James H. Willbanks
May 2014
May 2014
The Vietnam War’s best historian examines the
costly attack on an enemy sanctuary
On February 8, 1971, less than two years after U.S.
President Richard Nixon announced his intention to “Vietnamize” the war, troops
(ARVN) crossed the border into Laos. The primary objective of the operation,
named Lam Son 719, was to destroy supply dumps and sever the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
the logistical corridor running through eastern Laos from North Vietnam south
to Cambodia. The ARVN forces, led by ARVN I Corps commander Lieutenant General
Hoang Xuan Lam, were to seize Base Area 604 west and south of Tchepone, a small
town located at a strategic junction of supply routes 42 kilometers from the
border with South Vietnam. After securing Tchepone, the South Vietnamese would,
for the remainder of the dry season, interdict the trail and destroy logistical
facilities in the area.
Because of the Cooper-Church Amendment passed
by Congress in late 1970, U.S. ground troops and advisers were prohibited from
entering Laos. However, U.S. helicopters would support the operation and U.S.
fighter-bombers, fixed-wing gunships and B-52 bombers would provide air cover.
The South Vietnamese attack into Laos was
preceded by a phase called Operation Dewey Canyon II, in which 1st Brigade of
U.S. 5th Infantry Division cleared the routes inside South Vietnam to Khe Sanh
and facilitated the movement of South Vietnamese forces to attack positions
adjacent to the border. Additionally, from Khe Sanh and surrounding fire
support bases, some 9,000 U.S. troops provided logistical support to the ARVN
and long-range artillery fire into Laos in support of the South Vietnamese
attack. Lieutenant General James W. Sutherland Jr., commander of XXIV Corps,
commanded the U.S. effort.
The plan called for an ARVN armored/infantry
attack along Route 9 to seize Tchepone. A series of firebases would be established
along the northern and southern flanks to cover the advance to the objective.
(See Lam Son 719 map, p. 46.) Once Tchepone was secured, South Vietnamese
forces would conduct search and destroy operations in Base Area 604 before
retiring back down Route 9 or through Base Area 611 to the A Shau Valley. It
was hoped that the force would stay in Laos until the beginning of the rainy
season in early May.
After a massive artillery bombardment and 11
B-52 bombing missions, the lead elements of the 4,000-man armored/infantry task
force, made up of ARVN 1st Armored Brigade reinforced with 1st and 8th airborne
battalions, crossed the Laotian border at Lao Bao on the morning of February 8.
Initially, the task force made excellent progress against only light resistance.
At the same time, ARVN ranger and airborne
units were inserted by helicopter into positions north of the main advance.
Meanwhile, troops from ARVN 1st Division were inserted into a series of
positions along the escarpment south of the Xepon River to cover the southern
flank of the advance. Once the infantry had secured its respective areas,
artillery was flown in and fire support bases were established.
U.S. 101st Airborne Division was assigned the
mission to provide helicopter support for the South Vietnamese forces attacking
into Laos. Because the 101st still had to cover its assigned area of
responsibility in Military Region I, which had been greatly expanded with the
redeployment of ARVN forces in preparation for the upcoming operation, the division
was augmented with additional helicopter units from other U.S. divisions. The
101st Aviation Group commander would control all aviation assault, assault
support, and aerial weapons units, to include both the U.S. aviation units
attached for this operation and the few South Vietnamese helicopters
participating. By the time augmentation was completed, 101st Aviation Group
controlled an additional four assault helicopter companies, two assault support
helicopter companies, two air cavalry troops, two assault helicopter battalion
headquarters, and an aerial rocket artillery battalion, as well as the aviation
group’s own three helicopter battalions. This force of more than 600
helicopters would provide transportation, aerial fire support ,
resupply and medical evacuation for ARVN troops attacking into Laos.
Intelligence estimates before the operation
indicated that around 11,000 troops of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN, also
known as the North Vietnamese Army or NVA) were in the area of operations.
About half of these were combat troops assigned to protect the Ho Chi Minh
Trail, but the other half were thought to be support troops responsible for
maintaining the enemy supply route. It was believed that it would take up to a
month for the PAVN to reinforce these troops with an additional division, which
would have to move from the panhandle of North Vietnam. This proved to be a
major miscalculation.
