Bruce B. G. Clarke

Expendable Warriors (eBook, PDF)

The Battle of Khe Sanh and the Vietnam War

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The battle of Khe Sanh was won and the Vietnam war was lost at the same time. Expendable Warriors describes at multiple levels the soldiers and marines who were expendable in the American political chaos of Vietnam, 1968. On January 21, 1968, nine days before the Tet offensive, tens of thousands of North Vietnamese regulars began the attacks on the Khe Sanh plateau, which led to the siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. For those with a vivid memory of the Vietnam war, there is consolation in knowing that the impact of that war altered and shaped politics and warfare for the next generations. But in that altering we must take the lessons and apply them to new situations, new challenges and new policy dilemmas. To fail to do so would mean that the warriors at Khe Sanh and all of Vietnam were truly expendable, The battle of Khe Sanh was won and the Vietnam war was lost at the same time. Expendable Warriors describes at multiple levels the soldiers and marines who were expendable in the American political chaos of Vietnam, 1968. On January 21, 1968, nine days before the Tet offensive, tens of thousands of North Vietnamese regulars began the attacks on the Khe Sanh plateau, which led to the siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 192
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. Februar 2007
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781567207545
• Artikelnr.: 68529117

Autorenporträt

Bruce B. G. Clarke (Col., U.S. Army, ret.) was Director of National Security Studies at the U.S. Army War College, and is the author of Conflict Termination: A Rational Model (Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College).

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword by John W. Vessey
ix
Preface
xi
Acknowledgments
xv
Abbreviations
xvii
Chapter 1
1
Chapter 2
6
Vietnam
6
Khe Sanh before the Battle
8
Chapter 3
15
District Headquarters
15
The Village Participants
20
Chapter 4
29
Day-to-Day Operations of the Advisory Team
29
Chapter 5
39
Giap's Strategy
39
The NVA Tactical Plan
43
The American Plan
43
Chapter 6
47
The Situation Changes-The Prelude to the Battle in Khe Sanh
47
Chapter 7
52
The Battle Is Joined
52
The Western Approach to the Village-CAC-OSCAR 2's Fight
58
Air Strikes Take Their Toll
60
Chapter 8
65
Black Cats to the Rescue
65
The Black Cats
66
The Combat Assault
68
The NVA Await
73
Enroute to Khe Sanh
73
Arriving at the Landing Zone at the Old French Fort
74
Chapter 9
83
The Battle Continues
83
What Could Have Been Done Differently
89
The Evacuation of the District Headquarters
93
Chapter 10
95
The Advisory Team on the Move
95
Lang Vei Falls
97
Life at FOB-3
99
A Corpsman's Perspective
100
The Northern Half of FOB-3
101
The Bru
104
The Extended Siege
105
The End of the Siege
106
Chapter 11
109
Observations on a Lost War
109
The Need for Unity of Command
109
The Tension Between Secrecy and Operational Requirements
111
The Relationship of Battlefield Events and Political Decisions
112
The Roots of Historical Revisionism/Why History Is Difficult to Chronicle
Accurately
114
Conclusion
115
Epilogue
116
The Participants Today
116
MIA-Still Missing, But Not Forgotten
118
The Bru Leave Khe Sanh
121
Appendices
131
Appendix 1: JCS After-Action Report
132
Appendix 2: Wichita Eagle, April 4, 1968, Article
137
Appendix 3: The Participants
140
Appendix 4: NVA Plan
146
Appendix 5: Recently Unclassified Intelligence
151
Appendix 6: Invasion of Laos
153
Appendix 7: Wichita Eagle Article-After-Action Report
155
Appendix 8: Award Citations
157
Appendix 9: Terrain Map of Area Around Khe Sanh Village
160
Index
163