Tet With Tanks - The NVA Easter Offensive, 1972
By Frederick F. Lash Jr.

Published Tuesday, September 11, 2007  | 0 comments  | Print  | E-mail

On Friday, March 31, Colonel Louis Powers, commander of the secret intelligence group, flew north to learn more about the attack and investigate the deaths of his two Soldiers. Powers returned with electrifying news – not only were FSB Sarge and Camp Carroll under heavy attack, NVA artillery was bombarding the entire Demilitarized Zone region. This was something big.

From Good Friday through Easter Sunday (April 2), reports from the DMZ became clearer – and more ominous. Radio messages and helicopter over-flights reported NVA “human wave” ground attacks overrunning FSB Sarge, Camp Carroll, and other firebases. ARVN units were in chaotic retreat. Major Boomer was reported missing in action and presumed dead. Several days later, however, he linked up safely with a South Vietnamese unit.

North Vietnamese infantry supported by a T-54 tank advance deep into
South Vietnam. Image Credit: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Today’s American military might is so dominant that it is hard to imagine the devastation and emotional turmoil that ran rampant in the first few days of the Easter Offensive. Enemy massed attacks supported by tanks and accurate, long-range artillery had been virtually unknown in Vietnam combat actions. ARVN and American Soldiers, accustomed to having overpowering artillery support, were now on the receiving end of fire from sophisticated Soviet-made artillery pieces. The most devastating of these, the 130 mm guns, could range 30 kilometers.

NVA ATTACK FROM CAMBODIA

Within days of the attack across the DMZ and more than 300 miles to the south, the North Vietnamese began attacking from Cambodia along two additional axes of advance – one into the country’s central highlands region and the other to the south toward Saigon. By mid-April, ARVN forces were waging a crucial battle to defend the provincial capitol of An Loc, located northwest of Saigon and a key position in protecting that city from attack.

The NVA tank assault on An Loc (Soviet T-54s) was supported by heavy artillery attacks that proved even more intense than those at the northern firebases. For nearly two months, incoming artillery rounds averaged over 1,000 impacts a day. On many days, the figure was over 2,000; and in one 24-hour period in May, there were eight to 10 impacts a minute, totaling roughly 12,000 rounds. Lodged in underground bunkers to withstand the artillery fire, some of the American advisers at An Loc resorted to taking anti-diarrhea tablets to avoid having to use the above-ground facilities.

North Vietnamese infantry advance over a mound of rubble in
Quang Tri City. Quang Tri was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting
of the offensive. The town was captured early by the NVA and then
recaptured by ARVN forces after a bloody, months-long struggle.
Image Credit: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

In this hell of incoming artillery fire, the American advisers called in devastating B-52 strikes and directed close air support, turning the battle in favor of the ARVN defenders and helping to protect Saigon. The actions of Combat Assistance Team 70, the official name of An Loc’s small group of U.S. advisers, were so heroic that the team was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

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