Battle of Kham Duc

The fight at Ngok Tavak

In the early hours of 10 May, the VC 40th Battalion of the 1st Ba Gia Regiment, reinforced by Local Force Montagnard units, moved into position and made final preparations for the attack on Ngok Tavak.^[1]:69 Special assault squads were formed to breach the camp's perimeters, while the second squad would fan out to destroy key targets inside the garrison. White was alerted to the movements of enemy troops outside his perimeter, so he quickly organized his Nung soldiers and placed his troops on 50% alert.^[1]:64 The Marine detachment, commanded by Lieutenant Bob Adams, was unable to operate their howitzers due to the lack of flechette rounds, which were designed for battery defense and anti-personnel fire. Shortly after 3 am, the suspect Montagnard CIDG soldiers approached the garrison from the eastern entrance, where they asked the U.S. Marine guarding the outer perimeter to let them through; as the Montagnards entered the perimeter, satchel charges were hurled at allied positions while VC soldiers lit up the perimeters with flamethrowers, marking the first double-cross of the battle.^[1]:70

The initial VC attack had split allied formations within the garrison; the 1st and 2nd Platoons of the 11th MSF Company were pushed away from the eastern perimeter, while the Marines were either alone or had organized themselves into small groups of two or three, but none were in contact with each another. Meanwhile, from inside his command post, White called in air-support which later came in the form of an AC-47 Spooky gunship. On the eastern side of the garrison, VC soldiers of the 40th Battalion continued to charge up the hill firing their AK-47 assault rifles. Simultaneously, other elements of the VC 1st Regiment probed the southern and western end of the garrison, now held by Captain White's 1st and 3rd Platoons, to test the strength of allied defenses in that part of the garrison.^[1]:74 By that stage, however, most Nung soldiers had retreated from their positions on the eastern end of the garrison, while the U.S. Marines were pinned down around the perimeters. By 03:30, the VC had captured the Marines' gun position.^[1]:78 Captain White was able to maintain contact with Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas through telephone, but they could not coordinate their forces.^[1]:79

Although the VC held a greater portion of the Ngok Tavak garrison, particularly on the eastern side, their attack was stalled. After the 40th Battalion had overrun the command post, they tried to advance on the landing zone where allied soldiers had set up a strong position from fortified underground bunkers, which the VC had failed to detect in their previous reconnaissance patrols.^[1]:79 At 04:20, an AC-47 gunship from the 4th Air Commando Squadron was reported to be flying over the garrison, so White directed the aircraft to fire down on VC-held positions around the perimeter. After he had shouted warnings to the Marines and the Nungs, White approved the aircraft to fire on the position area of the 105mm howitzers.^[1]:83 The arrival of the AC-47 enabled the allied forces to hold their last remaining ground, and repulse the final attack. By 05:30, fighting in and around Ngok Tavak was limited to the hurling of grenades, and random fire on any movement that was believed to be that of the VC. In one of their final attempts to overcome the last allied position, the VC set off tear gas of such low density that it had little effect on most of the allied soldiers.^[1]:85

As events in Ngok Tavak unfolded, White sent urgent messages to Company C, 5th Special Forces Headquarters in Đà Nẵng, as well as to the Americal Division, to request support. In response, the 5th Special Forces Headquarters ordered Captain Eugene Makowski to fly to Khâm Đức, where he would assume command of the 12th Mobile Strike Force Company, to reinforce White's beleaguered soldiers at Ngok Tavak.^[1]:87 Then, just before sunrise, Colonel Trí ordered the 40th Battalion to pull out of Ngok Tavak in order to deal with an enemy relief force, and leave behind only a blocking force to hold the captured positions inside the garrison. Following those events, Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas mounted a counter-attack using a handful of Nung soldiers in an attempt to retake captured positions.^[1]:86 At that point, those Marines who had survived the main battle decided to join the fight, and as the Australian-led formation moved through the Ngok Tavak garrison, they gradually pushed the last remaining enemy soldiers beyond the defensive perimeter.^[1]:86

