical care and survival of, 46
Westmoreland’s tactics for reduction of, 46–47, 53
C-47 cargo planes, 53
Cedar Falls, 55–57, 59, 63
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 143
Central Security Service, 262
Chaisson, John A., 22, 71, 73, 130, 181–82, 208, 271
“Charlie,” origin of term, 15
Checkers, 32, 79, 134, 150
C-130 Hercules cargo planes, 57, 215
banned from landing at Khe Sanh, 218, 219
on LAPES missions, 218–19
shot down, 217–18
supplies parachuted from, 220
on temporary duty assignments, 217
Chiang Kai-shek, 83, 155, 158
China, Imperial, Vietnam invaded by, 46–47, 151–52, 153
China, People’s Republic of
intervention in Vietnam feared, 33, 252
in Korean War, 44–45
Vietnamese revolutionaries aided by, 155, 175
Chipyong-ni, battle at, 44–45
Christian, George, 273
Cicala, John A., Jr. (Motown Doc), 239
Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), 199, 200, 204, 205, 210, 211, 276
Clifford, Clark, 190
Cluster Bomb Units, 52, 154, 209
Cobras, 52
Communist Party of Vietnam, 155
Congress, U.S., 210, 275; see also House of Representatives, U.S.; Senate, U.S.
Con Thien, NVA attack on (1967), 67–68, 129–31, 181
Cool It, 234
Co Roc Mountain, 9
NVA rockets launched from, 112, 223, 231
C-123 Providers, 220
Cronkite, Walter, 243, 250
Cushman, Robert E., Jr., 97, 114, 128–29, 198, 225
abandonment of Khe Sanh and, 271, 272, 273
Westmoreland’s disputes with, 129–31, 208–9, 257
D
Dabney, Bill, 9, 12, 15, 16, 101, 108, 135, 231, 264, 267
in assault on Hill 881 North, 20, 22–28, 110–11, 265
background of, 20–21
on combat fatigue, 234–35
helicopter landings and, 129, 232–33
Hill 881 South held by, 105, 136
dac gong, 115, 171
Daisy Cutters, 52
Dak To Special Forces camp, NVA attack on (1967), 72–74, 103, 126, 139, 181
Da Nang, 89, 134, 199, 221
Date of Estimated Return from Over Seas (DEROS), 50, 173, 245
Davis, James T., 65
Deane, John R., Jr., 57
death
as viewed by North Vietnamese, 154, 168
as viewed by professional military men, 125
Death of a Thousand Cuts, 154
decorations, generous distribution of, 50
decoys, 66
defoliation, 46, 53–54
De-Militarized Zone (DMZ), 36, 88–89
enemy troop movements across, 112, 113
firepower in, 67–68
sensors proposed for, 107
DePuy, William, 57
Dienbienphu, 22, 103, 147
French defeat at, 124–26, 144, 145, 165–66, 241
French supply problems at, 132, 215, 219, 222
Johnson haunted by, 125–26, 138, 208
Khe Sanh compared to, 76–77, 104, 114, 123–27, 138, 140, 143–45, 212, 215, 219, 221, 226, 235, 241, 242, 246, 285
North Vietnamese sacrifices at, 127, 164
shelling of, 142–43, 229
terrain and vulnerability of, 104, 144
trenches dug at, 165, 240–42, 246
writings on, 123–24, 165
Dillon, John W., 118
Dixon, Jeane, 93
doc lap, 163
dogs, in ambush detection, 66
Dong Ha, 113, 139, 169
draftees, 191
performance of, 21
Duncan, David Douglas, 204
Dyrsen, Fred, 72
E
E Company (U.S. Marines), 195–96, 235
82nd Airborne Division, U.S., 189
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 43
Ellison, Robert, 246, 277
Emerson, Henry E., 124
English, Lowell R., 247
Esquire, 244–45
F
Fall, Bernard, 44, 123–24, 165
Firecracker, 205, 243
firepower, 14, 17, 41
ambush as tactic against, 65
bombing tonnages and, 52, 227
as central to Westmoreland’s tactics, 52–53, 68–73, 261
in DMZ, 67–68
as effective against VC, 59
first enemy uses of, 67–70, 72
as hallmark of U.S. military, 26–27
in reconnaissance missions, 22–23
restrictive “rules” on, 36–37, 40, 43–44
of U.S. foot soldiers, 53
Fire Support Control Center (FSCC), 195, 245
1st Air Cavalry Division, U.S., 41, 44, 45, 263, 269, 274
at Dak To, 71–73
deployed for Khe Sanh offensive, 32, 33
at Hue, 134, 184, 187
in Pegasus, 141, 146, 254, 256–58, 260
