Posted on Oct 19, 2017
Communists attack Plei Me Special Forces camp - Oct 19, 1965 - HISTORY.com
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North Vietnamese troops launch a major assault on U.S. and South Vietnamese Special Forces Camp at Plei Me in the Central Highlands, 215 miles north of Saigon.
During a week of savage fighting, defenders of the besieged outpost, manned by 12 U.S. Green Berets, 400 Montagnard tribesmen, and a handful of South Vietnamese guerrilla specialists, repelled repeated Viet Cong attacks. The tide of the battle turned finally with the arrival of several hundred South Vietnamese reinforcements and numerous Allied air strikes. With the camp secured, General William Westmoreland, senior U.S. military commander in Saigon, decided to seize the advantage and send in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) to “find, fix, and defeat the enemy forces” that had threatened Plei Me. This decision would result in November in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the war’s bloodiest battle to date.
During a week of savage fighting, defenders of the besieged outpost, manned by 12 U.S. Green Berets, 400 Montagnard tribesmen, and a handful of South Vietnamese guerrilla specialists, repelled repeated Viet Cong attacks. The tide of the battle turned finally with the arrival of several hundred South Vietnamese reinforcements and numerous Allied air strikes. With the camp secured, General William Westmoreland, senior U.S. military commander in Saigon, decided to seize the advantage and send in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) to “find, fix, and defeat the enemy forces” that had threatened Plei Me. This decision would result in November in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the war’s bloodiest battle to date.
Communists attack Plei Me Special Forces camp - Oct 19, 1965 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
Vietnam War
American History
Military History
Posted 7 y ago
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As much as the American side probed the enemy to gain an understanding for their way of war so did the North Vietnamese engage in protracted battles to learn the American way of war. Bringing fighters up to as close to American lines as they could, using native people as fighters, and keeping men and material dispersed with as few concentrations to prevent attacks worked as well for the North Vietnamese as any tactic but they had to learn these points through active battle.
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Thanks for reminding us SP5 Mark Kuzinski that on October 19, 1965 that North Vietnamese troops launch a major assault on U.S. and South Vietnamese Special Forces Camp at Plei Me in the Central Highlands which was manned by manned by 12 U.S. Green Berets, 400 Montagnard tribesmen, and a handful of South Vietnamese guerrilla specialists.
Thankfully this attack was repelled with the assistance of several hundred South Vietnamese reinforcements and numerous Allied air strikes.
Thankfully this attack was repelled with the assistance of several hundred South Vietnamese reinforcements and numerous Allied air strikes.
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