Siege of Khe Sanh

A prolonged 1968 battle in which North Vietnamese forces surrounded the U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh in South Vietnam. It became a major test of U.S. air power and a focus of the Tet Offensive period.

Khe Sanh Combat Base: A U.S. Marine Corps installation in western Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, near the Laotian border. The fixed outpost North Vietnamese forces encircled and attacked.
Ho Chi Minh Trail: A network of paths and roads used by North Vietnam to move troops and supplies through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam. Khe Sanh lay near routes linking North Vietnamese forces to the southern battlefield.
Tet Offensive: A large-scale campaign of surprise attacks by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces across South Vietnam in early 1968. The siege overlapped with the offensive and competed with its attacks for U.S. attention.
Operation Scotland: A U.S. Marine operation to defend Khe Sanh that began in November 1967 and continued through the siege. It covers the defense and the prolonged combat before the base was relieved.
Operation Niagara: A U.S. air campaign that concentrated strikes around Khe Sanh in early 1968. It coordinated air attacks intended to blunt the forces surrounding the base.
Route 9 (Vietnam): A road running east from Laos across South Vietnam to the coast near Dong Ha. The road connected Khe Sanh with the coastal region and became central to relief operations.
Battle of Huế: A major battle during the Tet Offensive in which communist forces occupied and fought for the South Vietnamese city of Huế. Its prolonged urban fighting was another major battle dominating coverage during Khe Sanh.
Hill Fights (Khe Sanh): A series of clashes in April 1967 for hills near the Khe Sanh Combat Base. The earlier fighting established the contested hills surrounding the base.
Aerial resupply: The delivery of personnel and supplies to locations by aircraft. Air transport sustained the isolated garrison when ground routes were unsafe.
Demilitarized Zone (Vietnam): A strip of land established between North and South Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Accords. The battle unfolded near the zone separating the two Vietnamese states.

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Land warfareBroader topic: Khe Sanh highlights the vulnerability of isolated ground positions dependent on resupply.