Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam

1. Autumn in the Highlands, 1971

1 Autumn in the Highlands, 1971 In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam. —John F. Kennedy I went to war in a first-class seat on a chartered, civilian jumbo jet. It was September 1971, and I was an infantry lieutenant colonel going back to Vietnam for my second one-year tour there. The airplane was full of military personnel, and the officers were assigned seats in the first-class section. Sitting next to me was an infantry colonel , an army aviator, who introduced himself as Robert S. Keller. He was going to be the senior adviser to the 23rd ARVN Infantry Division. I was going to be the G-3 (operations) adviser to that same division. Colonel Keller would be my commanding officer. The 23rd ARVN Infantry Division was under II Corps in Pleiku, so after a couple days of personnel processing and orientations in Saigon I moved on to Pleiku for more processing and some briefings by the II Corps advisers in the large American military compound in Pleiku. Transient officers staying overnight were assigned to individual “hooches” in a row of identical small buildings. As I was walking across a big lawn, returning from dinner one beautiful evening, someone’s radio was tuned to the Armed Forces Network (AFN), and Joan Baez was singing “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Just as she sang “See there goes Robert E. Lee,” 6 • KONTUM there was the heavy CRUMP! CRUMP! CRUMP! of mortar rounds falling in the compound. A siren wailed, and I ran to the nearest bunker. Welcome back to Vietnam! During my first tour in Vietnam, I learned that when you live with intermittent incoming artillery or rocket fire, you become somewhat used to it. To me, the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) compound at Pleiku seemed less dangerous than 0 miles 25 50 Hue Danang SAIGON I CORPS II CORPS III CORPS IV CORPS DMZ 14 14 19 1 1 14 21 1 11 20 1 58 198 Phan Thiet Phan Rang Cam Ranh Tung Nghia Da Lat Bao Loc G ia Nghia Nha Trang Ninh Hoa Ban M e Thuot Tuy Hoa Cheo Reo An Khe Q ui Nhon Pleiku Kontum Tan Canh/ Dak To II KONTUM BINH DINH PLEIKU PHU BON PHU YEN DARLAC KHANH HOA TUYEN DUC QUANG DUC LAM DONG BINH THUAN NINH THUAN ROCKET RIDGE II Corps: major cities, highways, and boundaries of provinces. Small inset map shows the position of II Corps within South Vietnam. AUTUMN IN THE HIGHLANDS, 1971 • 7 trying to cross a busy street in Saigon. However, Brigadier General George E. Wear, the II Corps deputy senior adviser, saw the reaction of high-ranking visitors to II Corps headquarters: The area containing the US Advisory compound [Pleiku Barracks ] [and] the II Corps headquarters building with adjoining ARVN living quarters was the prime target for 120-mm rockets. They didn’t do much damage unless a direct hit. We were rocketed on an average of about every two weeks or so during the 20 months I was there. Occasionally, a direct hit would produce US or ARVN casualties. We could tell when the first rocket landed whether they were going to be a problem. Alarms were sounded, artillery fired in the general direction of the launch sites, and we went on about our business. If they started landing during dinner, we usually kept on eating. I realized near the end of my tour up there that not a single [visiting] full colonel or higher ever spent a night [in Pleiku] in all the time I was there. Colonels and generals would show up during the day for some reason or another and then would quickly depart.1 By 1971, many of the American and South Vietnamese military and pacification experts thought the war was won. However, the South Vietnamese had reached the limits of what they could do to defend themselves, and our government had reached the limits of what it would give them to do it. The North Vietnamese were unfortunately willing to intensify their struggle for final victory, and massive aid from China and the Soviet Union...