After the operation, there were claims that
the PAVN had advance warning of ARVN intentions, but these reports were never
substantiated. In the wake of the 1970 U.S.-South Vietnamese Cambodian
Incursion, the PAVN anticipated that the Allies might try something similar in
Laos. If that were to happen, the most likely avenue of approach from South
Vietnam into Laos would be along Route 9. Accordingly, in the fall of 1970, the
PAVN formed a new headquarters, 70B Corps, to control the defense of this
critical area, assigning 304th, 308th and 320th divisions, along with
artillery, armor, engineers and anti-aircraft units. Although the ARVN attack
did not come exactly when the PAVN had first expected, when it did arrive, the
enemy was fully prepared to respond.
By the end of the first day of Lam Son 719,
6,200 South Vietnamese troops were inside Laos. Contact had been relatively
light and ARVN troops had suffered only three killed in action, 38 wounded and
three missing in action. While the ground fighting had not been heavy, the
anti-aircraft fire had been intense and continuous since the beginning of the
operation. During the course of the day, when helicopters made up to 15 trips
each into Laos, a total of seven helicopters were shot down by enemy fire and
several others were damaged. Still, the operation was moving fairly smoothly.
On February 10, the ARVN armored column,
which had been hampered by bad weather and poor road conditions, began moving
slowly west. By early evening, it had linked up with ARVN airborne brigade
paratroopers who had been inserted by helicopter near Ban Dong, a point halfway
to Tchepone, opposed only by light enemy resistance.
By this time, a string of 10 blocking
positions had been established on the high ground on both the northern and
southern flanks of Route 9. South Vietnamese forces in Laos now totaled more
than 10,000 troops in 13 infantry battalions, two ranger battalions, two
artillery battalions and one engineer battalion.
On February 11, for reasons inexplicable at
the time, the main South Vietnamese attack along Route 9 came to a halt on the
road about five kilometers west of Ban Dong. General Creighton Abrams,
commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, had expected a much
more rapid thrust, but the ARVN forces were less concerned about speed and more
worried about securing their flanks. The armored column waited for orders from
General Lam, yet nothing but silence came from I Corps. In the absence of
orders from higher headquarters, ARVN commanders along Route 9 demonstrated
little initiative or inclination to move aggressively toward Tchepone. At this
point, the westward thrust lost all momentum.
After the operation, it was determined that
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu had a hand in halting the ARVN
attack. On February 12, when several intense firefights broke out near A Loui,
Thieu flew to Lam’s headquarters at Dong Ha, just south of the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ). Upon arrival, he warned Lam to be careful as he moved west and
directed him to cancel the operation if his forces incurred 3,000 casualties.
Thieu apparently was worried about how potentially high casualty figures in
Laos would affect the upcoming Vietnamese national elections to be held in the
fall. He also was concerned about losing the ARVN general reserve (consisting
of the airborne division and the South Vietnamese marines, both of which were
committed to the operation).
The pause in the ARVN attack along Route 9
gave the North Vietnamese an opportunity to move in additional reinforcements
as well as the time and the chance to respond to the invasion. Yet in the first
few days of the operation, PAVN forces were slow to react. A postwar history of
the campaign admitted there were “a number of weaknesses” in their effort to
understand the situation and noted they “did not correctly predict the timing
of the enemy’s attack.” However, as the lead ARVN units crossed the border into
Laos, the commander of 70B Corps restrained his forces until he decided whether
the attack along Route 9 was for real or merely a deception to cover the main
attack elsewhere.
Realizing that the ARVN thrust along the
highway was in fact the main attack, the PAVN corps commander ordered 308th
Division, located in an assembly area near the DMZ, to begin moving toward the
area north of Route 9 to reinforce PAVN units already there. At the same time,
the North Vietnamese high command ordered 2d Division to move from positions
farther south to the vicinity of Tchepone and eastward to blunt the ARVN
armored column moving west along Route 9.
