A Brief History
On November 8, 1965, a North Vietnamese force of 1,200 soldiers ambushed 400 of the US Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade West of the Dong Nai River and paid dearly for their disregard of American military prowess.
Digging Deeper
In a search and destroy mission called Operation Hump, the US Army was roaming South Vietnam hoping to find and engage North Vietnamese forces to force a battle that would diminish the Communist forces. As often happened during the US war in Vietnam, it was the Vietnamese that found the Americans first and initiated contact.
Although the outnumbered American soldiers were surrounded, the battle resulted in only 49 American deaths and 83 GIs wounded, but between 400 and 700 North Vietnamese soldiers were killed.
Despite the huge difference in casualties, the American losses hurt the US morale and psyche more than the Vietnamese losses hurt the communists. Time and again, US Army and Marines defeated the NVA, only to lose the war of wills.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Why did North Vietnam win the war?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Conetto, Al. The Hump: The 1st Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry, in the First Major Battle of the Vietnam War. McFarland; Illustrated edition, 2015.
McManus, John. The Vietnam War. The Great Courses, 2022.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of US paratroopers under fire during Operation Hump, is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
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