By early morning White had expected further assaults from the VC 40th Battalion, but his opponents had moved out towards Khâm Đức with the rest of the PAVN 2nd Division.^[1]:90 Simultaneously, the AC-47 flying overhead continued to direct fighter-bombers against suspected VC positions around Ngok Tavak, but the garrison continued to receive sporadic mortar, RPG, and small-arms fire. In addition to close air support missions, medevac helicopters flew in to evacuate the wounded, and U.S. aircrews reported that they did not receive fire while flying over the enemy's area of operations.^[1]:88 Captain Silva and Lieutenant Adams, who were both wounded during the main battle, were also evacuated. While the wounded were being flown out, the surviving elements of the 11th MSF Company and the Marines re-consolidated their positions, even though cohesion had broken down between the allied soldiers as a result of the double-cross that occurred earlier in the battle.^[1]:88–9 At the same time, Makowski's 12th MSF Company had departed Khâm Đức and was approaching Ngok Tavak onboard four U.S. Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.^[1]:90

At around 09:30, the four CH-46 helicopters arrived in Ngok Tavak, and they were able to unload Makowski and about 45 soldiers of the 12th MSF Company. However, the VC demonstrated their domination of the landing zone when the first helicopter was hit with anti-aircraft fire, and was forced to land on the ground, intact, though with damage to the fuel line. Moments later, the third helicopter was struck by an RPG as it turned around to rescue the crews of the first downed helicopter, and it was destroyed immediately.^[1]:91 Now, with two downed helicopters blocking the landing zone, the remaining helicopters were prevented from landing on the ground, so the wounded men had to be evacuated while the helicopters were still hovering. As the last helicopter took off, two Nungs and one stranded U.S. soldier grabbed the helicopter skids to get out of Ngok Tavak, but they all fell to their deaths.^[1]:92 Shortly after his arrival, Makowski placed the 12th MSF Company under the command of his Australian counterpart, as the situation continued to worsen.^[1]:91

Because his Nung soldiers were exhausted, with their ammunition and water supplies running low, White believed they could not defend the Ngok Tavak garrison in case the VC launched another major attack. At 10:45, White requested permission to evacuate the garrison, but he was told to stay and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.^[1]:91 However, both White and Makowski knew that reinforcement was unlikely, because the two downed helicopters would prevent the insertion of additional soldiers, and the road between Ngok Tavak and Khâm Đức was likely to be covered by the opposing forces waiting in ambush positions.^[1]:92–3 White then decided to evacuate Ngok Tavak and withdraw his troops to safety.^[1]:97 As part of the evacuation plan, any type of equipment that could not be taken or was considered to be of value to the opponent was dumped into the command bunker and set alight using captured enemy flamethrowers. The Marines were ordered to fire their last remaining shells, about nine rounds in total, after their ammunition storage was set ablaze by the VC, and disable their 105mm guns.^[1]:97

As White had expected the survivors to fight their way out of Ngok Tavak, he made the decision to leave the dead allied soldiers behind; the decision caused distress amongst the survivors of the battle, but White believed evacuating the deceased soldiers through enemy lines would have been suicidal.^[1]:98–9 After the Marines and Mobile Strike Force personnel had destroyed their unneeded equipment, they were directed to form an order-of-march out of Ngok Tavak, in order to protect the wounded and those with little infantry experience.^[1]:97 Just before they left the garrison, Cameron blew up the first CH-46 helicopter that was still intact on the landing zone, using an M-72 anti-tank weapon.^[1]:100 The order-of-march was led by a group of Nung soldiers, who were followed by White and the survivors of the Marine artillery detachment, and behind them was another group of Nung soldiers covering the tail of the column. Together they evaded VC formations surrounding the hill feature of Ngok Tavak and marched eastward towards Khâm Đức.^[1]:100

