Recapturing The Old Citadel
First Lieutenant Van Tan Thach
Sixteeen long years have passed since I first stepped onto the ramparts of the Quang Tri Citadel. Everytime, I think about my life in the army, and the fate of my country, I inevitable think of the heroic Marines. In my mind's eye, I see them storming the Old Citadel, throwing grenades at the NVA, leading fellow Marines up the wall, giving pride to the ARVN.
That day was a historical event. On the following day, which was the 16th of September 1972, President Nguyen Van Thieu visited the battlefield to boost the morale of the Marines, and to share the joy and sweet taste of victory. Some few days later, the Senate and the Congress summoned an urgent meeting to inform the people of the South the good news. Hundreds and thousands of telegrams from Heads of State, Government and Army Officials, poured into Vietnam to congratulate us on our victory. Saigon Radio broadcasted the news over and over, and the No. 1 hit was the “Victory Flag Flying Over The Quang Tri Citadel”. Everytime I hear the song sung, I still feel deeply moved, and proud.
Yet accompanying this pride, is a wretched feeling of repressed anger and helplessness. I become incensed at the thought of the heroic ARVN having to surrender, it's men imprisoned, killed, tortured...the citizens it protected forced to flee. Why ? Why? Why?!
Out of all this pain, the memory of the battle in which I fought side by side with my brothers, the Marines, shines through. It is my greatest pride to have been one of the first Marines to gain a foot-hold on top of the Citadel. Today, I write this down because it is such a very important event to the Vietnamese Marines and to myself. Nothing I recount is an exaggeration, an untruth, or a figment of the imagination... I need only write the magnificent and painful truth.
At 6 pm, just after finishing my dinner of dried steam rice and canned food, my signalman called. “Chief, Thach Sanh is calling you.” Thach Sanh was the Captain commanding the 3rd Company, who bore the same given name as myself.
Holding the hand set, I answered: “Thach Thao is listening to you.”
On the other end was not Thach Sanh, but his signalman!
“Thach Sanh orders everybody to move quickly.”
“OK.”
I ordered my platoon to be ready to move to the old position within ten minutes. We were to replace the Airborne Division. Once, back on 28 July, I had relieved an Airborne officer at that position. On seeing me without my flak jacket and steel helmet, he had warned: “It is very dangerous here. You may be shot by the enemy any time.”
I had answered: “Oh, Death isn't that easy to court, many people want to die but can't!.” He smiled knowingly and left with his unit for the rear.
I went to the Company command post. Everybody was there. I did not bother to salute them all, and sat down. “What's the matter?” I asked Thach Sanh. He was not at all happy, and answered: “F...! Expect to be off bulldozing again.” (i.e we were again expected to clear obstacles!) He then turned to everybody and said: “Let's start the briefing... Tonight, we are assigned the task of recapturing the Old Citadel.” In a low, tired voice reflected by his suddenly hard, older expression, he said: “The Marines Headquarters has said the 3 months are nearly up - there is only another five days until the deadline to recapture the area is up. The Airborne and the Ranger Units have been repelled - so it's up to us. They suffered heavy casualties at the foot of the wall, but the Commandant has ordered us to try our best.”
“Any one would thing we have copper bodies and iron skins!” I wryly joked.
After discussing the strategies, I was assigned to spearhead the onslaught. Thus our platoon was burdened with an unexpected heavy responsibility. After everyone had left, Thach Sanh confided in me. He reminded me that recently, he had become more confident because First Lieutenant Tra and I were in his company. His faith in us had developed during the counter-offensive, when the 3rd Company consistently won it's battles. He was especially impressed when the 3rd Company had defeated an enemy force of regimental size, under highly dangerous conditions at the Vinh Dinh River. In that battle, I was ordered to attack in the evening, when the enemy had had plenty of time to close their defensive line. I requested tanks to fire maximally, at the lower levels, directed at foxholes and tree stumps. Five minutes later, when we were ready to charge, I asked for the shots to be levelled over our heads as not to hit us by accident. That way, the enemy that were positioned low were forced to run, while the rest were unable to figure out when our charge would start because of the loud discharge from the tanks. We killed them mercilessly, and countless weapons were seized. The NVA lost their bravado, when they saw us advancing with absolutely no regard for Death. They trembled and fled. That night, I slept in a bunker with an enemy body, unaware that a live NVA soldier was hiding only metres away. When I woke and detected him the next morning, I delivered him to Battalion headquarters.
But this time, my platoon was appointed to fill a task which was a thousand times more difficult. The chance of sharing the same fate as our dead brothers-in-arms was high. To be repelled uninjured, would be lucky. I ruminated on this depressing thought on my way back to the platoon. I then summonned my platoon assistant and my squad leaders to brief them.
