In late 1967 the North Vietnamese Army begins a carefully prepared operation against the U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh, in the northwest corner of I Corps. By January 1968, between 15,000 and 30,000 NVA troops surrounded the base. The base with some 6,000 Marine defenders, roughly 3,000 garrisoned at outposts near Khe Sanh itself. Previously there had been major battles on the Hill surrounding Khe Sanh known as the “Hill Fights” in the summer and fall of 1967. On January 20th, 1968 NVA troops attacked a U.S. patrol, early the next morning, a main assault followed. The U.S. reinforced Khe Sanh with artillery and air support, including a massive air campaign, Operation NIAGARA. Intense fighting and artillery barrages last into April of 1968. Throughout the siege, there is some discord between General Westmoreland’s MACV headquarters and Marine Corps leadership. Complex and ill-defined command structures between MACV and III MAF lead General Westmoreland to create MACV Forward at Phu Bai, a new headquarters to oversee the battle for I Corps and bring the Marine fixed-wing aircraft under Air Force control. Eventually the Siege was defeated but the US abandoned the bases a week later. After this, General Westmoreland was replaced by General Creighton Abrams (M1 Abrams tank was named after him), a famous WW2 tank ace/commander in the 3rd Armor Division who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice (2nd highest combat award). His tank destroyed the second most of German vehicles out of any US tank crew, Lafayette Pool was first. General George Patton said of him: "I'm supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer—Abrams. He's the world champion.” #vietnam #war #sniper #history #combat #footage #interview #documentary #pilot #airborne #jet #plane #helicopter #1960s #us #coldwar #army #marines #navy #airforce #spaceforce #coastguard #fyp #fypシ #fy #f #capcut #CapCut #khesanh #tet #offensive #tank #general #ace