Battle of Song Be

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Battle of Song Be
Part of Vietnam War
Date May 10-15, 1965
Location Song Be, South Vietnam
Result South Vietnamese Victory
Combatants
Viet Cong South Vietnam
United States
Casualties
85 Dead 49 ARVN dead
5 American dead
Vietnam War
Ap Bac – Binh Gia –Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – A Shau – Duc  Co –Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Junction City – Hill 881 – Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Dewey Canyon  – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Lam Son 719 – Ban Dong –FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri –Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri  –Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buon Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa –2nd Saigon – Rolling Thunder – Barrell Roll – Pony Express – Steel Tiger – Tiger Hound – Tailwind – Commando Hunt – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Chenla I – Chenla II – SS Mayagüez

The Battle of Song Be was a major action between the NLF (Viet Cong) and ARVN, the South Vietnamese army. Planned as a major show of force against the rapidly collapsing ARVN forces, the NLF attempted to capture the capital of Phuoc Long province, Song Be. Perhaps to their surprise, ARVN forces in the area rallied and re-took the town by the end of the second day of combat. Several additional days of chasing the NLF forces involved proved fruitless.

Contents

[edit] Background

A series of political and military setbacks starting as early as 1962 had been gradually eroding the combat effectiveness of the ARVN forces, originally more than a match for the VC with their U.S. supplied helicopters and armored personnel carriers. The NLF forces had been left to train in relative safety and had developed new tactics and been supplied with new weapons that seriously upset the balance of power. By 1964 ARVN morale was collapsing and the NLF was in nominal control of much of the countryside. It appeared the war was entering its endgame, and the NLF was planning ever-larger operations.

On April 16 the U.S. Special Forces SF B-34 Detachment was sent to Song Be to reinforce the ARVN forces, joining an existing MACV team headquarters in the town. They set about building up a fortified area on a nearby hill, and were joined by the POW intelligence team, 120 AVN.

[edit] The Battle

At 0145 on the morning of the 10th, the NLF 761st and 763d Regiments attacked the city from multiple directions. Even though the American positions were still being constructed, the SF and 120 AVN were able to stop them from overrunning their positions, and the area of the town around them. At 0345 helicopter gunships arrived, but were unable to see the ground due to fog and low clouds. They instead attacked supporting artillery (likely 82mm mortars) west of the town. Attempts to evacuate casualties from the U.S. positions in medivacs (UH-1C's) were repeatedly driven off by .50 calibre machine guns, until these were attacked by air and the evacuation finally took place at 0800.

At noon the 36 ARVN Ranger battalion attacked into the town, and drove off the VC occupying the center of the town. This is surprising in some regards, as the Rangers were local irregular forces and generally had not performed well against the NLF in prior battles. They were joined a few hours later by the 34th ARVN Rangers, and by the evening the entire town was returned to southern control.

[edit] References

  • Bowman S.John(1989)The Vietnam War: Day by Day. Bison Group, London.
  • Battle of Song Be

[edit] Contemporary news reporting

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