CHAPTER 4

Khe Sanh: Building Up

The Battlefield-The Early Days-Protecting the Investment-The Isolation of Khe Sanh The Decision to Hold-The Stage is Set-Sortie to Hill 881 North-The Enemy Plan Unfolds

The Battlefield

The village of Khe Sanh, composed of nine hamlets and also the capital of Huong Hoa District, once sat astride National Route 9 in the extreme northwestern corner of South Vietnam. According to a census, 10,195 civilians lived in the district, mostly clustered within four miles of the village.* Khe Sanh controlled road movement from nearby Laos into northern Quang Tri Province and was the terminus of a number of trail networks which crossed the Laotian border further to the north and wound their way through the valleys and along the rivers to intersect the highway in the vicinity of the village. National Route 9 was actually little more than a wide trail in places, yet it was a key feature of the area because it provided a means of movement between nearby Laos and the coastal region. Between Khe Sanh and Dong Ha, Route 9 ran for 63 kilometers, crossing 36 crumbling old bridges along the way. Most of them, relics of the French colonial era, could be bypassed and often were, due to their deteriorated condition.'

The terrain of the Huong Hoa District is characterized by steep, jungle-covered mountains separated by plunging valleys. Mountain peaks tower over the hamlets along Route 9, rising from 200 meters to 600 meters above the elevation of the highway. Streams flow through many of the valleys, emptying into one of two rivers. The Song Rao Quan drains the region to the north, flowing southeast to join other rivers which continue to the sea. West of Khe Sanh, the Xe Pon, or Tchepone, flows east across the Laotian panhandle to a point 15 kilometers from the village, where it turns south forming a part of the international border between South Vietnam and Laos.

There are two types of rain forest in the area. The primary growth is found at higher elevations where some trees reach 90 feet in height, forming a canopy beneath which other trees, some up to 60 feet high, form a second canopy. The dense canopies reduce the light at ground level to the point that growth there is limited to seedlings, flowers, and climbing plants. Because of the sparse ground cover, the jungle can be penetrated on foot with little difficulty.2

The secondary rain forest is located at lower elevations where the ground has first been cleared, then later left for the jungle to reclaim. Here, the trees are smaller, allowing more light to penetrate to ground level. The resulting thick growth of bamboo, elephant grass, and climbing plants limits foot travel considerably. 3

The weather in the region varies through the course of a year. It is warm in the summer, although cooler than at the lower elevations near the coast, while in the winter, it is sometimes oppressively cold and damp. Annual rainfall exceeding 80 inches, much of it occurring during the winter monsoon, feeds the rain forests and contributes to the discomfort caused by the cold temperatures. A thick, milk-colored fog known in Indochina as crachin' occurs frequently in the winter months, reducing visibility considerably.

During the war, a Montagnard tribe, the Bru, lived near Khe Sanh, although the people in the village

* Former Navy chaplain Ray W. Stubbe, a noted authority on Khe Sanh and its environs, observed that this census did nor include the approximately 12,000 Montagnard tribesmen who lived in 'some half dozen villes' in the immediate Khe Sanh area. LCdr Ray W. Stubbe, ChC, USN, Comments on draft chapter, dtd 230ct94 (Vietnam Comment File), hereafter Stubbe Comments.

**A weather condition which occurs in the highland regions of Southeast Asia for periods of three to five days at a time between October and April. It is described as: 'A persistent low-level stratus phenomenon accompanied by prolonged precipitations which greatly affects military operations. Clouds are generally 3,000 to 5,000 feet thick with ceiling under l ,000 feet and frequently below 500 feet. Visibility is ... generally below 2 miles and frequently below 1/2 mile.' Asst Chief of Staff, G-2, memo to Asst Chief of Staff, G-3, dtd 4Jul67, Sub): Planning Conference, in 3d MarDiv ComdC, Jul67. Colonel Frederic S, Knight, who served as the 3d Marine Division G-2 or intelligence officer in 1968, noted that the word comes from the French verb, cracher, which means to spit: 'A friend said the true meaning of the word is best described as 'that which blows back into your face when you spit into the wind.'' Col Frederic S. Knight, Comments on draft chapter, dtd 10Jan95 (Vietnam Comment File), hereafter Knight Comments.