First Indochina War, 34, 35, 83, 89, 156–65, 168
French commitment in, 45, 158–59, 168
French defeats in, 44–47, 162–64; see also Dienbienphu
Giap’s preparations for, 156–58, 162–63
outbreak of, 161
studied by Westmoreland, 44–47, 144
1st Infantry Division, U.S., 66, 69
Flechettes, 69
Ford, Gerald, 31
“Fort Dix,” 90
4th Infantry Division, U.S., 71–72
Fowler, Henry, 253
France, 46–47; see also Dienbienphu; First Indochina War
colonial rule in Indochina of, 83, 155, 158–56
Fromme, Harry F., 19, 23–25, 27
Fulbright, J. W., 183
G
Giap, Vo Nguyen, 29, 60, 78, 134, 135, 143, 145, 149–77, 283–85
American enemy as assessed by, 169–70, 175–76
casualties inflicted on, 60–61, 64, 77, 167–68, 244
China and Soviet Union as viewed by, 175–76
combat spirit instilled by, 154–55, 157
defense tactics in North of, 149–50, 167–68
at Dienbienphu, 124–26, 143, 147, 164–65
education of, 154–56
in exile, 155–56, 175
jurisdiction of, 89
in mountain retreat (1947–1950), 162
people mobilized by, 149–50, 161–63, 167–68
People’s Army formed by, 150–51, 156–58
physical appearance of, 149, 176
political commitment as concern of, 162–63, 168
political enemies removed by, 160–61
protracted war espoused by, 163, 173–74, 176
as target of B-52 raid, 147
Tet(General) Offensive and, 177
Tet (General) Offensive and, 149–51, 174
troop movement tactics of, 154–55, 165, 173
on value of surprise, 177
Vietnamese military history studied by, 150–54
writings of, 44, 73, 151, 154–55
Goddard, Stephen L., 116
Goldberg, Arthur, 253, 280–81
Goldwater, Barry, 107
Green Berets, see Special Forces, U.S.
Greenland, B-52 crash in, 137
grenades, technological improvements in, 16–17
Groupement Mobile 100 (GM 100), 44–51
decimation of, 45–46
evacuation
of wounded by, 46
in Korea, 44
H
Haig, Alexander M., 59
Haiphong, bombing of, 166, 252
Hanna, Kenneth, 203
Hanoi
bombing of, 166, 252
Viet Minh attack on (1946), 161–62
war museum in, 153–54
Harkins, Paul D., 37, 40, 43, 51
Harsch, Joseph C., 248
Hay, John H., Jr., 59, 66
helicopters
Cobra, 52
counterfire measures for, 234
Huey “Hog,” 52–53
in recon missions, 22, 24
shelling of, 128, 129, 232–34
in supply line to hilltops, 129, 232–33
wounded evacuated by, 46, 232–33
Hell in a Very Small Place (Fall), 123, 165
Helms, Richard, 191
Highlands
ambushes in, 65, 66
French defeats in, 44–45
Tet Offensive in, 182
Hill 558, 106, 136
Hill 861, 12, 92, 106, 136
NVA assault on (1968), 111, 115–17, 121–22, 125, 171
Hill 950, 105, 136
NVA attack on (1967), 93
Hill 64, NVA assault on (1968), 209
Hill 875, battle on (1967), 72
Hill 861 Alpha, 136
NVA attack on (1968), 196
Hill Fights (1967), 13–15, 22, 92–93, 103, 111–12, 265–66
casualties in, 14–15
distorted reporting of, 15
equipment breakdowns in, 13, 14
NVA tactics in, 13, 92
U.S. firepower in, 14
Hill 881 North, 13
India Company assault on (1968), 20, 22–28, 110, 111, 264–66
NVA rockets launched from, 117, 223
patrols ambushed on, 10, 19–20, 135
revenge raid on, 264–65, 276
tunnels and caves under, 265–66
U.S. firepower available on, 17, 26–27
Hill 881 South, 9, 16, 27, 96, 116, 231–37, 264, 267
artillery on, 17, 26
combat fatigue on, 234
enemy artillery spotted from, 231
flag ceremonies on, 235
held by India Company, 105, 111
helicopter landings on, 129, 232–33
Marine post on, 13, 20, 111
NVA shelling of, 129, 231–33, 235
preemptive artillery strike at, 194
sniper fire at, 236–37
troop strength on, 105, 136
vulnerability of, 105
Ho Chi Minh, 151, 155, 160, 161, 171
commitment to struggle as concern of, 156–59
imprisoned in China, 155–57
mobilization order of (1966), 168
Ho Chi Minh Trail, 36, 107, 140, 149, 177
Hochmuth, Bruno, 101, 103
Holleder, Donald W., 66
Holt, James W., 201–2
Horseshoe, 231
House of Representatives, U.S., 253