Speed and momentum provided the ARVN its only
chance for success; however, when the advance faltered, the troops soon found
themselves under attack by a much stronger enemy than anticipated. They quickly
came under heavy rocket and long-range artillery fire as more PAVN troops moved
into the area. Additionally, the enemy had increased the number of
anti-aircraft weapons on the mountain slopes north and south of Route 9, which
made airmobile operations and aerial resupply increasingly dangerous as Lam Son
continued.
With the South Vietnamese attack stalled
along the road and the ARVN units on the flanks in largely static defensive
positions, the PAVN committed new reinforcements, which immediately launched
attacks against the more lightly defended ranger and airborne bases on the
northern flank. Meanwhile, additional PAVN forces kept the pressure on the
southern flank.
As the situation in Laos continued to unfold,
President Thieu visited I Corps’ forward command post (CP) in Dong Ha late in
the day on February 19 and met with Lam and his division commanders. Lam
briefed the president on the situation, stressing the sightings of new PAVN
units in the area and the increasing pressure on the northern flank. He told
Thieu that enemy reinforcements made the push toward Tchepone extremely risky.
In response, Thieu told Lam “to take his time” and to expand search activities
toward the southwest in an effort to cut Route 914, which ran between Tchepone
and Route 92. This was a meaningless order that essentially told Lam to keep
doing what he was doing.
The enemy’s intent soon became clear. With
the identification of elements of 2d and 304th PAVN divisions, it was apparent
that the North Vietnamese had sent in additional reinforcements. More ominous,
South Vietnamese forces began to sight enemy tanks, and a captured North
Vietnamese soldier stated that a PAVN tank regiment was in the area.
The North Vietnamese, with elements of four
divisions now in the area of operations, increased the intensity of their
attacks on South Vietnamese positions, attempting to isolate the fire support
bases and defeat them one at a time. As part of this effort, they would ring
ARVN positions with anti-aircraft weapons to cut aerial resupply lines while
demoralizing the defenders with round-the-clock mortar, rocket and artillery
fire. Having done that, they would assault the ARVN positions, using combined
infantry/armored forces where possible. In an attempt to negate the impact of
B-52 strikes, PAVN forces would refrain from massing until just before they
attacked. Once the PAVN attacked the ARVN positions, they would “hug the ARVN’s
belt,” moving in as close as possible to the South Vietnamese defenders.
During the battle for Ranger North, one of
the firebases guarding the northern flank, an incident occurred that set the
tone for the lasting public perception of Lam Son 719. Although most of the
ARVN rangers there stood and fought valiantly against overwhelming odds, a few
uninjured soldiers lost their nerve and tried to climb aboard helicopters
attempting to evacuate the seriously wounded. The aircrews tried to prevent
these troops from escaping the battle, but some panicked ARVN soldiers deserted
by clinging to the helicopters’ skids and riding back to South Vietnam. Several
of these soldiers were photographed hanging on for dear life, and this became
the shameful enduring image of Operation Lam Son 719.
The remaining rangers demonstrated remarkable
courage and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, standing as long as they
could against intense rocket, mortar and artillery fire as well as repeated
“human wave” attacks. When they were low on ammunition, these men went out and
took PAVN rifles off enemy bodies and continued to fight.
Despite the valor of these rangers, the
damage was done and the fact that they had fought so well under such adversity
was overlooked. The initial impression that media coverage gave of
panic-stricken ARVN soldiers fleeing the Communists was difficult to overcome.
There would be several similar instances before the operation was over, and
these images proved to be blows not only to ARVN pride but also, by extension,
to the policy of Vietnamization itself.
While the rangers and paratroopers fought for
their lives on the northern flank, a similar pattern was developing south of
Route 9. By this time, ARVN troops were in heavy contact throughout the area of
operations. What had been envisioned as a lighting raid on a key node of the Ho
Chi Minh Trail had devolved into a pitched conventional battle of pure
attrition. Despite the massive amount of air support being provided by
helicopters and fixed-wing attack aircraft, the South Vietnamese forces, having
lost the initiative, were fighting desperately just to hold on to their bases
in Laos.
