Operation Lam Son 719

Operation Lam Son 719
Part of the Vietnam War
Fire support bases and movement of forces
Date 8 February – 25 March 1971 (1 month, 2 weeks and 3 days) Location Southeastern Laos Result South Vietnamese operational failure[1][2]
Belligerents
South Vietnam  United States Kingdom of Laos	North Vietnam Viet Cong Pathet Lao
Commanders and leaders
Hoàng Xuân Lãm Dư Quốc Đống Lê Nguyên Khang Phạm Văn Phú Creighton Abrams James W. Sutherland John G. Hill Jr.	Lê Trọng Tấn (Military) Lê Quang Đạo (Political) Cao Văn Khánh (Regional)
Units involved
I Corps Tactical Zone Marine Division Airborne Division 1st Infantry Division 2nd Infantry Division 1st Armored Brigade 3rd Armored Brigade 1st Ranger Group 21st Ranger Battalion 39th Ranger Battalion XXIV Corps (only within South Vietnam) 5th Infantry Division 1st Brigade 23rd Infantry Division 11th Infantry Brigade 45th Engineer Group 101st Aviation Group 108th Artillery Group Seventh Air Force GM30 and GM33[3]	Command 702 B-70 Corps 304th Division 308th Division 320th Division 2nd Division 324B Division 367th Air Defense Division 7th, 83rd and 219th Engineer Regiments 38th, 45th and 38th Artillery Regiments 230th, 241st and 591st Anti-Aircraft Regiments Group 559 Unit B4 Unit B5 Squadron 559
Strength
21,000 troops with additional 10,000 support troop 10,000 – 15,000 support troops (in South Vietnam) ~4,000 troops	~25,000 to ~35,000 troops 88 tanks[4]
Casualties and losses
Per South Vietnam 1,146[5]: 131 -8,843[6] killed 4,236[5]: 131 -12,420[6] wounded 1,767 missing/captured[5]: 131  Per US 215 killed 1,149 wounded 38 missing[7] Materiel (US/ARVN): 32+ artillery pieces destroyed, 82 captured[8][9]: 271  7 aircraft lost[10] 108 helicopters destroyed and 618 damaged (20% badly damaged beyond repair)[11][12] 71 tanks, 163 armoured combat vehicles, 37 half-trucks, 278 trucks destroyed[13]	Per North Vietnam 2,163 killed and 6,176 wounded[14] South Vietnam claimed 19,360 killed[5]: 131  670 anti-aircraft guns destroyed[15] 422[5]: 132 -600[15] trucks destroyed 88[15]-106[5]: 132  tanks destroyed

Operation Lam Son 719 or 9th Route – Southern Laos Campaign (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Lam Sơn 719 or Chiến dịch đường 9 – Nam Lào) was a limited-objective offensive campaign conducted in the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos. The campaign was carried out by the armed forces of South Vietnam between 8 February and 25 March 1971, during the Vietnam War. The United States provided logistical, aerial and artillery support for the operation, but its ground forces were prohibited by law from entering Laotian territory. The objective of the campaign was the disruption of a possible future offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), whose logistical system within Laos was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to North Vietnam).

By launching a pre-emptive attack against the PAVN's long-established logistical system, the American and South Vietnamese high commands hoped to resolve several pressing issues. A quick victory in Laos would bolster the morale and confidence of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which was already high in the wake of the successful Cambodian Campaign of 1970. It would also serve as proof that South Vietnamese forces could defend their nation in the face of the continuing Vietnamization withdrawal of U.S. ground combat forces from the theater. The operation would be, therefore, a test of that policy and the ARVN's capability to operate effectively by itself.

However, due to PAVN and the Viet Cong's (VC) intelligence and preparation beforehand, an inability by the political and military leaders of the U.S. and South Vietnam to face military realities, and poor execution, Operation Lam Son 719 collapsed when faced by the determined resistance of a skillful foe. The campaign demonstrated continued deficiencies in ARVN military leadership and that the best units of the ARVN could be defeated by the PAVN, destroying the confidence that had been built up over the previous three years.