Battle of Khe Sanh facts for kids

The Battle of Khe Sanh was a battle of the Vietnam War during the Tet Offensive. The battle was fought from 21 January to 9 July 1968. Khe Sanh was an important target for communist Vietnamese soldiers to attack because it was a city near the North Vietnam-South Vietnam border and there was a US-South Vietnamese military base nearby. While the US and South Vietnamese militaries fought off communist soldiers in most of the battlezones within 2 months, the Battle of Khe Sanh lasted much longer. It was one of the longest and deadliest battles in the war.

Images for kids

Map of northern Quảng Trị Province
Combat on Hill 875, the most intense of the battles around Dak To
The Khe Sanh Valley
The Hill Fights
Dispositions of opposing forces, January 1968
National Security Advisor Walt W. Rostow showing President Lyndon B. Johnson a model of the Khe Sanh area, 15 February 1968
A C-130 delivering supplies with LAPES
Super Gaggle: CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters with sling loads (top) and A-4 Skyhawk provided suppressive fire.
The Khe Sanh perimeter, 28 February 1968: A white dotted line indicates a PAVN trench just 200 m from 37th ARVN Rangers along the southern perimeter of Khe Sanh.
An Army 175-mm M107 at Camp Carroll provides fire support for ground forces
Soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division moving towards Khe Sanh Combat Base during Operation Pegasus
3/4 Marines memorial service at the base
General Wallace Greene, Commandant of the Marine Corps (l), Lieutenant General Robert Cushman, III MAF Commander (c), and General William Westmoreland (r)
Khe Sanh airstrip, December 2006