Khe Sanh

[LAH]

The battle began on this day, 1968 with a firefight involving the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines and a North Vietnamese battalion. It lasted for roughly 66 days. Anyone here take part in this?

[William Yanda]

No, but I heard about it almost every time we marched in Army Basic Training, Spring 1971.

[Kraschenbirn]

Yup! I was crewchief for 8th Combat Engineers (1st Cav Div) Command & Control aircraft. At the end of March, '68, we flew the first Army support team into Khe Sanh in preparation for Operation Pegasus (1-15 April, '68) and, for the next three weeks, flew direct support for the Engineers and SeaBees reopening Highway 9 from Dong Ha to Khe Sanh. It was what we called 'ash & trash', hauling whatever needed to be moved: survey parties, demo teams, heavy equipment parts, mail, casualty evac, etc.

Bill

[richhodg66]

Too young, but just wanted to say thanks to all you guys who went when duty called and when it wasn't popular to do so.

[JBinMN]

I did not take part, but it is a part of USMC history.
It is/was taught in boot camp as one of the battles that is to be remembered as a representation of the USMC , "Do, or Die!" attitude during the VN era. The NVA wanted another "Dien Bien Phu", but did not get what they wanted...

Credit to the other US Military outfits that supported the base & those US Marines there at that base & the surrounding area is due. It is well worthy of remembrance , IMO, & Thanks! for bringing it up as a topic!!
:)

Here is a good read ( .pdf file) about the upcoming events & the battle) :
http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/US%20Marines%20In%20Vietnam%20The%20Defining%20Yea r%201968%20%20PCN%2019000313800_5.pdf

Further readin if you would like to know more about that year(1968):

http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/US%20Marines%20In%20Vietnam%20The%20Defining%20Yea r%201968%20%20PCN%2019000313800_6.pdf

[Rick N Bama]

I wasn't there, but I was in Vietnam at the time. When it started I was TDY from Tan Son Nhut to Phan Rang. The Aircraft activity at PR increased about 100%.

BTW, Khe Sanh is where the AF learned to drop cases of Eggs from the rear of a C-130 flying about 5' off the ground without breaking any. Yes fresh Eggs were delivered to KS. Probably not many, but they did get some from time to time.

[LAH]

Amazing stuff here. Thank you guys for what you did. God Bless. Two locals here were there after the fact to help protect those who rebuilt.

[ARKLITE881South]

It was 77 days, i was in Khe Sanh first, then up to HIll 881 South, India Co. 3rd Batt 26th Marines. I was one of the very fortunate ones. We lost 7 helicopters on the Hill the first month.

[ARKLITE881South]

It was 77 days, i was in Khe Sanh first, then up to HIll 881 South, was with India Co. 3rd Batt 26th Marines. I was one of the very fortunate ones. We lost 7 helicopters on the Hill the first month. should add, ''We'' landed on Hill 881 South 12-26-67 and left the Hill 4-18-68.

Sorry about the double post.

[nekshot]

I thank all of you who served. The draft stopped a couple of month before I would have had to enlist and with the raunchy atitude nobody was signing up that I knew. My folk were very sympathetic of the troops but very ticked off at Johnsons tight hold over the military!

[shdwlkr]

Was not in the military when Khe Sanh event was going on but we were told when the Marines needed help they called on Army Rangers to come to their aide. That was in 1970 Fort Jackson, South Carolina Airborne Ranger Fort back then, lots of running not much food as I was considered a fat boy 6 foot 4 inches and 265 pounds, left there a few months later at a nice 178 pounds amazing how the Army could trim you down in just 4 months went on to become a Combat Engineer Site Chief still pick on a few of my Marine friends that when in trouble call the Army we get a good laugh out that as we realize that when in a fight all that matters is who has your back not which branch of the military they belong too

[Lon246]

HMM-163. H-34 pilot. The "Evil Eyes". In and out of Khe Sanh, the hills, Cam Lo, Con Thein, The Rockpile, and well, all of I Corps including some Recon Extracts and Medevacs in places where humans weren't meant to be. Left Quang Tri in Mar '68, the end of my second tour.

[Blanket]

Not me but my cousin was at the SF base there

[LAH]

Great men among us. And thank all of you.

[jaysouth]

I was air operations NCO in the 1st Bn, 8th Cav, 1st cav division. I did not get a whole night's sleep for the month preceding Operation Pegasus planning the air assault. We were attached to the 3d bde and and went in of the 2d day of the air operation. We landed on a mountain top about 3 km SE of the marine base and set up our artillery battery and battalion operations center.

The Marines had been besieged at their base for over three months with an estimated 20,000 NVA troops surrounding them and attacking daily. By the end of day three of our relief operation, we could not find anyone to fight. They disappeared over the border because they could not fight our airmobile concept.

