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KHE SANH |
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The battle of Khe Sanh attracted worldwide media attention and,
along with the simultaneous Tet Offensive, demonstrated the futility of
America's efforts to contain their enemy. In late 1967, skirmishes
around Khe Sanh increased as intelligence reports indicated a massive
build-up of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops, possibly as many as
40,000, facing 6000 Marines together with a few hundred South Vietnamese
and Bru. Both the Western media and American generals were soon
presenting the confrontation as a crucial test of America's credibility
in South Vietnam. The NVA attack began in the early hours of January 21,
1968 and the battle lasted nine weeks, during which time the US pounded
the area with nearly 100,000 tonnes of bombs, averaging one airstrike
every five minutes, backed up by napalm and defoliants. The NVA were so
well dug in that they continued to return fire, despite horrendous
casualties. By the middle of March the NVA had all but gone, having
successfully diverted American resources away from southern cities prior
to the Tet Offensive. Three months later the Americans also withdrew,
leaving a plateau that resembled a lunar landscape, contaminated for
years to come with chemicals and explosives; white phosphorus continues
to smoulder here in the summer sun.
The town of KHE SANH (now officially rechristened Huang Hoa ) is a bleak,
one-street settlement, its frontier atmosphere reinforced by the
smugglers' trail across the border to Laos, only 19km away. To find the
base , fork right beside a three-legged monument on the town's eastern
outskirts, follow the road for 2km and then turn right beside a house
onto an unmarked path. There are two basic guesthouses on Khe Sanh's
dusty main street (Highway 9): Mien Nui Guesthouse (tel 053/880237;
$5-10) in the centre of town under the radio mast has bigger rooms; 1km
further west find the slightly cheaper but more run-down Huong Hoa
Guesthouse (tel 053/880563; $5-10). Opposite the Mien Nui, and about 20m
west, are a few wooden shacks which serve as pretty good restaurants .
The bank next to the Huong Hoa will change dollar notes but at poor
rates. Buses either stop on the highway or leave from Khe Sanh bus
station, an open field across from the Mien Nui, with frequent
departures for Lao Bao and the Lao border , and for Dong Ha in the
opposite direction; change in Dong Ha for Hué.
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