Siege of Plei Me

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Plei Me
partof=Vietnam War


caption=Special Forces camp at Plei Me in 1965
date=October 19-October 25. 1965
place=coord|13.617|107.917|display=inline,title
Plei Me, Vietnam
result=Siege lifted
combatant1=
combatant2=Civilian Irregular Defense Group
flagicon|United States United States Army
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=2 Regiments, ~6,000 troops
strength2=350 CIFG
12 US Special Forces
250 ARVN Rangers
ARVN armored column
casualties1=850 killed, 1,700 woundedcite web|title=Seven Days of Zap|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901750-1,00.html|work=Time Magazine|accessdate=2007-11-14]
casualties2=|The Siege of Plei Me was a battle during the Vietnam War, which led up to the Battle of Ia Drang.

Background

Brigadier General Chu Huy Man of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) was tasked with drawing the US Air Cavalry into battle, to learn about its fighting capabilities, and then circulate the information among the PAVN and National Liberation Front (NLF). To this end, Lt Col Hoang Phuong is tasked with debriefing PAVN commanders after battles.

The camp at Plei Me, 40 km south of Pleiku city in the central highlands of Vietnam, was constructed in October 1963 by the United States Special Operations Forces. In 1965 the camp is manned by around 350 Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) soldiers - Montagnard mercenaries, many of whom had family just outside the base.

PAVN attacks

General Man ordered the 33rd PAVN regiment to seize the camp at Plei Me at 1930 hours on 19 October 1965, while the 32nd regiment would move into position to ambush reinforcements, repeating tactics successfully used against the French.

The 33rd launches the attack by bombarding the camp, followed by repeated infantry assaults, initially overrunning a 20-man outpost. The remaining defenders repel the PAVN, and the siege situation developed. At first light the next morning, 250 Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Rangers led by Major Charles Beckwith arrived by helicopter at the camp. Subsequently the base was resupplied with airdrops from CV-2 (Caribou) of the 92d Aviation Company, the CV-7 (Buffalo) of the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board, and C-123 from the Air Force. Some of the air drops landed outside the camp, while two defenders were killed when a pallet of supplies fell on them.

Reinforcements from the ARVN were also sent by road from Pleiku to raise the siege, while Task Force INGRAM was airlifted into Pleiku to secure the city. The ARVN armored column proceeded down Provincial Road 6C to Plei Me, and was ambushed at two places at 1730 hours on 23 October 1965, but the attack was beaten back with accurate US artillery support. The relief column arrived at the Plei Me camp on 25 October 1965, and the US 1st Cavalry Airmobile Division arrived on the 27th, thus ending the siege.

During the battle A-1A Skyraider pilot Captain Melvin C Elliott was shot down while strafing the area around the camp. After evading the PAVN for 36 hours Elliott was rescued by helicopter.

President Lyndon Johnson called Beckwith during the siege to congratulate him.

References

*cite book|last=Beckwith|first=Charles|title=Delta Force: The Army's Elite Counterterrorist Unit|publisher=Avon Books|date=1983
*http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Vietnam/tactical/chapter2.htm
*http://www.bietdongquan.com/article1/rgr82.htm
*http://www.lzxray.com/Pleime_o.htm
*http://skyraider.org/skyassn/warstor/pleime.htm

External links

* [http://www.weweresoldiers.net/Iadrang~1.htm Photos of the siege]
* [http://www.lzxray.com/Pleime_o.htm Photos and description of the siege]
* [http://www.rjsmith.com/Plei_Me_Cropped_6536-2.html Map of Plei Me area]