...Ben Het has tanks in the wire!
"
Hawk Claw is engaging
," the pilot reports firing the first TOW missile ever from a helicopter in combat.
Fire Base Delta had already been over run and Fire Base Charlie was fighting for its life. How much would fall before the North Vietnamese army was knocking on the doors of the key city of Kontum?
This was the third phase of the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive Campaign of 1972. Standing across the country between them and the fall of Saigon was a poorly led South Vietnamese Army, brave South Vietnamese soldiers, and US Advisors. How much ground would be lost before they could stop the flow of men and tanks coming across the borders?
This is their story as related to the author by those who were there.
Follow Major Steinhauer as he withdraws with the fleeing South Vietnamese soldiers from the long-forgotten battlefields of Ben Het, Dak To and Pleng Klung. Ride with the crews that were the first to engage enemy forces with the aerial TOW weapon system in combat. Comprehend the bravery of the South Vietnamese soldier when properly led, and the defeated cowardice of the South Vietnamese senior officers. Examine how an American civilian was serving in the capacity of a two-star general commanding all the forces opposed to the North Vietnamese invasion in the Kontum region. Serve with the civilian volunteer nurses that remained in the besieged city of Kontum to care for the wounded during the battle.
The events are all true, as are most of the characters who are still alive, who retold their tales of what it was like to be under siege for so many days against overwhelming odds.
The courage, dedication, and loyalty of US advisors towards their South Vietnamese counterparts as well as the bravery of the South Vietnamese soldiers when properly led will astound you. The determination of Army Aviators to curtail the enemy and save the advisors is nothing short of miraculous.
Get your copy of this sixth volume,
Battle of Kontum, 1972
in the
Undaunted Valor
series.