The Battle of Hue

Before dawn on January 31, 1968, the ancient Vietnamese city of Hue erupted into battle.

As part of the massive Tet Offensive, thousands of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops attacked and occupied much of the city. Government buildings were seized. Roads were blocked. Strongpoints appeared throughout neighborhoods that only hours earlier had seemed relatively secure.

Then the Marines arrived.

What followed became one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War—and one of the most intense episodes of urban combat Marines had experienced since Korea.

For nearly a month, Marines fought through Hue street by street, building by building and sometimes room by room.

They encountered snipers, machine guns, rockets, mortars and enemy soldiers firing from fortified houses only yards away.

The Marine Corps had entered a kind of battle for which many of the men had received little preparation.

They learned quickly.

They had no other choice.

The Tet Offensive

Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, had traditionally brought a temporary reduction in fighting.

In 1968, communist forces used the holiday to launch a massive coordinated offensive across South Vietnam.

More than 100 cities, towns, military installations and government facilities were attacked.

Hue was among the most important targets.

Located near the coast in central Vietnam, the city had enormous cultural and political significance. It had once served as Vietnam's imperial capital and contained the enormous walled Citadel, including the historic Imperial City.

The Perfume River divided Hue.

South of the river stood the newer portion of the city, including government facilities and the compound of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam.

North of the river was the Citadel.

Enemy forces quickly occupied much of both.

A North Vietnamese flag was raised above the Citadel.

Taking Hue back would be extraordinarily difficult.

Marines Enter the City

The first Marines sent toward Hue did not initially understand the scale of the enemy occupation.

Elements of 1st Battalion, 1st Marines moved toward the city expecting to deal with a relatively limited enemy force.

Instead, they encountered organized resistance.

Enemy troops had occupied buildings and prepared firing positions throughout the city. Streets that appeared empty could suddenly erupt with machine-gun and sniper fire.

Marines moving along exposed roads were vulnerable.

Vehicles could be struck by rockets and recoilless rifles.

Every window became suspicious.

Every doorway could conceal an enemy soldier.

Every intersection could become a killing zone.

More Marines were sent into Hue.

Among them were elements of 5th Marines, who would become deeply involved in the battle.

The Marines soon discovered that conventional infantry tactics developed for Vietnam's jungles and rural terrain did not necessarily work inside a densely built city.

Hue required a different kind of fighting.

Fighting One Building at a Time

Urban combat is brutally intimate.

Enemy soldiers may be separated by a wall instead of hundreds of yards of jungle.

A building could appear secure until Marines discovered enemy troops in another room, on another floor or inside a neighboring structure.

Moving down the center of a street could be suicidal.

Marines learned to move through buildings whenever possible.

Walls were breached.

Doors were blown open.

Grenades were thrown into rooms before Marines entered.

Machine guns covered streets while riflemen advanced.

Rockets and recoilless rifles were used against fortified positions.

Tanks moved forward to provide direct fire.

Progress was often measured not in miles but in buildings.

Sometimes gaining a single block required hours of fighting.

Then the Marines had to do it again.

A City Made Into a Fortress

Hue offered defenders enormous advantages.

Many buildings were constructed of thick masonry rather than the lighter structures Marines frequently encountered elsewhere in Vietnam.

Enemy troops had time to establish defensive positions.

Machine guns could fire down streets.

Snipers operated from windows and rooftops.

Courtyards became ambush sites.

Walls provided protection and concealed movement.

The Citadel presented an even greater challenge.

Its massive stone walls had been constructed long before machine guns and artillery existed, yet they provided formidable protection against modern weapons.

North Vietnamese troops turned portions of the ancient city into defensive positions.

Marines and South Vietnamese forces would have to dig them out.

Tanks in the Streets

Armor became extremely important.

Marine M48 Patton tanks moved through Hue's streets alongside infantry.

Their large guns could destroy positions that riflemen could not easily reach.

But tanks were vulnerable too.

In the confined streets of Hue, enemy troops could attack armored vehicles from buildings at close range.

Infantry therefore protected the tanks while the tanks provided the heavy firepower needed to destroy fortified positions.

Other weapons proved valuable as well.

Recoilless rifles could blast holes through walls.

Rocket launchers could strike firing positions.

And the strange little M50 Ontos, carrying six 106mm recoilless rifles, proved especially useful.

The Ontos had originally been designed to destroy tanks.

At Hue, Marines discovered something arguably more useful.

It could destroy buildings.

When enemy troops turned a structure into a strongpoint, an Ontos could put a 106mm round through it.

The vehicle became one of the battle's most effective direct-fire weapons.

The Weather Made Everything Worse

Hue's miserable weather added another layer of difficulty.

Rain fell frequently.

Cloud cover limited air support.

Streets became wet and muddy.

Marines fought while soaked, exhausted and often cold.

The weather also complicated evacuation and resupply.

Men carried ammunition forward while casualties were moved back through streets that remained under enemy observation and fire.

Navy corpsmen worked alongside Marine infantry throughout the battle, treating wounded men in buildings, streets and improvised aid stations.

The cry of “Corpsman!” could bring a sailor moving toward a wounded Marine while everyone else was searching for cover.

The Cost of Every Block

Hue became a battle of attrition.

Marine casualties mounted.

A squad could enter combat at nearly full strength and lose several men clearing only a handful of buildings.

Leaders became casualties.

Junior Marines suddenly found themselves responsible for leading fire teams and squads.

Men who had never fought inside a city became experienced urban fighters in a matter of days.

They learned which walls could stop bullets.

They learned how to cross streets under fire.

They learned to identify likely sniper positions.

They learned to coordinate tanks, machine guns and infantry in spaces where friendly troops might be only yards from the enemy.

Much of that education was purchased with blood.

The Citadel

While Marines fought primarily south of the Perfume River during the earlier phases of the battle, South Vietnamese forces were heavily engaged inside the Citadel.

As the battle continued, American Marines also became increasingly involved north of the river.

The fighting around the Citadel was particularly difficult.

Ancient walls, gates, courtyards and thick masonry created natural defensive positions.

Enemy troops fought from fortified locations and repeatedly resisted attempts to dislodge them.

American commanders initially placed restrictions on the use of heavy weapons because of Hue's historical and cultural importance.

But as casualties increased and enemy resistance continued, heavier firepower became increasingly necessary.

Artillery, tanks, recoilless rifles and other supporting weapons were brought to bear.

Slowly, the defenders were