Battle of Quang Tri

The Battle of Quang Tri was fought between the South Vietnamese Army, supported by US troops, and the North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces, from January 31 to February 6, 1968, in the City of Quang Tri, during the Vietnam War. The result was a US and South Vietnamese victory.

As part of the Tet Offensive, a combined force of North Vietnamese Army units and Vietcong battalions launched a massive assault on key targets in Quang Tri in the early hours of January 31, 1968. The main objective of this attack was to bring the entire city under communist control.

The sudden assault took the local troops by surprise. Thus, during the first day, they could barely manage to hold the enemy off. Nevertheless, after they got organized, the South Vietnamese troops, supported by the 1st Battalion (12th US Cavalry Regiment) and the 1st Battalion (5th Cavalry Regiment), began to regain lost ground as savage house-to-house fighting raged on.

By February 2, the communist forces had been driven out of the city, leaving behind approximated 1,000 dead bodies. However, the battle continued on the outskirts and peripheral villages, and by February 6, the last enemy pockets had been snuffed out.