Battle of Ap Bac

Battle of Ấp Bắc Trận Ấp Bắc
Part of the Vietnam War
A map of the battlefield.
Date 2 January 1963 Location 10°26′18″N 106°11′43″E / 10.43833°N 106.19528°E / 10.43833; 106.19528 Ấp Bắc Hamlet, Định Tường Province (now Tiền Giang Province), South Vietnam Result Viet Cong victory
Belligerents
Viet Cong	South Vietnam  United States
Commanders and leaders
Võ Văn Điều Đặng Minh Nhuận	Bùi Đình Đạm Huỳnh Văn Cao John Paul Vann
Units involved
261st Battalion 514th Battalion	7th Division 11th Infantry Regiment 2 Civil Guard battalions 4th Mechanised Rifle Squadron 8th Airborne Battalion 93rd Transportation Company
Strength
350 guerrillas[1]	1,400 troops [1] 13 M113 APCs[2] 10 CH-21 Shawnees[3] 5 UH-1C Iroquois[4] 1 L-19 Bird Dog[5]
Casualties and losses
18 killed[1] 39 wounded	South Vietnamese: 86 killed[1] 108 wounded American: 3 killed 8 wounded 5 helicopters destroyed

The Battle of Ấp Bắc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War in Định Tường Province (now part of Tiền Giang Province), South Vietnam. On 28 December 1962, US intelligence detected the presence of a radio transmitter along with a sizable force of Viet Cong (VC) soldiers, reported to number around 120, in the hamlet of Ap Tan Thoi in Dinh Tuong Province, home of the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) 7th Infantry Division. The South Vietnamese and their US advisers planned to attack Ap Tan Thoi from three directions to destroy the VC force by using two provincial Civil Guard battalions and elements of the 11th Infantry Regiment, ARVN 7th Infantry Division. The infantry units would be supported by artillery, M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs), and helicopters. However, Viet Cong forces anticipated a major attack from the South Vietnamese government from a variety of sources including movement of supplies, an undercover VC agent, and decoded radio communications from the ARVN. Accordingly the VC prepared for an attack by US and South Vietnamese forces.

On the morning of 2 January 1963, the South Vietnamese Civil Guards spearheaded the attack by marching toward Ap Tan Thoi from the south. However, when they reached the hamlet of Ap Bac, southeast of Ap Tan Thoi, they were immediately pinned down by elements of the VC 261st Battalion. Shortly afterward, three companies of the 11th Infantry Regiment were committed into battle in northern Ap Tan Thoi. However, they too could not overcome the VC soldiers who had entrenched themselves in the area. Just before midday, further reinforcements were flown in from Tan Hiep. The 15 US helicopters ferrying the troops were riddled by VC gunfire and five helicopters were lost as a result.

The ARVN 4th Mechanized Rifle Squadron was then deployed to rescue the South Vietnamese soldiers and US aircrews trapped at the southwest end of Ap Bac. However, its commander was highly reluctant to move heavy M113 APCs across the local terrain. Ultimately, their presence made little difference as the VC stood its ground and killed more than a dozen South Vietnamese M113 crew members in the process. The ARVN 8th Airborne Battalion was dropped late in the afternoon onto the battlefield. In a scene that characterized much of the day's fighting, they were pinned down and could not break the VC's line of defense. Under cover of darkness, the VC withdrew from the battlefield, winning their first major victory.