{"id":3446,"date":"2018-06-04T14:46:29","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T19:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=3446"},"modified":"2018-06-04T14:46:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T19:46:29","slug":"khe-sanh-c-130s-c-123s-and-lots-of-airpower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/khe-sanh-c-130s-c-123s-and-lots-of-airpower\/","title":{"rendered":"Khe Sanh C-130s, C-123s and Lots of Helicopters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Battle for Khe Sanh, fifty years ago, involved C-130s, C-123s and lots of helicopters.\u00a0 I like to blog about the brave men who fought in Vietnam because they did not get the thanks they deserved for doing what was asked of them.\u00a0 Khe Sanh was highlighted on the PBS Memorial Day Concert last week.\u00a0 Today, I salute the airplanes that \u201csaved the day\u201d at the Battle of Khe Sanh.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Khe Sanh was a Marine outpost located near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam.\u00a0 It was located in the northwest corner of the country near the neighboring country of Laos.\u00a0 In 1967 United State intelligence detected a buildup of communist forces in the area of Khe Sanh.\u00a0 General Westmoreland, the US Commander, considered Khe Sanh to be critical to protecting that part of free South Vietnam.\u00a0 Therefore the base was reinforced and the runway lengthened.<\/p>\n

On January 21, 1968 the North Vietnamese communists attacked Khe Sanh with an estimated 50,000 troops.\u00a0 Khe Sanh was defended by 6,500 Marines & Army.\u00a0 You could say that they were outnumbered.\u00a0 The battle lasted for 77 days.\u00a0 For a brief history of the battle see: https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/vietnam-war\/battle-of-khe-sanh<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the Marines were landlocked and surrounded by enemy forces, the only way they could survive was to be reinforced through the air.\u00a0 The runway was damaged and hence instead of 3,500 feet, they only had 2,000 feet of runway to work with.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Initially the C-130 (left<\/em>)\u00a0brought in many supplies for the beleaguered troops.\u00a0 After a few weeks it was determined that it was too dangerous for C-130s to land.\u00a0 This led to the use of LAPES (Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System).\u00a0 With LAPES the C-130 came in 20 feet off the ground flying at 130 knots.\u00a0 An extraction chute pulled the interlocked cargo pallets out of the aircraft onto the ground.\u00a0 To see video footage check out this clip:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GIuoGq4FheQ<\/a><\/p>\n

The C-130 later went to GPES (Ground Proximity Extraction System).\u00a0 This was a similar idea to a carrier landing in the Navy.\u00a0 A hook dangling from the C-130 cargo bay would catch a wire stretched across the runway which would pull the cargo out of the aircraft.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The C-123 (right<\/em>) continued its landings to reinforce the Marines with supplies and ammunition.\u00a0 Two helicopters also aided in this mission. The CH-47 and CH-53s carried these items and carried out the wounded.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, B-52 bombers (below<\/em>), AC-130 gunships and AC-47s dropped bombs in the area around the base to help hold back the overwhelming number of communist attackers.\u00a0 Interestingly, the North Vietnamese knew that the B-52 were not allowed to drop bombs within a mile of the base.\u00a0 So they moved operations inside of one mile.\u00a0 When the restriction was reduced to \u00bd mile the B-52s took out a two battalion attack force.\u00a0 For more video footage see: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rJ1n2K1fY6w<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

On April 8, 1968, the battle ended.\u00a0 The Marines and Army had lasted for 77 days.\u00a0 A decade earlier, in 1954 the French had lost the Battle of Dien Bien Phu to the Communists.\u00a0 Many in the North and in the press had begun to declare Khe Sanh another Dien Bien Phu.\u00a0 Due to some brave Marines and massive airpower, it was not.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

For a detailed account of airpower and Khe Sanh, see:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.historynet.com\/air-power-in-the-siege-of-khe-sanh.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For a video story see:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5CVFsRQEQd8<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Battle for Khe Sanh, fifty years ago, involved C-130s, C-123s and lots of helicopters.\u00a0 I like to blog about the brave men who fought in Vietnam because they did not get the thanks they deserved for doing what was asked of them.\u00a0 Khe Sanh was highlighted on the PBS Memorial Day Concert last week.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":3441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[158,809,806,810,811,808,805,807,405,812],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKhe Sanh C-130s, C-123s and Lots of Helicopters - 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