The whole debacle was caused by the Marines fighting WWII over again and the incompetence of westmoreland and his toady staff. It is a disgrace that we hung that many US Marines out in a fixed base that became the biggest artillery/mortar/ rocket impact area on earth with out adequate planning or support. I have tremendous respect for individual Marines, but their brass hats didn't have a clue how to fight the NVA or interdict the southward flow of supplies.

It was a terrible waste of young american lives and from a global perspective, a total debacle.

[Plate plinker]

Much respect and appreciation for all our Vietnam veterans. Such a raw deal for so many. I always enjoy when I get the pleasure to meet and shoot with this group of men.

[eck0313]

The last picture of Westmoreland I saw had him wearing a US Army uniform. He commanded US forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. Blaming the Marine Corps leadership for carrying out Westmoreland’s direction is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?

[Plate plinker]

Maybe he meant MacNamara?

[lefty o]

khe sanh was strictly a westmoreland fiasco. he got backing by macnamara and LBJ, but it was westmoreland! the Marines did not want to be there.

[Echo]

Not meaning to chop the post, but I bought the book "Dereliction Of Duty", By 3-star McMasters, about LBJ & RSM doing their part to help get LBJ elected - and couldn't finish it! About 2/3 through I was ready to find their graves, dig 'em up, chop 'em into chunks, and feed the crabs in Galveston Bay! I tried, but after reading another couple of pages, had to put it down. HEAVILY footnoted - there are FIFTY-TWO PAGES of footnotes at the end of the book, showing the sources of all the data. Still haven't finished the book - hate it...

[jaysouth]

The last picture of Westmoreland I saw had him wearing a US Army uniform. He commanded US forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. Blaming the Marine Corps leadership for carrying out Westmoreland’s direction is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?

Again, I have highest respect for individual Marines. But the Marines were still fighting Korea. They did not have effective utilization of artillery or rotary wing avitation. In WWII, the army perfected the time on target method of massing the fires of up to dozens of batteries to land on a single target at the same instant, with devestaging effect. The Marines had not mastered this doctrine and could participate in TOTs in their area in conjunction with army and allied batteries. Their helicopters were obsolete junk. They would not "launch" a mission if it was dark, if it was raining or there was ground fire. Those are prime times when you need helo support. Marine FOs and experienced NCOs could not call for or adjust air strikes. They had special parties of Marine and Navel personnel called ANGLO teams that were the only parties that could direct air strike and they were never where they were needed. When the army launched Operation Pegasus to relieve the Marines at Khe Sahn, there were 400 helicopters in the air. Each had two crewmen trained to call for and adjust artillery fire or air strikes. The 26th Marines had 12 FOs who could adjust only the battery they were assigned to. By contrast, our division had almost a thousand personnel who could call for and adjust air strikes. After three days of our 400 helicopters searching out enemy and destroying them with artillery and air strikes, there was no one left to fight. The enemy retreated to Laos. After evacuating over 2,000 marines from the base, we secured the base with 400 grunts from the 5th Cav.

They dumped a battalion of the 26th on a hill in the middle of our firebase on LZ Sharon in Quang Tri. After a couple of days a truck load of C rations and water showed up for their troops. They were reduced to begging us for food and medics. Our brigade commander got extra rations and we opened our mess up them for breakfast and dinner. After two weeks on our hill, the marines were still wearing the uniforms that they had not changed in three months. we built a shower point and issued them clean clothes. All this took place less than 10 miles from the 3d Marine Division Headquarters. I still cannot believe how the Marines treated their troops like animals after enduring three months on Khe Sahn.

[ARKLITE881South]

''They dumped a battalion of the 26th on a hill in the middle of our firebase on LZ Sharon in Quang Tri. After a couple of days a truck load of C rations and water showed up for their troops. They were reduced to begging us for food and medics. Our brigade commander got extra rations and we opened our mess up them for breakfast and dinner. After two weeks on our hill, the marines were still wearing the uniforms that they had not changed in three months. we built a shower point and issued them clean clothes. All this took place less than 10 miles from the 3d Marine Division Headquarters. I still cannot believe how the Marines treated their troops like animals after enduring three months on Khe Sahn.''

i was one of those Marines that came into LZ Sheron i never saw a hill there, in fact, we were set up by some motor t guys with a great big mud hole right in the middle of their area. All the helicopters were leaving for some big operation so we were doing the security for that area of the base. Never once did we ''beg'' for food, never. In fact i met one of my buddy's that is from the same town as i was, we ran around together. I dated his sister, he arranged our mortar squad to get a hot meal and a shower. Clean clothes, ha,you don't change clothes every time you go out on a operation, we did with what we had. The rest of the time, we just stole it from the army, they had way too much anyway. :bigsmyl2: I was never treated like a animal, we had a job to do, and we did it. There's a reunion coming up with our guys in the near future ,you should come and tell them this, they just might see it a different way. Betting they'd laugh and say, ''hay, that's the way it is in war.''

