The past month or so we presented a entire series of articles on the events leading up to the siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) and its subsequent conclusion.  This summary provided a road map for those who want to catch up on what happened 55 years ago starting just before January 21, 1968. 

I post these articles so that readers can appreciate the gallantry of the Bru Montagnards, the Vietnamese soldiers, the Marines of CAC O, the other members of Advisory Team 4, CPT War Britt the FAC and all of the others that were involved in the village fight specifically, but also those soldiers, airmen and Marines who were all involved in the Battle of Khe Sanh. My hope is that the glaring mistakes that were made in Khe Sanh will not be repeated and that tacticians and strategists of the future will take away some valuable lessons.

The articles included the following:

Was America Duped at Khe Sanh—debunks an article in the New York Times about North Vietnamese strategy leading up to Khe Sanh

General Westmoreland and the Vietnam War Strategy—continues the discussion of the false items in the previously mentioned New York Times article.  It presents the dueling strategies of the two sides.

Limited War and Rules of Engagement—presents a discussion of the problems with limited war concepts and how they related to Rules of Engagement.

Khe Sanh—the intelligence build up—explains the origins of the title Expendable Warriors.

Command and Control in the Khe Sanh Area of Operations (AO)—explains the quagmire that was the local command and control situation.  Lack of unity of command lead to a lack of unity of effort.

1968 Advisory Team 4 Newsletter—how the battle around the village was originally explained in a newsletter published by Advisory Team 4 headquarters in Quang Tri.

The village fight 2—further explains what happened during the defense of the District Headquarters

Air Support for Khe Sanh Village—explains the various forms of air support that were used to support the defenders of the District Headquarters and how they were coordinated for.

The Battle of Khe Sanh Village is Over—the Advisory Team the district forces withdraw after the Marines are withdrawn and further artillery support is denied.

False Quiet—sets the stage for the attack on Lang Vei and describes life on the combat base.

The noose is tightened—gives an overview of the fall of the Lang Vei Special Forces camp.

The Battle is won and the war was lost—describes the ending to the 77 day agony of Khe Sanh and the moment in history when the war was lost.

Each of these articles can be found on https://brucebgclarke.com/