About halfway between Ngok Tavak and Khâm Đức, White and the rest of the column climbed a mountain where they cleared the jungle to create a landing zone, and called for helicopters to evacuate the survivors.^[1]:101 A flight of CH-46s later arrived and, in a scene that would be repeated at Khâm Đức, chaos descended on the allied formation as Nung and U.S. personnel fought their way onto the helicopters. Some of the Nung soldiers had to be thrown off because the helicopters quickly reached their limit capacity; eventually U.S. aircrews had to dump some of their equipment overboard to accommodate the last remaining Nungs on the landing zone.^[1]:103 By 08:00, the evacuation of the Ngok Tavak survivors was completed, and White immediately flew out to Đà Nẵng along with the two Australian Warrant Officers after they arrived in Khâm Đức.^[2]:8[1]:104 The fight at Ngok Tavak, though short in duration, took a heavy toll on the Allied forces. An unknown number of Nung soldiers and 12 U.S. military personnel were killed, and 52 (including two U.S. Army and 21 U.S. Marines) were wounded.^[2]:8–9

Khâm Đức surrounded

At 02:45 on 10 May, in conjunction with the ground assault on the Ngok Tavak outpost, elements of the PAVN 2nd Division subjected Khâm Đức to a heavy barrage of mortar fire. The PAVN 21st Regiment, later reinforced by the VC 1st Regiment, were in position to attack the U.S.-led Detachment A-105.^[1]:106 At 08:30, the Americal Division activated Operation Golden Valley to reinforce the beleaguered camp, and at 8:45 am the division requested permission from III MAF to change the reaction force so the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment (2/1st Infantry) would replace the 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment (1/46th Infantry). In the meantime, however, Company A of 1/46th Infantry would provide the needed reinforcement, until the 2/1st Infantry was in position.^[1]:93 At around 10:50 Company A, 1/46th Infantry, led by Lieutenant Bobby Thompson, arrived in Khâm Đức along with some supporting artillery and ammunition, and they were immediately assigned to their task.^[1]:93 Thompson's company dug in at the end of the runway nearest OP 1 with XO Peter Everts' platoon overlooking the deep ravine where caves kept the PAVN from harm due to B-52 strikes called in on their location.

Khâm Đức, as seen from the air, during the Vietnam War.

About six hours later, the 2/1st Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. Nelson, also touched down at the camp, and they immediately set up defensive positions in support of Detachment A-105.^[2]:4[1]:93 Under constant enemy mortar and artillery attacks, U.S. and allied forces were able to strengthen their defenses, because there were no significant ground probes during 10–11 May. Allied defenses at Khâm Đức remained thin and the PAVN had occupied the high ground in the surrounding hills, where they could target allied ground targets and support aircraft with a high level of accuracy.^[1]:9 On 11 May, in response to increasing PAVN pressure, about 30 B-52s were called in to hit PAVN positions, but those strikes had little effect as artillery and mortar rounds continued to fall on Khâm Đức and the surrounding outposts. Consequently, Cushman recommended to Westmoreland that Khâm Đức, now defended by more than 1,500 allied soldiers along with 272 civilians, be evacuated. Westmoreland agreed, believing that Khâm Đức lacked the "defensive potential of Khe Sanh".^[2]:9[8]:343

By 01:00 on 12 May, U.S. commanders on the ground in Khâm Đức were notified of Westmoreland's decision to evacuate all military personnel, both American and Vietnamese, as well as their civilian dependents. However, most army units on the ground were left uninformed about the decision, and it led to chaos later when evacuation was underway.^[2]:10 During the predawn hours of 12 May, elements of the PAVN 2nd Division continued to increase their pressure on the main compound of the camp. The PAVN prepared for the main assault by capturing one mountain outpost at a time, which were manned by U.S. soldiers of the Americal Division, who had placed machine-guns around the main camp as advanced defensive positions. At 04:23, U.S. soldiers reported that OP 1 had been overrun, and fighter-bombers were scrambled in an attempt to save it.^[2]:10 About 30 minutes later, the defenders of OP 7 reported that their position had been surrounded. They attempted to hold their position by calling on an AC-47 gunship to fire directly into their position, in order to stop the attack, but soon afterwards OP 7 succumbed to the PAVN and the defenders retreated back to Khâm Đức.^[2]:11

