We walked them down the streets until they were out of the line of fire. [4]:17374 This was easier said than done as the PAVN-VC were well dug-in and firing from virtually every building in the Citadel. [9]:370, On 11 February Company H, 2/5 Marines secured a bridge over the Phu Cam Canal (162725N 1073441E / 16.457N 107.578E / 16.457; 107.578) and the block on the opposite side of the canal. That evening, the PAVN-VC northern attack wing began moving towards Hu from base camps in the western hills. A company from the 2/5th Marines finally relieved the MACV communications facility that morning. The original series of articles which became "Black Hawk Down" earned him the Overseas Press Club's Hal . [4]:171, While the fighting continued in the Truoi River and the Ph Lc sectors, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines had begun to move into Hu. The Marines ordered into the city were at a disadvantage as there was no air support available to them for the first to 10 days. Soldiers look on. [12]:45 On 5 February Trng exchanged the Airborne with the 4th Battalion, which had become stalled. One had to do with machine guns, which he didnt elaborate on. As the Marines approached the base at 07:00 they were met by PAVN mortar and machine-gun fire; artillery fire was called in on the PAVN positions and the Marines entered the base at 08:50. The combined force then swept toward the Bach Ho Railroad Bridge along the southwestern face of the Citadel, where a few PAVN still held out in a narrow band of trees between the moat and the wall. [14]:99101 On 13 February Companies F and H crossed the bridge again with the aim of securing the entire area. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. 12 February - 5 March 1968 - Operation "HUE CITY." Citadel Fortress of Hue. She is named for the Battle of Hu, fought in the city during the Tet Offensive of 1968 by the 1st . As the Marine infantry started across, a machine gun on the other end of the bridge opened fire, killing and wounding several Marines. Hue's refined cuisine is the stuff of legend, and its leafy streets are lined with mossy pagodas, art dco mansions . [4]:168[12]:44, South of the city, on 31 January Lieutenant Colonel Phan Hu Ch, the commander of the ARVN 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron, attempted to break the PAVN-VC stranglehold. Throughout the afternoon of January 30, 1968, the last day of the Vietnamese Year of the Monkey had seen crowds of people flocking to the Imperial City of Hue for the festivities. The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. RM 2B00WAF - Vietnam: U.S. Marines advance past an M48 Patton tank during the battle for Hue, Tet Offensive, 1968. Hu was also a base for United States Navy supply boats. This could mean going through the same holes and breaches that you have been through. [9]:288 That evening VC sappers succeeded in blowing up the An Cuu bridge, cutting the road link to Phu Bai. This is called lance corporal ingenuity and Pfc. Meanwhile, the team of thirty sappers who had scaled the northwestern wall overpowered the guards standing watch at the An Hoa and Hau Gates, then opened their doors to the infantry company waiting outside. On August 20, 2009, Lt. Gen. G. R. (Ron) Christmas, USMC (Ret.) [4]:17173, Leaving Company A behind to secure the MACV Compound, Gravel took Company G, reinforced by the three M48 tanks from the 3rd Tank Battalion and a few ARVN M24 light tanks from the 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron, and attempted to cross the Trng Tin Bridge, the main bridge over the Perfume River. 10 PAVN/VC Battalions with 8,000 Communist soldiers. The ARVN 3rd Regiment launched a night attack along the southern wall of the Citadel. The 806th Battalion, which was dug into a cemetery along Highway 1 near the western corner of the Citadel, dispatched a group of soldiers to capture the An Hoa Bridge, driving off the RF detachment guarding the bridge and opening a line of communication with the other PAVN-VC in the Citadel. At 22:00, South Vietnamese Regional Force (RF) troops stationed in a village a few hundred meters north of the An Hoa Bridge observed what appeared to be enemy figures moving past them in the dark. The change is incredible, and yet you can still make out familiar sights. These included ARVN soldiers, civil servants, political party members, local religious leaders, schoolteachers, American civilians and other expatriates. [8] Other objectives included the Ty Lc Airfield and the Imperial Palace. The Army gunners and the Marine Ontos quickly responded. The Vietnam War is often pictured as a jungle conflict, punctuated by American troops fighting in rural hut-filled villages. [9]:268, Back at Phu Bai, Cheatham was reviewing Marine urban fighting doctrine which recommended staying off the streets and moving forward by blasting through walls and buildings. The 2nd Airborne Battalion reinforced the convoy and conducted a flanking attack. Additional battalions were later identified as coming from the 29th Regiment of the 325C Division, the 90th and 803rd Regiments of the 324B Division and the 24th Regiment of the 304th Division. [14]:81 On 5 February the Marines recaptured the Hu Central Hospital complex (162747N 1073513E / 16.463N 107.587E / 16.463; 107.587), rescuing Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Khoa (the Mayor of Hu and Thua Thien Province chief), who had been hiding in the grounds. Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense, or that of any organization with which the authors are affiliated, including the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Canadian Department of National Defence. The outer stone wall is one meter thick, five meters high and is separated from the inner wall by dirt fill. By the end of the day, the Marines had sustained two dead and 34 wounded and claimed to have killed nearly 140 PAVN-VC. Throughout the entire battle, the U.S. command consistently underestimated the size of the PAVN-VC forces engaged and the Allied forces necessary to deal with them. Younger soldiers were convinced by the party propaganda that they were on the verge of a great victory that would end the war. 4) Take in a Performance at the Royal Theatre. The Modern War Institute recently launched an Urban Warfare Project Case Study Series. This time they crossed the An Cuu Bridge into the new city. During the Vietnam War, notably the "Battle of Hue" - a part of the Tt Offensive in 1968, Hue endured considerable damage due to its proximity to the border that separates the South and the North. [15][9]:12728, The embattled Trng called in reinforcements ordering all four battalions of the 3rd Regiment in the countryside to return to the Citadel, he also instructed two armored units, the 3rd Troop, 7th Cavalry, stationed at PK17, and the tank-equipped 1st Troop, 7th Cavalry, at the Tam Thai camp southeast of new city to proceed to Mang Ca. As he later remembered, the American M48s were too heavy for the bridge and the ARVN tankers "refused to go." [12]:29 The PAVN B5 Front created a special logistical and administrative zone known as the Hu City Front to manage the upcoming battle. On January 30, 1968, after months of preparation, North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops and Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas launched a massive, coordinated assault on nearly every city, town, and. the book is full of emotion and color . The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. At 02:33, a signal flare lit up the night sky, and two battalions from the PAVN 6th Regiment attacked the western wall of the Citadel. Christmas was leading Hotel Company into Hue City from the south. Sightseeing can include the ornate Imperial Citadel, colorful Thanh Toan Bridge, royal tombs and the Forbidden Purple City. Read the Battle of Hue case study here, and be sure to watch the Urban Warfare Project for upcoming installments in the series. The city was totally overrun, so were not about to isolate it because we dont have the forces. Also on 28 January, the 810th Battalion, 4th Regiment and the 2nd Sapper Battalion began marching toward the city from locations along the coast east of Hu. Cheatham then joined his company commanders in Hu University and they proceeded to develop the tactics to be used in recapturing southern Hu. U.S. Marines and Vietnamese troops move through the grounds of the Imperial Palace in the old citadel area of Hue, Vietnam, on February 26, 1968, after seizing it from Communist hands. While Downs was deciding how to approach this problem a young lance corporal and a private first class came up with an idea. On the south side of the river was the new city of Hu, which contained most of the government buildings, schools, and the university, set on wide boulevards. [9]:45, The North Vietnamese plan for the Tet Offensive was known as the "General Offensive-General Uprising". The PAVN occupied a rectangular slice of land between the canal and the Perfume River that was approximately fifteen hundred meters wide and less than a kilometer deep, however U.S. efforts to overrun this position were repeatedly repulsed as the PAVN fought to keep open their escape route from the Citadel. Greenway, a photographer embedded with the Marines . Seeing an opportunity to trap the PAVN-VC, Lieutenant Colonel Ernie Cheatham reinforced Company H with his Command Group and Company F.[4]:170 With his other companies in blocking positions, Cheatham hoped to pin the PAVN-VC against the Truoi River. Richmond,Virginia23220, Galleries, Store, & Caf daily 10:00 am-5:00 pm At dawn the only areas of the new city still under Allied control were the prison defended by a Hac Bao platoon; the Le Loi transportation camp; the Huang Giang Hotel; the MACV Compound; the communications facility; and the Navy loading dock. 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