Combat· Vietnam War
First Battle of Khe Sanh
The First Battle of Khe Sanh, often called the Hill Fights, was the opening major struggle for the high ground around the remote Marine combat base in the northwest corner of South Vietnam, near the Laotian border.
When Marines moved to occupy the dominating hills overlooking the base, they collided with well-entrenched North Vietnamese regulars who had quietly fortified the heights, touching off weeks of savage fighting for the hill masses. The Marines assaulted the enemy's bunkers and trench lines up steep, jungled slopes against determined defenders, taking heavy casualties before securing the commanding ground. The battle revealed the strength of the North Vietnamese presence in the area and the strategic importance both sides attached to Khe Sanh, foreshadowing the far larger siege that would grip the base the following year. It was an early demonstration that the fight for the northern frontier would be a conventional and costly one.
Engagements in this conflict (2)
Record no. 673