U.S. soldiers at OP 3 called on supporting artillery units at Khâm Đức to fire directly at their own position in an attempt to hold off the PAVN, but they too were defeated a few moments later.^[2]:11 Before sunrise, all seven outposts were firmly in North Vietnamese hands, so U.S. and allied soldiers were placed in a perilous position. The PAVN had occupied all the high ground, from which they could fire down on any support aircraft that tried to resupply the camp or to evacuate people from it. By sunrise, the PAVN moved closer to the camp under the cover of the early morning fog. About one hour before the fog was lifted, an additional 24 B-52 bombers flew in and dropped several hundred tons of bombs on suspected PAVN positions south of Khâm Đức.^[2]:11 At 08:20, General Burl W. McLaughlin – commander of the 834th Air Division – was ordered by the U.S. 7th Air Force to make an all-out effort to evacuate Khâm Đức.^[8]:344 By 09:35, the B-52 strikes had clearly failed to stop the PAVN advance, when the camp's south-eastern perimeter was subjected to a massive ground assault.^[2]:11

To stop the onslaught, U.S. fighter-bombers were called in to strafe PAVN and VC formations, while U.S. soldiers on the ground used small-arms and artillery fire to break up the attack at point-blank range. Meanwhile, a U.S. Army UH-1 Huey and an O-2 Skymaster were shot down while circling the compound.^[2]:11 By the time the first attack was stopped, the opposite end of the compound also came under fire, and by early morning tactical air-support became difficult, as PAVN troops were in close proximity with U.S. and allied forces. A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook then arrived to begin the process of evacuation, but it took several hits from anti-aircraft fire.^[2]:12 The helicopter then burst into flames, exploded, and blocked the runway. U.S. soldiers of the 70th Engineer Battalion first tried to remove the wreckage with a forklift (their only operating vehicle, the bulldozers having been disassembled in preparation for airlift out); the forklift caught fire from the burning plane, and the engineers then assembled one of their bulldozers to push the downed helicopter off the runway; PAVN troops mortared the bulldozer but SP5 Don Hostler cleared the wreckage and then tracked the dozer back into Camp Conroy and shut it down. By 10:00 they had cleared the obstacles which would prevent other fixed-wing aircraft from using the airfield.^[9] Almost simultaneously, a single U.S. Air Force A-1 Skyraider flown by Major James N. Swain Jr. was shot down outside the camp perimeter.^[2]:12

The unfolding events seemed to have a negative impact on the cohesion between U.S. and South Vietnamese indigenous forces. The resolve of the Montagnard CIDG soldiers in particular, had apparently been shaken and they disobeyed an order to carry out a sweep operation at the rear end of the camp, and their Vietnamese commander even refused to leave his bunker to encourage the soldiers. The morale and discipline of the indigenous forces had sunk so low that they began to leave their defensive positions without permission, although their section of the camp was never subjected to a major ground attack.^[2]:12 Consequently, the behavior of indigenous CIDG soldiers during the various stages of the battle, coupled with information that 'friendly' Montagnard soldiers had turned on U.S. Marines at Ngok Tavak, had the effect of unnerving U.S. Army soldiers in Khâm Đức. To ensure CIDG soldiers would not abandon their posts, U.S. soldiers threatened to shoot anyone attempting to run away.^[2]:12

