Battle of Lang Vei

Battle of Lang Vay

A Vietnam People's Army PT-76 tank stands as a victory monument at the old battlefield in Quảng Trị Province.

Date	6–7 February 1968
Location	Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam
Result	North Vietnamese victory.

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Le Cong Phe

Frank C. Willoughby

Strength

3 Infantry battalions
2 Sapper companies
2 Armored companies.

24 U.S. Special Forces personnel
500 Montagnard and Vietnamese CIDG soldiers
350 Royal Laotian Army soldiers.

Casualties and losses

90 killed
220 wounded
7 tanks destroyed or damaged.

316 killed (7 Americans)
75 wounded (11 Americans)
253 captured (3 Americans).

The Battle of Lang Vei (Vietnamese: Trận Làng Vây) began on the evening of 6 February and concluded during the early hours of 7 February 1968, in Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. Towards the end of 1967 the 198th Tank Battalion, Vietnam People's Army (VPA) 203rd Armored Regiment, received instructions from the North Vietnamese Ministry of Defense to reinforce the 304th Division as part of the Route 9-Khe Sanh Campaign. After an arduous journey down the Ho Chi Minh trail in January 1968, the 198th Tank Battalion linked up with the 304th Division for a major offensive along Highway 9, which stretched from the Laotian border through to Quảng Trị Province. On 23 January, the VPA 24th Regiment attacked the small Laotian outpost at Bane Houei Sane, under the control of the Royal Laos Army BV-33 ‘Elephant’ Battalion.

In that battle the 198th Tank Battalion failed to reach the battle on time because its tank crews struggled to navigate their tank equipment through the rough local terrain. However, as soon as the PT-76 tanks of the 198th Tank Battalion turned up at Bane Houei Sane, the Laotian soldiers and their families panicked and retreated into South Vietnam. After Bane Houei Sane was captured, the 24th Regiment prepared for another attack which targeted the U.S. Special Forces Camp at Lang Vei, manned by Detachment A-101 of the 5th Special Forces Group. On 6 February, the North Vietnamese 24th Regiment, again supported by the 198th Tank Battalion, launched their assault on Lang Vei. Despite fighting with air and artillery support, the U.S.-led forces conceded ground and the North Vietnamese quickly dominated their positions. By the early hours of 7 February the command bunker was the only position still held by allied forces, but they were besieged by North Vietnamese soldiers above ground. During the entire ordeal, U.S. and indigenous Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) forces trapped inside the command bunker had to endure North Vietnamese harassment, which came in the form of fragmentation and tear gas grenades. To rescue the American survivors inside the Lang Vei Camp, a counter-attack was mounted, but the Laotian soldiers, who formed the bulk of the attack formation, refused to fight the North Vietnamese. Later on, U.S. Special Forces personnel were able to escape from the camp, and were rescued by a U.S. Marine task force. {242, Stanton, The Rise and fall of an American Army}

...
Wikipedia