Khe Sanh Combat Base and Battle: Things You Need to Know

Khe Sanh Combat Base is located in Khe Sanh town, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province in the Central of Vietnam. Distance from Khe Sanh to Dong Ha Town is about 63 km, and 20 km to Lao Bao Border Gate. Khe Sanh is known to the World through the Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968 in the history of the Vietnam War. This place is also likened to the "Second Battle of Dien Bien Phu" or the place of "Hell on Earth" in the mind of the US Marines.

Location: Khe Sanh Town, Huong Hoa District, Quang Tri Province
Opening Hours: Daily from 7.30AM - 5.30PM
Entry Fee Ticket: 50.000 VND/Adult/Turn

Khe Sanh Combat Base

Airplane in Khe Sanh Museum Today (Formerly Ta Con Air Base)

Khe Sanh Combat Base and the Battle of Khe Sanh Sumary:

Khe Sanh had a very important strategic position in the war, so the US army set up Khe Sanh Combat Base (at Khe Sanh) with the expectation that it would prevent reinforcements from the North to the South of the People's Army of Vietnam and will cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Khe Sanh is located in a valley of red soil 400 m above sea level. In 1965-1966, the US Army and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam built Khe Sanh into the largest stronghold in the line of defense (National Road No 9 with many Army Bases: Con Thien, Doc Mieu, Dong Ha, Cam Lo, Camp Caroll, The Rockpile, Ta Con Airport, Lang Vei, …). This is also one of the three "God Eyes" (Khe Sanh, Lang Vei and Ta Con Airbase) of the McNamara Electronic Fence. At Khe Sanh, major battles took place during the Road 9 - Khe Sanh campaign in 1968, and the Road 9 - Southern Laos campaign in 1971.

Khe Sanh Combat Base

Map of McNamara Line in DMZ Area of the Vietnam War

The McNamara Electronic Fence included electronic equipments detecting penetrations used by the US military along the DMZ area and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, as a means of ground reconnaissance. In order to detect the transportation activities of the Vietnamese People's Army circulating through this area during the Vietnam War. However, the project went bankrupt after 1968, after the Vietnamese People's Army launched the TET Offensive and the Khe Sanh base attack, won the fight and took over Khe Sanh.

Khe Sanh Battle

Map of Ho Chi Minh Trails (on the Sea Water and on Land)

Especially marked in this land is the Battle of Khe Sanh: also known as the road 9 - Khe Sanh campaign lasting 4 main periods (based on Vietnamese history):

Period 1 (20/1-07/02) The Vietnamese People's Army destroyed the Lang Vei stronghold (a stronghold of the US army stationed in Khe Sanh area) and was known as the Lang Vei battle.
Period 2 (February 8 - March 31): Development campaign to encircle and attack Khe Sanh base. Intercepted a number of other battles to block American forces from rescuing Khe Sanh.
Period 3 (April 1 to April 30): Fighting American Reinforcement, clear neighboring areas, bloked traffic on Route 9.
Period 4 (May 8, 15/07): Blocking and fighting American troops to flee from Khe Sanh.

According to the assessment, the main purpose of the Vietnam People's Army when attacking Khe Sanh was to distract American Army and South Vietnam for the main TET Offensive Campaign in the 1968, because Khe Sanh's position was the anchor point of the US Army to threaten Ho Chi Minh Trail and protect the tactical area. This is the command center of the McNamara electronic fence and was built by the US for a strong, solid, and intertwined defense group, including Lang Vei fortress, Huong Hoa branch, Ta Con airport defense cluster.

The Battle of Khe Sanh is considered as the 2nd Battle of Dien Bien Phu Campaign (in 1954 when communists defeated French), that has the potential to change the war in Vietnam, mainly because the two battles have many similarities:

Khe Sanh and Dien Bien Phu are both adjacent to the Vietnam-Laos border, with rugged terrain
In terms of nature, both ends attract the focus of foreign press, putting pressure on the other party.

In the international media, Khe Sanh is a place mentioned in several Vietnamese songs and also the title of a song about the bitterness that Australian soldiers had to endure in this military zone - Rock Cold Chisel (although very few Australian soldiers fought at Khe Sanh during their time in Vietnam).

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2009, US President Obama also mentioned Khe Sanh as an act of honoring the Americans who sacrificed for the country.

How to Get to Khe Sanh Combat Base Museum Today?

Distance from Dong Ha City to Khe Sanh is about 60 km, From Phong Nha to Khe Sanh is about 190 km, and from Hue to Khe Sanh is about 135 km. The best way to get to Khe Sanh Battle today is by Private Car Phong Nha to/from Hue via Khe Sanh, Private Car Hoi An/Danang to Phong Nha via Khe Sanh, or Private Car Hue to Khe Sanh.

Adventure Journey

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