Chapter 7

Part VII Several weeks at China Beach were a hazy recollection of isolation from the vestiges of war. Sort of an unwritten truce that said, “You leave us alone, and we will leave you alone.”

Problem was, no “Gentleman’s agreement could survive in a climate of Good vs. Evil.” It all came to a screeching halt with a surge of fanatical infiltrators from the South of Danang. They swept into the China Beach corridor with a vengeance. Civilians were considered collaborators just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thank goodness most of the Marines in our compound were seasoned “Bush Rats” with more combat experience than most Marines experience in a lifetime. The almost naked “Charlie” elements that filtered past us into Danang must have already gotten word to avoid our compound because they kept their distance. It reminded me how the North Vietnamese regulars would give the Korean Army units a wide berth further North up into Perfume river sector. The Koreans were notoriously slow to react and exceedingly cautious in any engagement, but when the chips were down, they were utterly ruthless in securing an objective or completing an assigned mission. The enemy tended to avoid the Korean contingent whenever possible.

Looking back on the flare up of enemy activity at that juncture, I can recognize it as a last ditch effort by desperate VC to regain some status in the conflict. They had been pummeled so badly the past few months, any meager victory would restore their broken spirits.

Of course, they were doomed to failure. Outnumbered almost 30 to l in a confined area with no logistical support, they broke themselves on the Marine defensive line with total annihilation their only reward.

When word started filtering down to the troops about how we had suffered a terrible defeat during the TET offensive, I could see guys scratching their heads trying to figure out where that “battle” had taken place. I suspect it was in some boozed up writer’s head sitting in Tokyo or Hong Kong a nice safe distance from the battlefield.

I could just picture the reaction in Britain, if the media had portrayed the “Battle of the Bulge” as the turning point of WWII. The “victorious German Wehrmacht in a stunning defeat of the bumbling Eisenhower and his cowboy puppet, Patton securing a victory for the Fatherland”.

The countryside was a little quieter now. I kind of sensed it was a “lull before the storm”

Quang Tri province really heated up now. Most of the enemy was actual North Vietnamese regulars with years of fighting under their belts. Some of these guys had not only fought against the French, but a successful Guerilla War against the Japanese. Surprisingly, with a lot of assistance from covert American forces.

The fight for Hue City was a long drawn out bloody affair. The South Vietnamese were not happy to see the “Imperial City” destroyed. The Marines were not happy to get into urban warfare with high casualty rates. Even the North Vietnamese felt it was the wrong place to be pushing the envelope. But, it happened and when it was all said and done, everyone was a loser, the North Vietnamese, the Marines, and especially, the civilians, who expired in great numbers. They were executed as collaborators by the North Vietnamese political officers. They were caught in misdirected fire from South Vietnamese and American artillery. Caught between two armed forces, they were the collateral damage of an unnecessary battle. It was a battle that was more a test of “wills” than a military strategy.