First Battle of Quang Tri
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| First Battle of Quang Tri | |||||||
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| Part of Vietnam War | |||||||
 Viet Cong soldiers following their capture of Camp Carroll. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 North Vietnam Viet Cong |
 South Vietnam |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Vo Nguyen Giap | Vu Van Giai | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000+ | 8,000+ | ||||||
| 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 First Battle of Quang Tri resulted in the first major victory for the North Vietnamese Army during the Nguyen Hue Offensive of 1972.
Throughout the Vietnam War the province of Quang Tri had always been a major battle ground for the opposing forces. And things were not about to change as South Vietnamese soldiers gradually replacing their American counterparts, at a time when North Vietnam's General Vo Nguyen Giap about to throw three of his divisions at the province.
Just months before the battle, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam deployed its newly formed 3rd Division to the areas along the DMZ to take over former U.S bases. Enemy forces deployed against the inexperienced ARVN 3rd Division include the North Vietnamese 304th, 308th and 324B Divisions.
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[edit] Battle
The battle for Quang Tri began on March 30 with preparatory artillery barrages on the key areas of the province, then infantry assaults supported by tanks overran outposts and firebases. The lightning speed of Communist attacks on those positions delivered a great shock to the soldiers of the ARVN, who were largely unprepared for the onslaught.
[edit] Camp Carroll
In 1972 Camp Carroll was occupied by the ARVN 56th Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Dinh. During the first hours of the Easter Offensive, Camp Carroll was one of the first targets to come under North Vietnamese artillery barrage.
The North Vietnamese Army deployed a full artillery regiment against Camp Carroll with supporting infantry units, showing their full intention to take the camp. Throughout February and March, the North and South Vietnamese armies exchanged artillery fire, but South Vietnamese resistance gradually worn down as ARVN artillerymen began seeking shelter against the devastatingly accurate North Vietnamese 130mm shells.
By Easter, the morale of the South Vietnamese had dropped after suffering heavy casualties, as a result Lieutenant Colonel Dinh informed his American advisors that what was left of the 56th Regiment would surrender to the Viet Cong. As the senior advisor to the ARVN 56th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel William Camper refused to go through with the surrender, so he decided to leave Camp Carroll along with three officers.
On April 2, 1972, Camp Carroll was officially surrendered to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, with a white flag raised over the main gate of the camp. Following the surrender, a B-52 strike was ordered against Camp Carroll, but it was too late as the North Vietnamese had already moved the 175mm guns out of the camp.
[edit] Dong Ha
Following the loss of Camp Carroll on April 2, South Vietnamese forces continued to put up resistance elsewhere. At Dong Ha the South Vietnamese 3rd Marines Battalion, under the command of Major Le Ba Binh, faced the trememdous task of stopping, or at least delaying a huge force of over twenty-thousand North Vietnamese troops well-equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles.
Major Le Ba Binh's seven hundred-men battalion was reinforced with M-48 tanks from the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment. Their task was to stop the North Vietnamese from crossing over the Dong Ha bridge stretched across the Cua Viet River, in order to do so the bridge had to be destroyed. Captain John W. Riply, advisor to the 3rd Marines Battalion, carried out the task of destroying the Dong Ha bridge. In full view of the North Vietnamese, Captain Riply climbed under the bridge and placed the explosives in key positions. At 1245 hours an order was given for the bridge to be blown up.
At this point the North Vietnamese Army had failed in its attempt to cross the Dong Ha bridge, but it continued to hit South Vietnamese positions with artillery strikes. The South Vietnamese 3rd Marines Battalion and the 20th Tank Regiment hold on to its positions on the other side. Although vastly outnumbered by enemy T-54 and PT-76 tanks, South Vietnamese M-48s inflicted heavy damages on their North Vietnamese counterparts, demonstrating their superior training and discipline.
Four days following the destruction of the Dong Ha bridge, Major Le Ba Binh intended to hold Dong Ha at all cost but his unit was completely surrounded and casualties were mounting. So the 3rd Marines Battalion fight their way out of Dong Ha, grudginly giving ground to the North Vietnamese Army.
Dong Ha was captured on April 28 and all of Quang Tri was in Communist hands by May 1.
[edit] Aftermath
The fall of Quang Tri gave North Vietnam its first major victory of the offensive. The Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government immediately imposed their authority in the province, setting up collective farms in the northern areas of Quang Tri.
While the Communist tried to consolidate their rule over the so-called "Liberated Zones", South Vietnamese General Ngo Quang Truong were drawing up a plan to retake the province. The stage was set for the Second Battle of Quang Tri from June 28 to September 16, 1972, when the South Vietnamese Army would retake their positions. Although the Communst eventually lost most of Quang Tri, the northern parts of the province would remain in their control until the end of the war in 1975.
