In Hue, Major Phan Rang was now on duty to be the Security Officer guarding Brig. Their air wings totaled 140 strike aircraft. On 2 April, Colonel Pham Van Dinh, commander of the 56th ARVN Regiment, surrendered the camp and his 1,500 troops. bombing. The Easter Offensive of 1972 is also known as the 1972 Spring-Summer Offensive (Chin dch Xun-H 1972) by the North Vietnamese and as "The Red Fiery Summer" (Ma h la) by South Vietnamese. Since First Lieutenant Rang knew the geographical layout of the base and the personnel (the Commanding Officers regularly attended his daily/weekly intel debriefs), he picked up a few of his men on duty and personally drove his Jeep to the nearby base in the middle of the attack. 1. A distance South of Camp Carroll, there are two sister bases FBs Sarge and Nui Ba Ho. Suddenly, 2-Cobras helicopter gunships came out of nowhere and attacked the NVA, suppressing their fire. 2 Who won the Easter Offensive? This could be a disaster waiting to happen, and our worst perceptions of the State of Combat Readiness were confirmed. Spring Offensive 1975-The End of the Vietnam War. This could lead to a major mismatch if a major battle were to take place at any point. They fired over 200 130MM artillery rounds in the first hour. The Battle of An Lc was a major battle of the Vietnam War that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a tactical victory for South Vietnam. Answer and Explanation: Become a Study.com member to unlock this answer! [96], On 7 April PAVN/VC local main force units, the 18B, 95B, D1 and D2 Regiments began attacks in the Mekong Delta, initially in Chng Thin Province. - Coolers At the time, it was assumed that the Soviet Union was supplying the bulk of North Vietnam's military needs but of the $1.5billion in military aid sent to North Vietnam between 1970 and 1972, two-thirds came from China. Outpost Charlie 2 Headquarter of ARVN 1st Battalion, 56th Infantry Regiment. An offensive was expected, but intelligence as to its timing, location, and size were confusing. Convinced of the intelligence assessment reports detailing the NVA build up at those strategic locations, his team (including US Senior Advisors) developed an URGENT intelligence report to the Division and CORPS Commanders. He had risen to become "the indispensable man" and "the heart and soul of the defense of Kon Tum.". The offensive began at noon on 30 March 1972, when an intense artillery barrage rained down on the northernmost ARVN outposts in Qung Tr Province. [78] American sources claimed that 25,000 PAVN or NLF troops had been killed or wounded during the action, although those numbers could never be confirmed. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. From the bands barrack on top of the hill, we could see rows and rows of tanks, trucks, Jeeps, and weapons organized neatly; readily prepared to hand over to the ARVN As we walked to the front gate, we passed through several big warehouses that stockpiled mountains of the good stuff: TV, stereos, washing machines, fans, air-conditioning units, building materials, tents, etc. General Vu Van Giai and his US Senior Advisor Col. Donald J. Metcalf (My boss) ordered that I be transferred to the ARVN 56th Infantry Regiment as they were just newly formed and completed combat training in Phu Bai Hue. The Easter Offensive of 1972 came off the back of the unforeseen Tet Offensive of 1968 and again, Viet Cong forces attacked with unexpected ferocity and resi. The troops morale was poor, casualties high, food and ammunition at the reserve levels. [106][107] The Seventh Fleet was also beefed up by the addition of five aircraft carrier groups, including those of the Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Midway, America, and Saratoga. However, they would always rely on the coordinated intelligence by Major Phan Rang along with his and the US Senior Advisors intelligent assessments for B-52 bombing runs and the fire power from the battleships located in the Gulf of Tonkin who came for rescue missions (by that point, those were hard to come bye). The Easter Offensive of 1972: A Failure to Use Intelligence 145147. Because of these historic events, the meaning and celebration of Tet became significantly deeper. In mid-1963, as young man in his twenties, Phan Rang graduated from Thu Duc Military Officer School. Almost one out of every four of the 8,000 ARVN Marines in the division had been killed or wounded during. After a vicious, three-day battle against the 48th Regiment of the 320B PAVN Division broke and withdrew. [CDATA[ [79], The objective of PAVN forces during the third phase of the Nguyen Hue Offensive was to seize the cities of Kon Tum and Pleiku, thereby overrunning the Central Highlands. Even though Quang Tri and Dong Ha cities received some barrages of rockets and artillery on the first day, the large-scale attacks were still far away. The possible initial goals of the offensive in III Corps remain unclear, but probably began as probes that, if successful, could be easily reinforced.[65]. His answered is no, as it was not within their policy. Giai, who was to be made the scapegoat for the collapse, was tried for "desertion in the face of the enemy", and sentenced to five years in prison. Emboldened, Nixon decided to launch Operation Linebacker a systematic aerial assault on North Vietnam's transportation, storage, and air defense systems on 10 May. Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive Updated on October 03, 2019 The Easter Offensive occurred between March 30 and Oct. 22, 1972, and was a later campaign of the Vietnam War . In fact, I still vividly remember being stunned by Captain Scotts news that there would be no more American soldiers, ever, to return to South VN. [46], On 28 April 29 and 803rd PAVN Regiments seized Firebase Bastogne, the strongest anchor on Hu's western flank. This was a strategic and tall order directly from the South VN President Nguyen Van Thieu as a symbol of his commitment driven by the political decision to strengthen the power of his war cabinet (not to mention that it came with several hundreds of millions of US Dollars in military and economic aid from the US Government). And I ran back to my location before collapsing. He walked me to our bunker which was small but adequate and better than a trench or foxhole. Outpost Charlie 2 was home of USAMs 5th Mechanized Infantry of 101st Airborne Div. I spoke to a few who knew me for the last time. The ARVNs Commander Colonel Pham V. Dinh (a native of Hue and Hero of the 1968 