Battle of Dong Xoai
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| Battle of Dong Xoai | |||||||
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| Part of Vietnam War | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Viet Cong |
 South Vietnam United States |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Le Trong Tan | Cao Van Vien, Charles W. Williams |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1,500 | 10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 700+ estimated KIA | ARVN: 1,190 killed and wounded U.S: 7 killed, 15 wounded and 13 missing |
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| Vietnam War |
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| Ap Bac – Binh Gia –Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – A Shau – Duc Co –Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Junction City – Hill 881 – Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Lam Son 719 – Ban Dong –FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri –Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri –Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buon Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa –2nd Saigon – Rolling Thunder – Barrell Roll – Pony Express – Steel Tiger – Tiger Hound – Tailwind – Commando Hunt – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Chenla I – Chenla II – SS Mayagüez |
The Battle of Dong Xoai was a battle that occurred during the early stages of the Vietnam War. Dong Xoai district was manned by US-trained South Vietnamese special forces (Luc Luong Dac Biet, LLDB) and militiamen (Civil Irregular Defense Force, CIDG), those troops were reinforced with two more battalions following VC attacks on Phuoc Binh and Song Be. With a strong defence system the ARVN were confident that their base could withstand a Viet Cong attack, but they were wrong.
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[edit] Dong Xoai
The Dong Xoai Special Forces Camp was located in Phuoc Long Province, about 55 miles northwest of Saigon, South Vietnam. On May 25, 1965, personnel from Detachment A-342 were flown in following the camp's completion.
From the day the Special Forces arrived the camp was often subjected to mortar bombardment by the Viet Cong, without knowledge of the Viet Cong's real intentions, the special forces inside the camp believed it was the usual harassment. However, over the period of two weeks, the rate of VC attacks increased. Despite the frequent attacks the camp's personnel had little time to prepare for the final Viet Cong onslaught.
[edit] Battle of Dong Xoai
The battle began on June 10 after midnight when the Viet Cong 272nd Regiment, part of the VC 9th Division, launched attacks with constant mortar bombardment and small arms fire, hitting bunkers and machine gun positions. The defensive perimeters around the sub-sector were falling one by one with VC soldiers occupying key bunker systems.
Due to the surprise of the early morning attack, the soldiers inside the district had little time to react. Second Lieutenant Charles W. Williams, executive officer of the special forces detachment, ordered his men to take a defensive position inside the district headquarters after he realised that the camp was nearly overrun by VC forces.
At dawn U.S and South Vietnamese air forces conducted air strikes on VC positions with napalm but the Viet Cong held on to their positions inside the rubber plantations. While the Viet Cong continued their bombardment of the camp, a UH-1 Huey of the U.S 118th Aviation Company had left Tan Son Nhut airport with elements of the ARVN 5th Infantry Division onboard. Their main mission was to reinforce the camp's beleaguered defenders.
Anti-aircraft fire by VC small companies prevented heliborne reinforcements from landing as the South Vietnamese troops on the ground were taking heavy casualties. Later in the day additional reinforcements from the ARVN's 42nd Ranger Battalion were forced to land at Thuan Loi, where they clambered out and immediately exchanged fire, and fighting continued into the night. One US Battalion had landed at Dong Xoai airstrip but was not committed into battle by General Westmoreland.
Conditions inside the Dong Xoai district continued to deteriorate with food, water, medicine and ammunition supplies running low. Dreading another night inside the camp, the decision was made to evacuate the district.
By the early morning of June 11 the Viet Cong had withdrawn and disappeared into the jungle leaving behind a battered ARVN force. The demoralised and panic-stricken ARVN suffered more than 800 killed, while the US suffered 35 casualties.
[edit] Aftermath
The heavy casualties suffered at Dong Xoai was another humiliation for the South Vietnamese government. Once again demonstrating the inability of the regular South Vietnamese Army to deal with the Viet Cong guerillas during the early phases of the conflict.
Although the Viet Cong failed in their attempt to capture the district of Dong Xoai, they still managed to achieve the objective of inflicting damages on the best ARVN units. The Viet Cong melted away taking with them a tactical victory as well as more propaganda opportunities, according to the National Liberation Front the victory at Dong Xoai "added another glorious page to the history of the struggle of the South Vietnamese Liberation Army against the war of U.S Imperialist Aggression".
The Viet Cong 272nd Regiment was known as the "Dong Xoai Regiment" within the National Liberation Front in the aftermath of their military victory.
[edit] References
- Captured documents: History of the 272nd Regiment, 9th PLAF Division. 1968
- Dougan.C, Doyle.E, Lipsman.S, Martland.T, Weiss.S (1983) The Vietnam Experience: A Contagion of War. Boston Publishing Company, USA.
