USS MULLINNIX DD-944

Fall of Quang Tri City

Capital of the province of the same name, Quang Tri was about 20 kilometers south of the DMZ, along the east bank of the Thach Han River. The city, which was the largest of the province, developed into a major communication and logistics center during the war. It was situated on the national coastal highway, Highway 1, squeezed between provincial roads 560 and 555. The road network, north-south and east-west corridors, passed through Quang Tri. Square-shaped with a citadel, Quang Tri City stood like a miniature of Hue, the old imperial capital. More important, Quang Tri was located only 45 miles north of Hue. Quant Tri was built on the coastal plain, and thus vulnerable to attach from all directions.

On April 3, Lieutenant General Lam, I Corps commander, requested reinforcements for Quang Tri City area defense. He was planning a conteroffensive as soon as the overcast weather would permit close air support. Meanwhile, the battle for Dong Ha raged from April 3-8, as rains continued over the contested area. The South Vietnamese Marines paid an horrific price. Of the 700-man 3rd VNMC Battalion, only 200 survived the NVA assault on Dong Ha.

North of Ai Tu, Fire Support Base Pedro came under bombardment from NVA 130mm guns at midnight on 9 April. the NVA lost 9 tanks to mines placed around Pedro. By 11 April, 211 NVA troops had been killed by Pedro defenders. Although the NVA were stopped at Pedro, they continued around to push toward Quang Tri City, using the still-standing Cam Lo Bridge to cross the Cam Lo and Mieu Giang rivers.

The weather finally broke after two weeks of heavy rain and dense, low cloud cover. B-52 arc-light strikes were increased and hundreds of US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force commenced hitting the NVA. Despite the air strikes and naval gunfire support, on 14 April, Fire Support Base Bastogne, southwest of Hue City, fell. Fire Support Base Jane came under attack on 16 April. THe VNMC held Jane but suffered heavy casualties. The NVA shifted their attacks to VNMC Brigade 369. At dusk on 18 April, the 304th NVA Division struck toward Quang Tri City as the 308th NVA Division attacked and passed through Camp Carroll and Mai Loc toward Dong Ha. As the ARVN defenders hung on to Dong Ha, the NVA again shifted their attacks to the western approaches toward Ai Tu and Quang Tri City.

Early on the morning of 27 April, the 304th NVA Division launched an attack on Ai Tu from the southwest. The defenders sustained over 500 rounds of 82mm mortar and artillery. Late afternoon, NVA tanks attacked but were driven back, losing 15. That night, 130mm NVA fire hit the Ai Tu base ammunition bunker and destroyed most of the defenders' ammunition stockpile. The situation deteriorated with continued NVA attacks.

Dong Ha fell on 28 April, as the 57th ARVN Regiment, in disarray, retreated toward Quang Tri City. At 0200 on 29 April, the NVA launched a tank and infantry assault upon the Thach Han River area, capturing the north end of the bridge leading into Quang Tri City. The following day, VNMC managed to retake the north end of the bridge. Meanwhile defenses at Ai Tu were crumbling. General Giai decided he could no longer defend at Ai Tu and moved his Marines to Quang Tri City. The USS Newport News' 8-inch guns fired at the NVA covering the South's withdrawl from Ai Tu.

On 1 May, General Giai felt that trying to save Quang Tri City was hopeless, pulling his units back to a new defensive line at My Chanh. The NVA struck west of Hai Lang district HQ, stopping all fleeing military and civilians. This stretch of Highway 1 was soon to be called the "highway of horror." An estimated two thousand civilian and military dead filled the 3/4-mile stretch. On 1 May, Quang Tri City was evacuated and capatured by the communists. The city was reduced to a burned-out ruin.

The losss of Quang Tri had an immediate impact in the Saigon Palace. President Thieu under no illusions concerning the military, political, and psychological importance of the defeat. He was also skeptical the propsect to organize an effective defense line short of Hue.

May 4 - Six aircraft carriers (1st time in Vietnam War)

May 8 - President Nixon announces the mining of North Vietnam harbors

May 9 - Mining all North Vietnam ports and other new U.S. moves in war

For naval gunfire support, every available cruiser and destroyer in the Seventh Fleet took its turn on the line. ANGLICO teams were involved in all four military regions but most were working in Military Region I.





All Clocks Advanced 24 Hours to Conform To Crossing the 180 Meridian





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Quang Tri City fell on 1 May. By 4 May, the entire Quang Tri province was lost. South Vietnam's future looked bleak. There was a national atmosphere of desperation, yet a prevailing feeling of grim determination to drive out the Communists. The South Vietnamese Government responded with changes in the military command structure and a new Order of the Day - there would be no further withdrawals. The full test of Vietnamization had come. For the Marines, the My Chanh Line would be their decisive battlefield.

May was an extremely busy month for the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. The USS Chicago, a cruiser shot down an enemy aircraft with a Talos surface-to-air missile off the coast of North Vietnam. Dubbed Operation Pocket Money, the operations was the mining of North Vietnam harbors and was a resounding success. From May until December 1972, no large supply ships entered the Communist harbors.

The fleet's surface combatants also helped deny the enemy unhindered use of the inland coastal areas. On 10 May the 8-inch guns of heavy cruiser USS Newport News bombarded targets near Hanoi from a position off Do Son while guided missile cruisers USS Oklahoma City and USS Providence and three destroyers suppressed the enemy's counter-battery fire from the peninsula. Normally three or four U.S. ships made up the surface action group that cruised along the coast ready to provide air-spotted or direct fire.

From April through September, the cruiser destroyer group fired over 111,000 rounds at the enemy, destroying or damaging thousands of bunkers and buildings; knocking out tanks, trucks, and artillery sites; killing 2,000 troops; and sinking almost 200 coastal logistic craft and 4 motor torpedo boats.




Vietnam 1972, My buddy, Jim "Slick" Holland
RIP Shipmate, We've Got the Watch...

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The struggle in MR I saw the loss of Quang Tri Province, with the defeated forces falling back toward Hue, solidifying their positions, and then pushing back toward Quang Tri City. After taking Quang Tri province the enemy paused to regroup. Toward to the end of May he resumed his drive against Hue, but was stopped along the line of the My Chanh by the determined defense of the Vietnamese Marines and Airborne troopers, and to the west of the city by the veteran 1st ARVN Division, all supported by great quantities of US naval gunfire and tactical air.

The turning point was at Hue, where defensive positions surrounding the Imperial City 1n Thua Thien Province held against repeated assaults, at first blunting, and ultimately reversing, the enemy progress in MR I.



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