Battle of Lang Vei

Battle of Lang Vei
Part of the Vietnam War
A North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) PT-76 amphibious tank, the same type fielded at the battle at Lang Vei by the North Vietnamese, on display as a battle-victory commemorative monument.
Date 6–7 February 1968 Location Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam 16°36′00″N 106°40′05″E / 16.600°N 106.668°E / 16.600; 106.668 Result North Vietnamese victory
Belligerents
North Vietnam	United States  South Vietnam Laos
Commanders and leaders
Le Cong Phe	Frank C. Willoughby
Strength
3 Infantry battalions 2 Sapper companies 2 Armored companies (14 PT-76 light tanks)[1]	24 U.S. Special Forces 500 Montagnard and Vietnamese CIDG soldiers[2]: 113  350 Royal Lao Army soldiers[3]: 24
Casualties and losses
90 killed 7 tanks destroyed or damaged[1]	200+ killed/missing 119 captured [2]: 137  7 killed 3 captured 42 killed 100+ captured

The Battle of Lang Vei (Vietnamese: Trận Làng Vây) began on the evening of 6 February 1968 and concluded during the early hours of 7 February, in Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. Towards the end of 1967, the 198th Tank Battalion of the People's Army of Vietnam's (PAVN) 202nd Armored Regiment received instructions from the North Vietnamese Ministry of Defense to reinforce the 304th Division as part of the Route 9–Khe Sanh Campaign. After an arduous journey down the Ho Chi Minh trail in January 1968, the 198th Tank Battalion linked up with the 304th Division for an offensive along Highway 9, which stretched from the Laotian border through to Quảng Trị Province. On 23 January, the 24th Regiment attacked the small Laotian outpost at Bane Houei Sane, under the control of the Royal Laos Army BV-33 "Elephant" Battalion. In that battle, the 198th Tank Battalion failed to reach the battle on time because its crews struggled to navigate their tanks through the rough local terrain. However, as soon as the PT-76 tanks of the 198th Tank Battalion turned up at Bane Houei Sane, the Laotian soldiers and their families retreated into South Vietnam.

After Bane Houei Sane was captured, the 24th Regiment prepared for another attack which targeted the U.S. Special Forces Camp at Lang Vei, manned by Detachment A-101 of the 5th Special Forces Group and indigenous Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) forces. On 6 February, the 24th Regiment, again supported by the 198th Tank Battalion, launched their assault on Lang Vei. Despite artillery and air support, the U.S.-led forces conceded ground and the PAVN quickly dominated their positions. By the early hours of 7 February the command bunker was the only position still held by Allied forces. To rescue the American survivors inside the Lang Vei Camp, a counterattack was mounted, but the Laotian soldiers who formed the bulk of the attack formation refused to fight the PAVN. Later on, U.S. Special Forces personnel were able to escape from the camp, and were rescued by a U.S. Marine task force from Khe Sanh Combat Base.^[4]