The Battle of Hue: February 5, 1968 — I Like to Hear Myself Talk History

Battle for the Hospital

***Marines on a street***
*US National Archives*

With the fall of the Treasury and surrounding buildings, the Marines in the Triangle began the fifth of February with their next objective being to press onward to the hospital complex, which abutted both the Thua Thien Provincial Administration Building and the Prison. The NVA remained well dug in, using the block layout of the city to create a flexible line that prevented the Americans from making any gains without being flanked by NVA in the surrounding blocks.

The Citadel

In the citadel, the first Americans had been airlifted into the ARVN 1st Division compound at Mang Ca overnight in the form of advisors who had until now been trapped at the MACV. The NVA had moved to consolidate their positions in the Citadel, and the ARVN Airborne were redeployed to the northeast wall of the citadel today, with 4/2/ARVN on their flank. 4/3/ARVN, which had made it to the MACV with a mere 170 men left yesterday, crossed the Perfume in a varied fleet of junks and military boats before attempting to breach the Thuong Tu Gate, the same that the Marines had attempted to use on January 31. They found it just as impregnable as the Americans had, and instead pushed along the river, intending to link up with the surrounded 2/3/ARVN and 3/3/ARVN near the southern corner of the Citadel.

The Triangle

In the Triangle, the Marines of 2/5 continued to push toward the Provincial Administration Building, with the next major target being the large hospital complex. The streams of refugees heading toward the MACV had been providing reports that the NVA has been fortifying the complex, and the Marines spend the morning consolidating their gains from yesterday before jumping off against the hospital. In another notable victory, elements of Foxtrot/2/5 managed to reach the US Air Force communications post the Marines had been fruitlessly trying to relieve since the battle began. It almost ended in tragedy as the Marines prepared to breach the building and clear it with grenades, as they had with the others, but one Marine had the foresight to knock on the door, revealing the Americans within.

***Marines with a captured NVA soldier***
*US National Archives*

The first prize of the day for the Marines was the police station on Duong Dinh Street, which fell to Foxtrot/2/5 at 0834. At about the same time Marines of Golf/2/5 moved on Cercle Sportif, a high end French club that faced the Perfume River. Resistance there is heavy, but with support from 106mm recoilless rifles the club is taken. Hotel/2/5, meanwhile, advanced through the residential areas on the southern flank, encountering only scattered resistance. As they do they begin to encounter evidence of murders by the NVA, including a young girl found dead in a driveway, shot at close range in the back of the head.

By 0900 the day’s objectives for 2/5 have been accomplished, with the new main line located on Le Thon Ton Street. But it was at this point that resistance rapidly intensified. Attempts by Foxtrot/2/5 to cross Nguyen Trai Street were repeatedly rebuffed, and an attempt to shift some Marines to cover the flank results in an ambush. By 1030 additional NVA reinforcements have arrived in the hospital area, and the Marines have only managed to take one building on the western side of Nguyen Trai Street.

***A Marine from Hotel/2/5 carries a patient from the hospital to safety***
*US National Archives*

At 1240 the NVA launched a counerattack on Golf/2/5 at Cercle Sportiff, prompting the Marines to follow up with a push toward the hospital along the river. Supported by an Ontos, they are able to penetrate the hospital complex at 1300, engaging in room by room fighting as they clear the building, as patients remain trapped in their beds. It would take until 1632 to secure the building, after which the Marines set about evacuating the patients. Those in the mental wing were most unfortunate, as the NVA had sealed them inside with no food or water for the past few days.

The Marines attacked the next building of the hospital complex at 1645, with the NVA inside quickly cornered and left to fight savagely for the structure. At one point in the fighting Captain Ron Christmas. CO of Hotel/2/5, ran across 100 meters of exposed ground to reach an M48 tank, which he then rides back to support his men, despite several RPG hits on the vehicle. He is later awarded the Navy Cross for this action. With the tank and deployment of CS gas the Marines are able to take the building, registering 25 dead NVA in the process. The mop up continues until 1830, when the Marines in the hospital are stood down for the day. In one notable incident, Pham Van Khoa, the mayor of Hue, is captured by the Marines, who at first do not beleive his story. He is later released, imploring the Marines to rescue the family he had left behind when the Tet Offensive began.

