Attack on Quang Tri City During the Vietnam War

By James I. Marino | Vietnam  | one comment  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

Creeping unseen into Quang Tri, the 20 elite commandos of the Communist sapper platoon struck at 0200 hours on January 31, 1968, hitting critical points throughout the city. The surprise assault was the spearpoint of a larger attack on the northernmost province of South Vietnam; North Vietnamese Army infantry was poised just outside city limits. The capture of Quang Tri City would open an avenue of attack straight through the strategically important city of Hue.

The Communist high command, as well as many in the American news media, expected the supposedly unmotivated, poorly led South Vietnamese soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who were defending the city of Quang Tri to just melt away. Instead, the ARVN troops stayed, fought and held the city. Like the GIs at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, the South Vietnamese paratroopers became a breakwater against the Communist flood, resisting and waiting for relief. They held the fort until, as in the old American West, cavalry troopers rode to the rescue — this time with the snarl of rotor blades.

Capital of the province of the same name, Quang Tri was about 20 kilometers south of the DMZ, along the east bank of the Thach Han River. The city, which was the largest of the province, developed into a major communication and logistics center during the war. It was situated on the national coastal highway, Highway 1, squeezed between provincial roads 560 on the west and 555 on the east. The road network, north-south and east-west corridors, passed through Quang Tri. Square-shaped with a citadel, Quang Tri City stood like a miniature of Hue, the old imperial capital. More important, Quang Tri was located only 45 miles north of Hue. Quang Tri was built on the coastal plain, and thus vulnerable to attack from all directions. Despite the presence of U.S. Marine and Army units in I Corps Tactical Zone (I CTZ), the defense of the small city lay in the hands of the ARVN 1st Division.

The 1st Division had operated around Hue since the unit’s establishment. Many Americans considered it the best division in the ARVN. Like the heavy armor divisions of the U.S. Army during World War II, the ARVN 1st Division was an exception to the standard military organization. Each regiment had four battalions instead of the standard three.

Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Lam, a quality officer and a veteran, was the commanding general of I Corps. The Quang Tri province chief, Lt. Col. Nguyen Am, had formerly been commander of the ARVN 1st Infantry Regiment, which was stationed at Quang Tri. Am’s former relationship with the unit would pay dividends in the coming battle.

American advisers rated the 1st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. Nguyen Huu Hanh, as the weakest in the 1st Division. The U.S. 3rd Marine Division, in a report toward the end of 1967, noted that ‘Hanh had a mediocre reputation but was not incompetent.’ At the start of 1968 the 1st Infantry Regiment was participating in the Revolutionary Development program, to which Hanh had committed two battalions. These were scattered and immersed throughout numerous villages north and northwest of Quang Tri. To compensate, Lam had attached the ARVN 9th Airborne Battalion to Hanh’s command.

Activated October 1, 1965, the 9th Airborne Battalion was part of the ARVN 1st Airborne Brigade. The paratroopers were all volunteers, with nine weeks of intensive combat training at the Airborne Training Center, capped by a three-week jump school at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. The airborne troops were high-quality veterans who received better pay, rations, weapons, quarters and family benefits than the common ARVN soldier. Hanh also had additional units available for the city’s defense. A National Police Field Force company was quartered in the city proper. The 1st Regiment’s armored personnel carrier squadron was stationed inside Quang Tri, and Regional and Popular Forces were available as well.

Hanh deployed his forces to screen the city. His 2nd and 3rd battalions conducted security missions north and northwest of the city, while the 9th Airborne Battalion quartered northeast of the city in the Catholic hamlet of Tri Buu. The 1st Battalion, along with the APC squadron, guarded military installations in Quang Tri’s western suburbs. The National Police patrolled throughout the city proper. The 1st Regiment’s CP was established at La Vang, east of Highway 1.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Vietnam War

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