By the end of February, the South Vietnamese
northern flank was collapsing, the southern flank was under intense enemy
pressure, and the column along Route 9 was effectively stalled and under heavy
attack. General Sutherland reported the developing situation to General Abrams,
saying, “The enemy is all over that goddamn area, and seems to be getting
stronger, if anything.”
At this point, President Thieu inserted
himself into the action once again. Given the enemy’s strong reaction to the
South Vietnamese thrust along Route 9, he had decided that the mission of Lam
Son 719 should shift from destroying PAVN base areas to “taking” Tchepone,
which by itself had no real military value. Although the surrounding jungles
and mountains contained enemy supply caches, civilians had abandoned the town
years ago and it was now nothing more than a collection of broken-down hovels.
Focusing on Tchepone was purely a public relations ploy. “Capturing” the town
would permit Thieu to declare victory and withdraw ARVN forces from harm’s way,
thereby allowing him to save face and gain political capital for the upcoming
fall elections.
Responding to guidance from Thieu, General
Lam devised a plan that called for ARVN 1st Infantry Division, reinforced with
its 2d Regiment, which had been moved from its previous position near the DMZ,
to conduct an assault by helicopter into Tchepone. The Vietnamese marine
division, less one brigade, would follow 1st Division, and the airborne
division would assume the mission of securing Route 9 while continuing to
protect the northern flank.
The plan was for U.S. 223d Combat Aviation
Battalion (CAB) to lift ARVN soldiers into three landing zones (LZs) located
along the escarpment south of Route 9 and the Xepon River, which were to be
sequentially occupied. Once these LZs were secured, another force would be
inserted by helicopter into a fourth LZ just a few kilometers from Tchepone to
make the final assault on the town itself. These LZs were named for four
actresses: Lolo, for Gina Lollobrigida; Liz, for Elizabeth Taylor; Sophia, for
Sophia Loren; and Hope, for Hope Lange.
From March 3-6, U.S. and South Vietnamese
forces at Khe Sanh mounted one of the largest protracted airmobile operations
of the war. The assault on Tchepone involved more helicopters in a single
operation than any previous combat air assault in U.S. Army aviation history.
Moreover, it was carried out in what proved to be the most hostile air defense
environment encountered to that point in the war. The helicopter crews had
their work cut out for them.
LZ Lolo was atop the highest peak on the
southern escarpment, 13 kilometers southeast of Tchepone. The plan for the
assault on Lolo called for the insertion of three infantry battalions and one
reinforced artillery battery. On the morning of March 3, 223d CAB, with
additional helicopters from 14th and 158th aviation battalions, airlifted ARVN
troops from 3d Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, from LZ Delta into LZ Lolo.
The insertion was preceded the night before by eight B- 52s bombing enemy
positions south of the LZ and six fighter strikes on and around the LZ.
The first helicopters landed and ARVN
soldiers dismounted and began to deploy. Initially, there was no enemy
response; however, when the following flight tried to land to offload troops,
enemy forces opened up with everything they had. Seven of the next 10 Huey
helicopters into the LZ took hits as enemy fire increased. Of the first 20
troop-carrying helicopters participating in the Lolo insertion, PAVN gunners
shot down one en route and destroyed four others at the landing zone; another
eight were damaged as they touched down to unload. Two Huey gunships were also
shot down just east of the LZ. One pilot in the lift to Lolo later observed,
“They put in five hours of airstrikes and Cobras [attack helicopter gunships]
on the hillside. Then we went in and it sounded like a million people opened up
on us.”
A second lift had to be postponed for a
while, but by the end of the day the ARVN had occupied Lolo. However, in the
process, a total of 11 helicopters were shot down and 44 others were damaged by
the withering fire in the vicinity of the LZ, making this one of the darkest
days in U.S. Army aviation history.
On March 5, two more battalions from ARVN 2d
Regiment were inserted by helicopter into LZ Sophia, four kilometers west of
Liz and just four and a half kilometers southeast of Tchepone. Once again, PAVN
anti-aircraft gunners fiercely contested the insertion, shooting down three
helicopters in the first lift. U.S. aviators pressed on against heavy enemy
fire, but while inserting ARVN troops at Sophia, two Cobras, two Huey gunships
and two more Hueys were shot down. Most of the other aircraft in the flight
sustained heavy damage as well.
