Battle of Song Be

The Battle of Song Be was a battle fought between Vietcong units and the Army of the South Vietnam from May 10 to May 15, 1965, in the province of Song Be (former Phuoc Long), South Vietnam. It began when the Vietcong (National Liberation Front) launched a surprise attack to capture the capital of Song Be. However, to their surprise, US-backed South Vietnamese forces in the area rallied fast enough and re-took the town by the end of the second day of combat. In the following days, vicious fighting continued as the South Vietnamese Army’s units went in pursuit of the Vietcong forces.

By 1962, a series of political and military setbacks had hindered the combat effectiveness of the South Vietnamese forces as, originally, they had been more than a match for the VC with their United States supplying helicopters and armored personnel carriers. The Vietcong forces had been left to train in relative safety and had developed new tactics and been supplied with new weapons that upset the balance of power. By 1964, the morale of South Vietnamese Army units in the area was collapsing and the Vietcong was in nominal control of much of the countryside. It appeared the war was entering its endgame, and the Vietcong was planning larger operations.

Nevertheless, on April 16, 1965, the US Special Forces SF B-34 Detachment was sent to Song Be (Phuoc Long) to reinforce the South Vietnamese forces, joining an existing MACV team headquarters in the town. They set about building up a fortified area on a nearby hill and were joined by the POW intelligence team, 120 AVN. 

Summary 

At around 01:30 hours on May 10, 1965, the Vietcong 761st and 763d Regiments attacked the city Song Be from multiple directions. Even though the American positions were still being constructed, the SF and 120 AVN were able to stop them from overrunning their positions and the area of the town around them. At 03:45 helicopter gunships arrived but were unable to see the ground because of fog and low clouds. They instead attacked supporting artillery (likely 82mm mortars) west of the town. Attempts to evacuate casualties from the US positions in medivacs (UH-1C‘s) were repeatedly driven off by .50 calibre machine guns, until these were attacked by air; the evacuation finally took place at 08:00.

At noon the South Vietnamese Army’s 36th Ranger battalion counter attacked, driving a wedge into the town and routing the Viet Cong forces. The 36th Ranger battalion was joined a few hours later by the 34th Rangers, and by evening the entire town was returned to southern control. The fact that the South Vietnamese Rangers could retake the town was a surprise in some regards, since they were local irregular forces and generally had not performed well against the Viet Cong in prior battles.

Below, a South Vietnamese Army soldier take two Vietcong insurgents prisoners right after the battle of Song Be