Evacuation

At approximately 10:00, the runway at Khâm Đức was cleared of the wrecked helicopter. Moments later, a C-130 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Daryl D. Cole touched down on the runway under heavy fire, which flattened one tire and caused extensive damage to the wing tanks. Almost immediately, Cole's aircraft was rushed by hysterical Vietnamese civilians from ditches along the runway, filling the aircraft so the loadmaster was prevented from unloading the aircraft's cargo. Under heavy fire, Cole decided to navigate his aircraft down the cratered and shrapnel-littered runway, in order to take off.^{[8]:344[2]:47} However, the combined weight of the cargo and civilians, in addition to the damage sustained during landing, prevented the aircraft from gathering enough speed to take off. So the aircrew aborted the take off, offloaded the civilians, and proceeded to cut off the blown tire to stop it from flapping and slowing down the aircraft. They were able to cut off the rubber with the bayonet, and were able to cut through the steel beading thanks to the engineers carefully cutting the steel cords with a blowtorch.^[9] A fire extinguisher was kept handy because of fear of catching the magnesium wheel on fire. About two hours later, realizing that enemy artillery rounds were coming closer to his aircraft, Colonel Cole tried to take off for the second time, and managed to get the C-130 into the air. This time his only passengers were three members of Air Force Combat Control Team (CCT), whose radio equipment had been destroyed.^[2]:48

U.S. soldiers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion, waiting to be airlifted out of Khâm Đức, in a ditch beside the runway.

Just after Cole's C-130 left Khâm Đức, a C-123 flown by Major Ray D. Shelton landed and took out 44 U.S. engineers and 21 South Vietnamese civilians. Shortly after Shelton had landed his aircraft, he reported that enemy fire was coming in from all quadrants, but he was able to take off safely after just three minutes on the ground.^[2]:49 By 11:10, just 145 people had been evacuated by Shelton's aircraft, and a handful of helicopters. After that, another three C-130s also arrived in the vicinity of Khâm Đức, but the pilots were told not to try landings. In the afternoon, the C-130s resumed their operations; at 15:25, Major Bernard L. Bucher's C-130 approached Khâm Đức's airfield from the south and landed despite taking numerous hits.^{[8]:344[2]:49} Some 150 Vietnamese women and children rushed onto the aircraft; as soon as the aircraft was full, Bucher made his takeoff in the north direction, unaware that opposing forces were concentrated in that area. At 15:30 Bucher took off, and his aircraft was quickly riddled by ground fire; it crashed less than a mile from the end of the runway. All the South Vietnamese civilians and the U.S. aircrew died in the crash.^{[2]:50[8]:345}

The wreckage of Major Bucher's C-130

Following the loss of Bucher and his aircraft, there were still more than 600 people on the ground. Next in line was Lieutenant Colonel William Boyd; he was flying an airlift mission into Chu Lai Air Base, until he was diverted into Khâm Đức to extract forces and civilians there.^[2]:51 Just before Boyd touched down, an artillery shell exploded about 100-foot (30 m) in front of his aircraft, so he was forced to pull the throttle forward. Boyd then pulled up and went around for a second approach, because he could see the desperation of the people on the ground. As he landed, hundreds of civilians and soldiers poured out of the ditches and rushed onto the aircraft.^{[8]:345[2]:51} Because he had witnessed the destruction of Bucher's C-130 while taking off in the north direction, Boyd decided to fly out from the southwest. After Boyd's aircraft was airborne, he banked the aircraft so it would be masked by the rolling terrain. The aircraft sustained damage to the left wing, the fuselage, and the leading edge of both wings, but it landed safely in Chu Lai with all the passengers.^{[8]:345[2]:52}

As Boyd took off, another C-130 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel John Delmore closed in on Khâm Đức. At an altitude of about 300-foot (91 m) to 400-foot (120 m), Delmore's aircraft began to receive PAVN fire, and both sides of the cockpit were opened up by bullets that had ripped through the floorboards.^{[2]:52[8]:345} Subsequently, just before touch down, Delmore and his co-pilot shut down the engine and forced the aircraft to remain upright. With no brakes and little directional control, the aircraft crashed into the CH-47 that had been destroyed early in the morning, but Delmore managed to turn his aircraft off the runway to avoid blocking it. When the aircraft had stopped completely, the five-man crew got out as quickly as they could. About 20 minutes later, U.S. soldiers on the ground guided them to safety, and they were rescued by a U.S. Marine CH-46.^[2]:53 After witnessing the destruction of two C-130s, Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Montgomery landed his C-130 and extracted more than 150 Vietnamese civilians and some CIDG and U.S. soldiers. Montgomery's aircraft suffered no hits, but the loadmaster was knocked down and trampled by panic-stricken Vietnamese civilians whilst trying to maintain order.^{[8]:345[2]:53}

