February 24, 1968
The Flag Falls
ARVN troops stand atop the rubble of the Dong Ba Gate, with the flag of South Vietnam flying above
At 0500 ARVN forces in the Citadel began to advance along the southern wall toward the Imperial Palace, penetrating the Imperial Palace shortly afterward. The men, a unit of 2/3/ARVN led by the Hac Bao Company, advancing along the northern side to the Flag Tower, where the massive VC flag had flown since dawn on January 31. The tower had taken hits during the course of the battle, and it proved impossible to hoist down the banner.
ARVN soldiers prepare to raise the flag of the Republic of Vietnam over the Citadel
US National Archives
A group of Hac Bao men climbed the damaged 179 foot flagpole to cut down the communist banner, hauling up an equally large South Vietnamese flag and attaching it to the pole. The vast symbol of communist defiance in the Citadel had finally fallen.
An M16 sits on the Imperial Throne
US National Archives
The next objective was the Imperial Palace itself, and the ARVN unit turned north from the flagpole to attack accordingly. Units of the Third ARVN Regiment launched their attack from both the flagpole to the south and the streets north and west of the Palace at 0730, and by 1025 the NVA in the Palace walls had been destroyed. It would be 1515 before the Hac Bao led the ARVN as they stormed the Palace proper, and by 1700 the entire area had been swept clear of the remaining NVA and secured. In one notable incident, an ARVN soldier was found in the bushes inside the complex, where he had been hiding inside the NVA headquarters area for almost a month. He is emaciated from scrounging for food after dark, but otherwise unharmed.
US Marines move along the blasted street toward the Dong Ba Gate
US National Archives
WIth the fall of the Imperial Palace the NVA in the southwestern Citadel was truly doomed, and when the Vietnamese Marines attacked today they encountered little resistance, as most of the remaining NVA in the area had withdrawn overnight. The Huu Gate, the bitterly contested final avenue of escape for large NVA units, fell in the early afternoon, and as the day came to a close the Citadel was secure save for a small NVA unit trapped in the southwestern corner of the Walled City.
Marines from Alpha/1/5 lead away captured NVA
US National Archives
The Citadel: 2-24-1968
Mang Ca - ARVN 1st Division Headquarters
Tay Loc Airfield
RVNMC Line
Huu Gate - Secured by RVNMC in the early afternoon
Citadel Flag Tower - RVN Flag raised today at 0500
Imperial Palace - ARVN storm and secure the complex in the afternoon
USMC units begin preparations to pull out of the Citadel as ARVN takes over mop up operations
Last NVA holdouts are trapped in the southwestern corner of the Citadel
Citadel Gates - All are under ARVN control by evening