Mai Loc Camp

Mai Loc Camp
Coordinates 16°43′59″N 106°57′40″E / 16.733°N 106.961°E / 16.733; 106.961 (Mai Loc Camp)
Type Army
Site information
Condition abandoned
Site history
Built 1968
In use 1968-72
Battles/wars
Vietnam War
Garrison information
Occupants 5th Special Forces Group
Mai Loc Airfield
IATA: noneICAO: none
Summary
Elevation AMSL 348 ft / 106 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3,200 975 laterite

Mai Loc Camp (also known as Firebase Mai Loc) was a U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base located west of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam.

History

Mai Loc was located approximately 8 km southwest of Ca Lu Combat Base and 25 km west of Quảng Trị.[1]

The 5th Special Forces Group first established the base here in early 1968.[2]

The 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division comprising:

supported by 2nd Battalion, 319th Artillery was based here in October–November 1969.

On 9/10 April 1970 a Company-sized People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) sapper unit attacked Mai Loc resulting in 6 U.S. (including 4 members of the 14th Engineer Battalion), 14 CIDG and 19 PAVN killed.[4] U.S Special Forces left Mai Loc in late August 1970.[2]:316

Other units based at Mai Loc included:

On 2 April 1972 the Vietnamese Marines abandoned Mai Loc in the face of the PAVN assault on Quảng Trị.[5]

Current use

The base has been turned over to farmland.

References

  1. Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. pp. 5–323. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  2. 1 2 Stanton, Shelby (2008). Special Forces at War: An Illustrated History, Southeast Asia 1957-1975. Zenith Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780760334492.
  3. 1 2 Stanton, Shelby (2003). Vietnam Order of Battle. Stackpole Books. p. 159. ISBN 9780811700719.
  4. "Viet Reds overrun U.S. camp". Chicago Tribune. 10 April 1970. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. Stoffey, Robert (2008). Fighting to Leave: The Final Years of America's War in Vietnam, 1972-1973. Zenith Press. pp. 38–42, 51. ISBN 9780760333105.


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