The Battle of Khe Sanh

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the Battle at Khe Sanh, which the author asserts was the changing point in the Vietnam War. It was during this battle that the U.S. realized it could not win the war. The author of this paper details the battle and U.S. and Vietnamese troop movements. It also explores what the author called the inefficiency of the American High Command.

From the Paper:

"Despite American soldier's heroism and determination (for which they still have never been justly recognized or rewarded), Khe Sanh was one of the milestones that provided not merely American arrogance, but the inefficiency of the American High Command, who had no skills in fighting a jungle war where tanks, and even jet bombers, could not penetrate the thick coating of the jungle. Generals, who had been trained to fight on a different terrain, and whose lessons came from World War II and Korea, were ineffective in their planning for the campaign. What began with just some military advisors, turned into the commitment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, hardly any of them prepared to fight a jungle war, against an enemy that was seldom in front of them in fox holes or bunkers, but sidled through hidden jungle trails and overcame massed troops when and where they least expected it."

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