***Marine sniper Bill Slipman in position to fire***
*US National Archives*

Elsewhere in the Triangle things had been progressing more slowly. The first of what would be a steady stream of US Navy LCUs arrived at the ramp at 1715, as the destruction of the Ac Cuu Bridge had cut road transport for supplies and reinforcements into the city. 1/1 had taken the Joan of Arch School and Le Loi Elementary School yesterday, but had suffered nearly 50% casualties. Now nearing exhaustion, they were unable to progress any further today. The NVA had hit them with a large barrage of fire at 1700, but had otherwise made no serious attempt to overrun the position.

***The AFVN Detachment 5 Station in Hue***
*US National Archives*

One more notable event also took place today in the Triangle. The men of the American Forces Vietnam Network Detachment 5 had been holding out in their compound on Dong Da Street since the initial NVA attacks on January 31, and now, with the Marines closing in, the NVA moved against them. With a volley of RPGs, the attack opened, with the crew desperately defending their position with the handful of weapons available to them: M1 carbines, a couple of M16s, an M14, a shotgun, handguns and an M60.

One NVA charged the compound with a satchel charge, but was shot, his explosive destroying instead the station’s truck. The M60 machine gun, an older example in poor condition, failed quickly, leaving them to pull cartridges from its belts to feet the M14. By dawn many were wounded, the building was on fire and supplies were nearly exhausted. The crew was left with no choice but to evacuate and try to reach the Marine lines several blocks away, but they do not make it far.

Exposed on the streets, two of the men were killed in action, and a further six were captured by the NVA. One of the prisoners, Sp5. Steven Stroub, was summarily executed by the NVA almost immediately after surrender. Only one man, Sp4. John Bagwell, escaped to US lines after taking shelter in a church. The captured personnel were force marched out of the city after being made to watch the execution of several civilians. They would be forced to march along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, eventually ending up in the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

***The Triangle: 2-5-1968***
MACV Compound - US Headquarters
Doc Lap Park LZ
LCU Ramp
Hue University
Joan of Arc School - Alpha/1/1 position
Treasury and Public Health Department - 2/5 jumping off point
USAF Communications Post - Relieved by Marines today
Police Station - Taken by Foxtrot/2/5 today
Cercle Sportif - Taken by Golf/2/5 today
Hospital Complex - Several buildings taken by 2/5 Marines before they stand down for the night
AFVN Detachment 5 - After several days, the NVA launches a major attack, forcing the crew to attempt to evacuate when their ammunition runs out.
Hospital Complex - NVA remains in control of parts of the hospital complex
Thua Thien Provincial Administration Building - NVA HQ for Triangle
Thua Thien Provincial Prison
VC manages to prevent the Americans from bridging the Phu Cam Canal to replace the An Cuu Bridge and reopen Highway 1

The Hamlets

As the clock struck midnight and February 5 began the troopers of 2/12 Cav were still on the move away from TFP. They were marching near the village of Thon Bon Tri, heading southward toward the city. As they pass the village the NVA attempts to signal them with a lamp, apparently mistaking them for friendly forces, but does not investigate when the Americans do not reply.

At dawn the cavalrymen climb a hill to get their bearings and rest, taking stock of their escape. This is to be short lived, however, as the NVA quickly moves up a mortar to fire on their position, with the first round killing an officer from Delta Company and wounding another 15 men. The responding US artillery strike, however, blasts the mortar with a direct hit, and shortly afterward 2/12 Cav moves out again, this time heading for an ARVN outpost on Nui Nha Nhan, a mountain due west of Hue.

When they arrive, only one ARVN squad is still holding the hill, but they happily allow the Americans to share what rations and accommodations remain to them. From their new position the cavalry regiment, now down to only 191 men, can observe and report on NVA movement into the city from the west, as well as harass them as much as possible. Some supplies are flown in by helicopter later in the day, as well as a quad .50 to bolster their defenses.

***1st Cavalry troopers on a patrol***
*Date unknown, original color*

Meanwhile, 5/7 Cav under Lt. Col. James Vaught had been preparing overnight, and today set out from PK17, turning over the outpost to the 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, and marched toward Thon La Chu. As they approached the area, they began to take mortar fire from NVA in Thon Lieu Coc Thuong, and diverted to silence them, while a huey helicopter orbits for command and control. The chopper is shot down as the cavalrymen begin to take heavy sniper fire, and attempts to reach the crashsite today are unsuccessful, 5/7 Cav is stopped cold in Thon Lieu Coc Thuong by the NVA dug in around Thon La Chu.

February 5, 1968

Battle for the Hospital

The Citadel

The Triangle

The Hamlets

February 6, 1968

February 4, 1968

I Like to Hear Myself Talk History