Once Montgomery had flown out, another two C-130s arrived in Khâm Đức to continue the evacuation; the first aircraft picked up 130 people, and the one after that took out 90. There were now only a few people remaining on the ground in Khâm Đức, and most of them were U.S. Special Forces soldiers and indigenous CIDG personnel. Major James L. Wallace flew into Khâm Đức and extracted the last group of people, as the ammunition dumps began to explode, and the aircrews reported witnessing hysteria among the Vietnamese soldiers who had lost family members in Bucher's crash.^[2]:53 However, just when the aircrews believed the mission was over, a C-130 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Van Cleeff was ordered to reinsert the three-man Combat Control Team, which had been airlifted out of the compound earlier in the day by Colonel Cole. In protest, Van Cleeff argued that the camp was almost completely evacuated, but the control center insisted that the CCT be reinserted to complete their task of coordinating the evacuation. At about 16:20, Van Cleeff landed his aircraft on the runway and the Combat Control Team – led by Major John W. Gallagher – immediately disembarked from the aircraft.^[2]:53–4

The only photo ever to capture actions leading to a Medal of Honor; Lieutenant Colonel Joe M. Jackson's C-123 (top of photograph) prepares to evacuate the last three men (on runway, right) from Khâm Đức, on 12 May 1968.^[10]

After Gallagher's team had returned to the camp, Van Cleeff waited on the runway for two minutes to extract the survivors, but when nobody appeared he pulled the throttle and took off. As soon as Van Cleeff's aircraft was airborne, another C-130 pilot reported to General McLaughlin that the evacuation had been completed, and the facility could now be destroyed at will. Van Cleeff quickly notified all aircraft in the vicinity that he had just reinserted the CCT.^[2]:57 Gallagher's team searched the Special Forces compound, the Americal Division battalion command post, and the artillery compound, but everybody either had been evacuated or was dead. Additionally, Khâm Đức was in PAVN hands, so Gallagher and the other two men ran to the ditch beside the runway, where they tried to make contact with the aircraft overhead, but the radio was disabled along with all other equipment. While waiting rescue, members of the CCT engaged PAVN troops who had set up a machine gun position beneath the wing of Delmore's crashed C-130, and successfully disabled their opponent's weapon.^[2]:59

During the ordeal, several forward air-controllers were sent out to make low passes over Khâm Đức, to locate the CCT, without success.^[2]:59 Then, in response to a call for the nearest aircraft to land on the runway to search for the stranded CCT, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred J. Jeanotte approached the airfield from the south and landed his C-123 on the runway with support from fighter-bombers, which were used to suppress enemy fire.^[2]:60 Not seeing the men, Jeanotte applied full power and took off to avoid taking hits from PAVN anti-aircraft fire. As the C-123 rolled past the CCT's position, the three men came out of their position chasing the aircraft with their arms waving. Believing that the aircraft had missed them, the three men ran back to the ditch on the left side of the runway.^[8]:346 As the C-123 was airborne, Jeanotte banked his aircraft to the left, and that enabled the aircrew to see the three men running back towards the ditch. However, Jeanotte was deterred from making another attempt at landing, because of low fuel. The next C-123 in line, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Joe M. Jackson, landed on the runway as fire swept through the camp and the aircrew were able to extract the stranded CCT under heavy fire, and they flew out to Đà Nẵng. By 17:00, the evacuation was over.^[2]:64 On 13 May, 60 B-52s bombed the Khâm Đức camp.^[7]:543