[fatnhappy]

Saturday marked the 49th anniversary of my cousin George being KIA. He was a short timer with 2 weeks left.

http://callforphotos.vvmf.org/PhotoEffort/AssociatedImages/Medium/41955_Butch%20Marine%20Photo%20I.jpg

BERNARD GEORGE PURVIS

Wall Name:BERNARD G PURVIS
Date of Birth: 4/29/1948
Date of Casualty: 1/27/1969
Home of Record: NORFOLK
County of Record: ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY
State: NY
Branch of Service: MARINE CORPS
Rank: LCPL
Panel/Row:33W, 4
Casualty Province: QUANG NAM
Awarded posthumously for actions during the Vietnam WarThe President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Lance Corporal Bernard G. Purvis (MCSN: 2391296), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Squad Leader with Company A, First Battalion, Third Marines, THIRD Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 29 January 1969, Lance Corporal Purvis' squad was participating in a combat patrol near An Hoa in Quang Nam Province when the Marines came under a heavy volume of hostile fire delivered by a well-concealed enemy force. Reacting instantly, he skillfully deployed his men into effective fighting positions and unhesitatingly led an aggressive assault against the hostile unit. Completely disregarding his own safety, he repeatedly exposed himself to the intense enemy fire as he fearlessly moved about the hazardous area, shouting words of encouragement to his men and directing their accurate fire upon the hostile emplacements until he was mortally wounded. His outstanding leadership and aggressive fighting spirit inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in the subsequent defeat of the enemy. By his courage, bold initiative and unfaltering devotion to duty, Lance Corporal Purvis contributed significantly to the accomplishment of his unit's mission and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

[Artful]

Rip bernard george purvis you are not forgotten.

[ARKLITE881South]

Never forgotten, Bernard was a Sharp looking Marine. I"m sorry for your families loss. I think of these guys often, and wonder how i made it though it all. A friend of mine was in country 2 wks ,stepped off a helicopter and a sniper got him. Pat was a red headed guy, quiet, and great all around guy, he is missed.

[DoubleAdobe]

Lance Corporal Purvis was a fine looking Marine. And he obviously pulled his weight and then some. RIP, Marine.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I was a Soldier, not a Marine. In the 1980s I sometimes worked with a retired Marine Staff Sgt. as contract A.F. Security Police Officers. One night when we were making our rounds I asked him, "How long were you a soldier?" He replied, "I wasn't a soldier--I was a Marine!" I've never forgotten that, and admired him for the answer. But, no matter what you want to call yourself, all go in harm's way and are brothers.

I never understood Khe Sanh. The French had Dien Bien Phu, where they put all of their troops in a low area surrounded by mountains and took terrible punishment until they understandably surrendered. Seemed to me, from afar in the U.S. of A., my military service having been over for several years, that the Marines were doing the same thing as the French. Couldn't understand it, and watched it closely thinking that the master stroke of tactics would soon come. But it didn't. What a waste, as are so many things in war.

I salute the young man in the photo above, and my sympathies go out to his family who will always miss him. Marines or Soldiers, may God bless you all. I also salute you who were there.

[LAH]

I was a Soldier, not a Marine. In the 1980s I sometimes worked with a retired Marine Staff Sgt. as contract A.F. Security Police Officers. One night when we were making our rounds I asked him, "How long were you a soldier?" He replied, "I wasn't a soldier--I was a Marine!" I've never forgotten that, and admired him for the answer. But, no matter what you want to call yourself, all go in harm's way and are brothers.

I never understood Khe Sanh. The French had Dien Bien Phu, where they put all of their troops in a low area surrounded by mountains and took terrible punishment until they understandably surrendered. Seemed to me, from afar in the U.S. of A., my military service having been over for several years, that the Marines were doing the same thing as the French. Couldn't understand it, and watched it closely thinking that the master stroke of tactics would soon come. But it didn't. What a waste, as are so many things in war.

I salute the young man in the photo above, and my sympathies go out to his family who will always miss him. Marines or Soldiers, may God bless you all. I also salute you who were there.

Well said.

[shdwlkr]

My cousin was a Marine in Vietnam also from NY that never made it home alive, I wear a bracelet on me to never forget not all soldiers make it home. The sad part of the whole thing is that I was on active duty but never notified because I was in the Army. When you sign your life over to the military there is no guarantee you will come home either alive or dead, look how many soldiers we have no idea what happened to them. I wonder if the nation ever needed a whole lot of soldiers if there would be enough to answer the call today.

[Duckiller]

Say "Thank You" to my neighborhood and spear fishing friend Charlie Bates. We had fun growing up in Michigan. He drove the tank that relieved the Marines . He said Vietnam, was hot and humid in his tank but at least the tanks all looked like his. Not like in Germany where a bunch of the tanks look Russian.