February 8, 1968
Poking the Hornet’s Nest at Thon La Chu
Alpha/1/1 Marines in a ruined home
US National Archives
Today mop up operations continued in the Triangle, as the Marines moved to secure their flank along the Phu Cam Canal. The ARVN remained mostly static in the Citadel, while in the north 5/7 Cav launched its first large probe toward the village of Thon La Chu, where the 2/12 Cav had found itself surrounded earlier in the month.
The Citadel: 2-8-1968
Mang Ca - ARVN 1st Division Headquarters
Tay Loc Airfield
Surrounded ARVN units continue to hold
Imperial Palace - NVA Headquarters
Citadel Gates - Flags indicate controlling faction
Captured NVA are loaded onto a Huey to be taken out of the city
The Triangle
The day was opened at 0530 by a barrage of NVA rocket artillery fired into the Triangle from positions south of the city. This was quickly silenced by US counterbattery fire from Nam Hoa, but served to show the communists were still willing to expend resources on the battle for the New City. Also in the early morning the NVA attempted to re-enter Joan of Ac School, but the attacking force was destroyed by the Marines of Alpha/1/1. Despite these actions, it was apparent that the NVA was coming apart in the Triangle. US commanders noted that the communists were leaving large quantities of equipment in the streets, as well as their own dead, a phenomenon considered most unusual.
Marines move a 106mm Recoilless rifle tripod
US National Archives
At 0700 Hotel/2/5 jumped off to attack the Le Lai Military Camp just south of the Power Plant on the south side of Nguyen Hue Street. The attack required overcoming several reinforced machine gun nests before breaching the perimeter of the former ARVN encampment. The camp was overrun by the Marines, and declared secure at 1000, notably with the ARVN weapons cache there still intact.
In another area, Bravo/1/1 moved out for the An Cuu Bridge, heading south on Highway 1 at 1000 before running into NVA at the Thua Thien Police Bureau Building on the causeway. Despite this obstacle the Marines, mostly volunteers from rear echelon posts, were able to secure it without casualties. Meanwhile, Golf/2/5 had been moving down Ly Thuong Kiet Street, securing the US Consul’s Residence at 1315, finding obvious signs that the NVA had been using the building as a field hospital, and had hastily abandoned it.
An LC takes fire as it moves past the collapsed Nguyen Hoang Bridge on the Perfume River
Original Color
While all this was going on, still more Marines were moving to the bridges along the Phu Cam Canal, with engineer units in tow under orders to drop the spans to prevent the NVA from withdrawing or reinforcing. Resistance is scattered, with the main danger being from snipers that still roamed about the city.
In a final, happier note, today CORDS employee Jim Bullington was rescued by advancing Marines from the house he had been sheltering in. He had been with two French Catholic priests, who had loaned him a robe and had passed him off as a visiting Canadian, and now to prevent reprisals against the priests Bullington was disguised as a wounded Marine and carried out of the area. He would soon be reunited with his Vietnamese fiancé, who had been trapped in her home by the offensive. Her two brothers, both members of the RVN military, had been taken away and executed by a VC death squad some time earlier. Both were able to board an LCU for evacuation to Da Nang.
The Triangle: 2-8-1968
MACV Compound - US Headquarters
Doc Lap Park LZ
LCU Ramp
Hue University - Refugee Center
Thua Thien Provincial Administration Building
Thua Thien Provincial Prison
Hue City Power Plant
Le Lai Military Camp - Overrun by Hotel/2/5 today
US Consul’s Residence - Taken by Golf/2/5 today
Thua Thien Provincial Police Bureau - Taken by Bravo/1/1 today
US Marines move to destroy bridges over Phu Cam Canal today
ARVN units are now active in the US rear areas
A trooper of the 1st Cavalry with an M72 LAW sling over his back
Original Color
The Hamlets
The men of 5/7 Cav had remained in Thon Lieu Coc Thuong overnight, observing the movements of the NVA in the neighboring town of Thon La Chu. They had noted a large, three story concrete bunker was present in the hamlet, and flying an NVA flag, with considerable activity around it. This was the headquarters of the NVA’s Tri-Thien He Front (based on the Soviet formation, similar to an Army Group), and it had thus far proven impervious to US artillery strikes called against it. The brutal irony of the fact was that the bunker had been built with US funds embezzled by a contractor that was actually a VC agent for this specific purpose. The Americans needed to ascertain what precisely was going on the hamlet, considering that the area, christened “This Fucking Place”, or TFP, by the troopers of 2/12 Cav when they had been surrounded here, was obviously so heavily defended.
At 1200 Lt. Col. Jim Vaught, the commander of 5/7 Cav, ordered a reconnaissance in force against the hamlet of Thon Que Chu, the next stepping stone before La Cu itself. This jumped off at 1600 with two platoons moving unmolested across the open rice paddy past Thon Lieu Coc Thuong, but as soon as they entered the bamboo thicket beyond it they were ambushed by NVA on three sides.
The NVA had prepared trench lines in a haphazard manner to avoid them being hit by airstrikes, and the cavalrymen had walked right into a prepared killzone, with all members of the point squad of 1st Platoon being hit immediately, resulting in six wounded and three killed. In the resulting melee it would take three hours to withdraw the recon force, leaving the dead behind. A barrage of 1,500 shells is also required to cover the withdrawal, including fire from the USS Lofberg in the South China Sea. The result is that 5/7 Cav is now itself positioned in TFP, although this time with adequate support to prevent envelopment. The thicket itself also earns a name” TT-Woods, or “Though-Titty Woods).
The Hamlets: 2-8-1968
Thon Lieu Coc Thuong - 5/7 Cav remains here today
Nui Nha Nhan - 2/12 Cav remains at the ARVN outpost here
Thon Que Chu - 5/7 Cav attempts to probe the NVA here, and ends up engaged in a brutal battle to pull back after they are ambushed
Thon La Chu - Headquarters of NVA Tri-Thien Hue Front