By the end of the day on March 5, South
Vietnamese forces had established a string of LZs and FSBs along the escarpment
south of Route 9. The next phase of the final assault on Tchepone began on the
afternoon of March 6, preceded by a heavy pounding of PAVN positions around
Tchepone by fighter-bombers, B-52s and long-range 175 mm guns firing from
inside South Vietnam.
Meanwhile, two battalions from 2d Regiment of
ARVN 1st Division waited 77 kilometers away at Khe Sanh aboard 120 U.S. Huey
helicopters. The airlift from Khe Sanh to LZ Hope, four kilometers northeast of
Tchepone, was controlled by 223d CAB and supported by Cobra gunships, aerial
rocket artillery and fighter-bombers in what was one of the largest and longest
helicopter assaults of the war. By the end of the day, 276 helicopter sorties
(with some aircraft making three trips) landed about 5,000 ARVN soldiers at LZ
Hope.
The assault on Tchepone itself began March 7
when battalions from 2d Regiment that had landed at LZ Hope attacked cross-
country to secure the town. The ARVN had reached its objective; it took
Tchepone and struck a blow against the enemy and its supply buildup. This was
the high watermark for the South Vietnamese forces in Laos. At this point in
the campaign, South Vietnamese strength in Laos was 16,844 troops, which
included 18 battalions of infantry (including airborne), four artillery
battalions, three armored cavalry squadrons, two engineer battalions and six
marine battalions.
From President Thieu’s perspective, the
objective of Lam Son 719 had been accomplished; the PAVN had suffered heavy
losses in the bitter fighting and ARVN troops had found and destroyed a large
volume of enemy supplies. However, with his battered forces now outnumbered
about 2-to-1 and strung out all along Route 9 from the border to Tchepone,
Thieu was unwilling to risk more casualties or the potential destruction of his
best division (1st Division) and the bulk of his strategic reserve.
Intelligence reports indicated that the North Vietnamese were still rushing
reinforcements to the area and their air defenses showed no signs of weakening.
Accordingly, Thieu decided that it was time to get out before the situation
grew worse. He gave the order to terminate the operation and begin the
withdrawal.
I Corps’ plan for the withdrawal from Laos
called for a “phased delay operation” in which ARVN forces would fall back
toward South Vietnam in leapfrog fashion, destroying base areas and supplies in
their path as they went. Withdrawal of a force in contact was an extremely
difficult maneuver, but particularly so when that force was greatly outnumbered
by the enemy.
By this time, the PAVN had moved a total of
five divisions, 12 infantry regiments, two tank regiments, an artillery
regiment and 19 anti-aircraft battalions – more than 60,000 troops – into the
area to inflict as much damage as possible on the ARVN. With these forces, the
North Vietnamese did everything they could to prevent the South Vietnamese from
escaping, pursuing them with tanks and other armored vehicles while continuing
to pound them with artillery, rockets and mortars. Route 9 became a tangle of
disabled and destroyed ARVN tanks and other vehicles. The panic that ensued in
some South Vietnamese units during the bitter fighting that followed was
reminiscent of that displayed earlier by the deserters at Ranger Base North.
As the South Vietnamese forces fought their
way back toward the border, PAVN forces increased pressure on the retreating
troops. Poor weather and difficulty in coordinating tactical air support made
matters worse. Casualties on both sides were very high.
By March 25, 45 days after entering Laos,
most ARVN troops had finally withdrawn back to South Vietnam. The North
Vietnamese leadership in Hanoi promptly declared victory, claiming their forces
had killed 20,000 ARVN troops and captured more than 1,000, “eliminating” three
regiments and brigades, 13 infantry and artillery battalions and four armored
squadrons. Additionally, they asserted they had destroyed 1,100 vehicles,
including 528 tanks and armored personnel carriers and more than 100 artillery
pieces, plus shot down more than 500 helicopters. These claims by the North
Vietnamese were grossly exaggerated, but the actual figures were bad enough.
