Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook258 pages6 hours
Death in the Highlands: The Siege of Special Forces Camp Plei Me
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In fall 1965, North Vietnam’s high command smelled blood in the water. The South Vietnamese republic was on the verge of collapse, and Hanoi resolved to crush it once and for all. The communists set their sights on South Vietnam’s strategically vital West-Central Highlands. Annihilate ARVN’s defenses in Kontum and Pleiku provinces, the communists surmised, and the region’s remaining provinces would topple like dominoes. Their first target was the American Special Forces camp at Plei Me, remote and isolated along the Cambodian border.
As darkness fell on 19 October, 1965, two North Vietnamese Army regiments—some 4,000 troops— crept into their final strike positions. The plan was as simple as it was audacious: one regiment would bring the frontier fortress under murderous siege while the other would lie in wait to destroy the inevitable rescue force. Initially, all that stood athwart Hanoi’s grand scheme was a handful of American Green Berets, a few hundred Montagnard allies—and burgeoning U.S. airpower. Cut off and beleaguered, Plei Me’s defenders fought for their lives, while a daring band of close air support and resupply pilots helped keep the beast at bay.
But as the overland relief force bogged down, 5th Group ordered in the legendary “Chargin” Charlie Beckwith and his elite Project Delta to help hold the line. Soon, the 1st Cavalry Division would also join the fray, setting the stage for its bloody Ia Drang Valley fights a few weeks later. Before it was over, the siege of Plei Me would push its defenders to the brink and usher in the first major clashes between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies.
Drawing on archival research and interviews with combat veterans, J. Keith Saliba reconstructs this pivotal battle in vivid, gut-wrenching detail and illustrates where the siege fit in the war’s strategic picture.
As darkness fell on 19 October, 1965, two North Vietnamese Army regiments—some 4,000 troops— crept into their final strike positions. The plan was as simple as it was audacious: one regiment would bring the frontier fortress under murderous siege while the other would lie in wait to destroy the inevitable rescue force. Initially, all that stood athwart Hanoi’s grand scheme was a handful of American Green Berets, a few hundred Montagnard allies—and burgeoning U.S. airpower. Cut off and beleaguered, Plei Me’s defenders fought for their lives, while a daring band of close air support and resupply pilots helped keep the beast at bay.
But as the overland relief force bogged down, 5th Group ordered in the legendary “Chargin” Charlie Beckwith and his elite Project Delta to help hold the line. Soon, the 1st Cavalry Division would also join the fray, setting the stage for its bloody Ia Drang Valley fights a few weeks later. Before it was over, the siege of Plei Me would push its defenders to the brink and usher in the first major clashes between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies.
Drawing on archival research and interviews with combat veterans, J. Keith Saliba reconstructs this pivotal battle in vivid, gut-wrenching detail and illustrates where the siege fit in the war’s strategic picture.
Unavailable
Related to Death in the Highlands
Related ebooks
Con Thien: The Hill of Angels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Napalm Dreams: A Men of Valor Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Assault from the Sky: Marine Corps Helicopter Operations in Vietnam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Misfire: The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrossing the Rubicon: A Novel of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrotherhood of the Skies: Wartime Experiences of a Gunnery Officer and Typhoon Pilot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Catkiller 3-2: An Army Pilot Flying for the Marines in the Vietnam War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battalion: The Dramatic Story of the 2nd Ranger Battalion in WWII Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jungle Stalkers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForsaken Warriors: The Story of an American Advisor with the South Vietnamese Rangers and Airborne Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spearhead: The 5th Marine Division in World War II: [Part Two] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHardcore “Iron Mike”: Conqueror of Iwo Jima Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSearch and Destroy: The Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Viet Nam, 1/1 Cav, 1967–1968 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlackhorse Tales: Stories of 11th Armored Cavalry Troopers at War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sword of Phoenix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ravens: The True Story Of A Secret War In Laos, Vietnam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Plateau Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Back Part 1: Across the Fence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHere There are Tigers: The Secret Air War in Laos and North Vietnam, 1968-69 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter & Vietnamese Communist Agent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pepperdogs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hourglass: A History of the 7th Infantry Division in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SOG Kontum: Top Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, 1968–1969 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDanger Close!: A Vietnam Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cooler King: The True Story of William Ash: Spitfire Pilot, P.O.W. and WWII's Greatest Escaper Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Hellish Place of Angels: Con Thien: One Man’S Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Omaha Beach to Dawson's Ridge: The Combat Journal of Captain Joe Dawson Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5War Stories of the Infantry: Americans in Combat, 1918 to Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBait: The Battle of Kham Duc Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVietnam and Back: Every Wake-Up Is a Good Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of The 33 Strategies of War: by Robert Greene - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Death in the Highlands
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews