Fodor's Expert Review Khe Sanh

One of the biggest battles of the war—and one of the most significant American losses—took place on January 21, 1968 at Khe Sanh, the site of a U.S. Army base 145 km (90 miles) northwest of Hue. Khe Sanh lies in a highland valley not far from Highway 9, which links Vietnam with southern Laos. General William Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, became convinced in late 1967 that the North Vietnamese were massing troops in the area in preparation for a campaign to seize South Vietnam's northernmost provinces. Relying on an analogy with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, he reinforced Khe Sanh with thousands of Marines and ordered the dropping of more than 75,000 tons of explosives on the surrounding area. The North Vietnamese suffered horrendous casualties—estimates are that as many as 10,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and hundreds of U.S. Marines lost their lives, a sacrifice that seems senseless given the fact that the American forces abandoned the base shortly after, in June 1968. Although the debate continues, many military experts believe that the battle at Khe Sanh was merely a feint designed to pull American forces away from the population centers of South Vietnam in preparation for a massive assault by the North Vietnamese in the Tet Offensive of early 1968. Although there is only a small museum commemorating the battle at Khe Sanh, a visit to the base provides a sense of how isolated and besieged the U.S. Marines must have felt as they were bombarded from the surrounding mountains. In the museum, which opens whenever tours come through the area, there are a number of interesting pictures of the battle and a book for visitors' comments that reflects the continuing debate about the American presence in Vietnam.