President Thieu proclaimed Lam Son 719 “the
biggest victory ever … a moral, political, and psychological Dien Bien Phu.”
President Nixon, in a televised address to the nation, stated, “Tonight I can
report [that] Vietnamization has succeeded.”
In fact, Lam Son 719 was far from a victory.
Some South Vietnamese units had fought valiantly in Laos; others had not. The
cost of the fighting had been high. Saigon reported the operation had resulted
in 1,160 government troops killed, 4,271 wounded and 240 missing. Many in the
media challenged these figures and put actual ARVN casualties at 3,800 killed,
5,200 wounded and 775 missing.
According to XXIV Corps’ official figures,
which were close to those reported by the media, ARVN casualties included more
than 7,000 killed, wounded or captured – a casualty rate of nearly 40 percent.
Combined U.S. casualties for both Lam Son 719 and Dewey Canyon II included 253
killed or missing in action and 1,149 wounded.
In terms of equipment, the U.S. lost 107
helicopters destroyed and 601 damaged (20 percent of which were so badly
damaged that they were not expected to fly again). The U.S. Air Force lost six
fighter-bombers and a forward air controller aircraft, and four pilots were
killed in action (or declared missing). The ARVN lost 211 trucks, 87 combat
vehicles, 54 tanks, 96 artillery pieces and most of the combat engineer
equipment (bulldozers, graders, etc.) that had accompanied the attackers.
On the plus side, General Abrams reported
that of the 33enemy battalions engaged, at least 16 had been rendered combat
ineffective. The Allies also reported 1,963 crew- served and 5,170 individual
enemy weapons captured. Additionally, 106 tanks, 13 artillery pieces, 2,001
vehicles, 170,346 tons of munitions, 90,000 gallons of fuel and 1,250 tons of
rice were destroyed. It is important to note that while these results are
impressive, most of them occurred in the early part of the campaign before the
South Vietnamese lost the initiative.
There is ample evidence that the operation at
least temporarily disrupted the PAVN buildup in Laos, costing the Communists
dearly in men and equipment that probably would have been used in a major enemy
offensive against Military Region I later in 1971. While South Vietnamese
losses had been severe, North Vietnamese forces had suffered as badly, if not
worse, losing by some counts up to one-half of their troops committed to the
operation.
PAVN casualties inflicted notwithstanding,
the operation had a devastating effect on South Vietnamese morale and esprit.
Despite President Thieu’s bombastic statements about the operation’s success,
the ARVN forces that retreated from Laos believed they had been defeated. Even
General Abrams acknowledged, “Field reports indicate that morale of certain
combat units in the 1st ARVN Division, marine division, and the airborne
division suffered as a result of the Lam Son 719 operation.”
The operation raised serious questions about
the progress of Vietnamization, and Nixon was privately distressed over how
poorly the South Vietnamese had performed. As General Phillip B. Davidson,
former MACV J2 (intelligence), later said, “Lam Son 719 demonstrated that,
while Vietnamization had made progress, the South Vietnamese government and its
armed forces had deep flaws which made final success of the concept years,
probably decades, away. Above all, the operation showed ARVN’s complete dependence
on the United States forces.”
In the aftermath of Lam Son 719, General
Abrams and his MACV staff accelerated their efforts to increase the combat
capability of South Vietnamese armed forces. Unfortunately, they would not have
much time – the North Vietnamese were planning a major offensive in South
Vietnam for 1972.
James H. Willbanks is an “ACG” advisory board member and the editor or author of 13
books, including “Abandoning Vietnam,” “The Battle of An Loc,” and “The Tet
Offensive: A Concise History.” His new book, “A Raid Too Far: Operation Lam Son
719 and Vietnamization in Laos,” will be published by Texas A&M University
Press in early 2014.
Originally published in the May 2014 issue of Armchair General.
https://www.historynet.com/south-vietnam-invades-laos-1971.htm?fbclid=IwAR3SK-Q8WRzH9BYWoh59NzDjEDfyxvB35_9IY_I56S5bgh7wAdAr3K3murw
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