Tet Offensive) and over 1,500 soldiers from the 56th Infantry Regiment surrendered without firing a shot. On 21 April, Abrams notified the U.S. Secretary of Defense that, In summarythe pressure is mounting and the battle has become brutalthe senior military leadership has begun to bend and in some cases to break. When the ARVN armor moved out of Ben Het toward k T, it was ambushed and destroyed. He seemed extremely embarrassed, and down in the dumps. [102], These missions were conducted by aircraft assigned to the U.S. The prospect of seizing a South Vietnamese provincial capital, which could then be proclaimed as the seat of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, was also enticing. Sensing that the provincial capital of An Lc would be the next target, the III Corps commander, Lieutenant General Nguyn Vn Minh dispatched the 5th Division to hold the town. General Tran Van Tra, writing about the offensive ten years after the fact, stated, "Our troops were exhausted and their units in disarray. On December 18th, 2010, I finally met Bill, the man I heard on the BBCs broadcast on a radio 38 years ago in Vietnam I thank God for knowing him, he has become an admirable friend that I find inspiration from ever since. [55] The persistent Trng finally convinced the president, emphasizing that such an effort would be possible "employing the superior firepower of our American ally. The Easter Offensive of 1972, coming at the end of the Vietnam War, is usually an afterthought in most histories of the conflict, primarily because most U.S. troops had already left the country. Two months later on the Thursday morning of March 30, 1972. As a result of his failure to seize the town quickly, the commander of the 9th Division was officially reprimanded and local command was handed over the senior officer of the 5th PAVN/VC Division. The Airborne Division led the way and, utilizing airmobile end-runs and the North Vietnamese were slowly levered out of their defensive positions. I suggested a plan to Col. Dinh to organize a breakout from our positions by using the 2-M41 light tanks and 3-M42 Dusters (Light armored air defense tanks which are very effective in ground attacks) and all available troops. As the mass of humanity jostled and shoved its way south on Highway 1, it presented an inviting target for North Vietnamese artillerists. All day our bases were under constant NVA attacks. That led Nixon to launch Operation Linebacker II, a bombing campaign aimed at North Vietnam's transport network, especially around Hanoi and Haiphong. South Vietnam: The Easter Offensive > National Museum of the United On 18 June, the headquarters of III Corps declared the siege to be over. US Army Bronze Star Citation to Phang Rang. The gentlemen that we were so proud to call our American friends will be gone for good. [23], The U.S. commander, General Creighton W. Abrams, was convinced an offensive was likely but was also convinced that the attack would begin during or near the Tt holidays, at the beginning of the year. Camp Carroll Easter Offensive 1972 March 30th, 1972. The Vietnam War: 11 Major Battles | War History Online 1. Instead of sacking Lam for poor leadership, Thieu promoted the politically connected general to the Ministry of Defense. [28] Lam concentrated on administrative matters and left tactical decisions to his subordinate commanders. I received an XM-72 3.5 Anti-tank Rocket Launcher [sounds like an experimental weapon] with 4-Tubes, ammo and instructions to teach the ARVN how to use it. This was a typical deployment to provide security and prevent NVAs filtration. The newly established firebases were strategically located within the high-power firing ranges in order to stop the incursions of the NVA into South Vietnam. During the Operation Linebacker 2 around 741 B-52 sorties had bombed North Vietnam and 729 of them struck their aimed targets. The climactic attack on An Lc was launched on 14 May, when the North Vietnamese attacked directly into the teeth of the ARVN defense. Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. On April 1, 1945Easter Sundaythe Navy's Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. The two officers are the first American fliers to qualify as aces solely as . We changed our radio frequency and directed them to our Firebase landing pad. Not so sure anyone knew where they went, however, they may be south of Cam Lo River along the coastal plain- in safety. Past infiltration and offensive operations had been conducted through and from Laotian and Cambodian territory and a DMZ offensive would be a blatant violation of the Geneva Agreement, which North Vietnam was adamant in defending. In addition to CAS and BAI, in the second month of the Easter Offensive, the U.S. Based on his intelligence, he estimated that the NVAs combined strength was over 35,000 main-force troops. Week of March 20th, 1972. See also Lavalle, p. 27. He had nothing on him at the time he returned to North Vietnam, but he was known to be very smart with a sharp memory. ARVN 3rd Division Commander Brig. [95], On 22 March the PAVN 101D Regiment, 1st Division attacked the ARVN 42nd Ranger Group outpost at Kompong Trach 15km north of the Cambodia-South Vietnam border. (May 25, 2023). Col. Pham Van Dinh and I, and the majority of 1st Battalion of 56th Regiment arrived at Camp Carroll sometime in the afternoon. The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 springsummer offensive (Vietnamese: Chin dch XunH 1972) by North Vietnam, or the Red Fiery Summer (Ma h la) as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN, the regular army of North Vietnam) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of South Vietnam) and the United States military between 30 March and 22 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Every week, my sisters Huyen, Lan Anh and I would be welcomed by Captain Scott Salem and later a jam session with singer and keyboard player Second Lieutenant Timmy and the rest of the band. Air strikes were possible only by all-weather fighters or bombers, which could deliver their ordnance accurately through the cloud cover by radar direction or LORAN. In adversity, it is losing its will and cannot be depended upon to take the measures necessary to stand and fight. Armies & Commanders South Vietnam & United States: Hoang Xuan Lam Ngo Dzu Nguyen Van Minh 742,000 men North Vietnam: Van Tien Dung Tran Van Tra Hoang Minh Thao 120,000 men Easter Offensive Background
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