“Tonight, our task is to recapture the Old Citadel. Be ready to move. Let your soldiers, rest now. Be on guard for my call to start.”
An M.48 tank unit was moved to my position. I went out to welcome the leader and pointed out the targets to him. I was high on adrenaline, and requested several suspected sites be targetted.
After an hour with the Armour men I jumped down from the tank. As I did so, the enemy artillery began to fire haphazardly in the direction of the Marines. I asked friendly forces to stop firing so that I could advance the troops. I reported to Thach Sanh that my men were on the move. The leading squad, composed of four rows of three advanced, whilst two other squads protected its flanks.
After crossing the line of departure about 50m, we immediately confronted the enemy outposts. They threw hand grenades on us. I ordered my soldiers not to use personal firearms, but rather respond in kind. Second Lieutenant Luat, a newly graduated officer on job training (OJT), followed me closely. I switched my radio frequency so I could contact other Marine Companies at all times. The whole platoon was forced to crawl slowly forwards whilst hand grenades exploded all around. Instead of firing, the Communists chose to throw grenades at the slightest noise. I had to crawl back and forth, left and right, to check the position constantly.
Somebody whispered in my ear:
“Chief, I killed an NVA...the rest are running straight in front.”
“Good, but don't worry about chasing them. Just move forwards and don't use firearms.”
The night was too dark, impeding observation. I could not request flares as they would have given our position away to the enemy. A little bit further ahead the Marines 105mm artillery rounds were continuing to shell the top of the wall as usual. The goal was to deceive the enemy into thinking we were only harrassing them with shellings. They did not realize that below, the “Sea Tigers” were trying to re-write history.
After three hours of crawling, creeping, sneeking, evading, and throwing grenades, we approached the wall. About 100m from the foot, I ordered my soldiers to seek shelter from artillery rounds by lying completely flat on the ground, in depressions or next to ruins. Only then did I request flares to observe the situation. When they lit up the sky, I could see NVA soldiers sitting in groups of three. Everytime a flare lit up, their long shadows would cast upon our hideouts, making us feel as if they were right above us. I requested the Artillery to step up the firepower. Salvos screeched over our heads, falling inside the Citadel. The enemy seemed unafraid, for no matter how frequent the shellings came, they never abandonned their guard position. They had probably suspected our ruse, and so paid particular attention.
Thach Sanh regularly asked: “Where are you? What is the situation... Do you think that you can climb?” I gave him full details. In short, we could do nothing at that moment. The NVA numerous and were vigilently guarding. They had the upper hand. Trying to attack them would have been foolhardy. We had to be patient - I thought things over carefully. Choosing the exact moment was essential. A minute could change the situationm drastically.
If the enemy detected us, we would surely be annihilated. To recapture the Citadel was a matter of course, but I wanted to do it with minimal loss to my platoon.
Second Lieutenant Luat asked me: “Have you made up your mind to scale the wall tonight?”
“Of course... Why do you think I joined the Marines?” I responded. I immediately decided to join the Marine Corps when I saw the recruiting officer, a heroic young Marine Captain with eyes full of ideals. I thought the Marines were the best fighters, and if one was brave and victorious, one could be promoted to the rank of the heroic officers. I did not hesitate to enter - and agreed to accept the fact that “either one's tomb is green covered with grass, or one's chest is red... decorated with a medal.”
I had to scale the wall to cast the hunting dogs within out. I felt the heavy burden of responsibility on my shoulders. The honour of the Marine Corps, and the ARVN was at stake. It was a very difficult task to find the right moment, and the right path up the wall.
Captain Bang Chief of Battalion S3, was nervous about the situation, and wanted details. I reported everything to him, adding jokingly: “Don't worry sir, tomorrow I will bring back some K54 for you to play with.” (K54 was an NVA officer's pistol.) He jovially wished me good luck, and I thanked him for his concern.
I requested Thach Sanh for more flares and shellings. After each salvo, he would anxiously ask: “How was that? is it possible for you to ascend yet?” Time and again I had to answer in the negative. Indeed the NVA had stepped up their patrol. One NVA commander ran to and fro shouting in a northern accent: “Be careful! They are going to attack.”
The artillery rounds were not particulary effective. Most fell within the Citadel, which I thought was wasteful. It would have been more effective on the ramparts, but unfortunately, we would have been on the receiving end as well. I decided to take the risk, and asked the Artillerymen to shell 50m shorter. Salvos screeched over our heads, but still fell beyond the ramparts. “No, 25m shorter!” I requested. This time, the shells exactly on the ramparts. Shrapnel flew in all directions like a spray of water.
“Great! Another one please!” I also requested flares. In the light, I could see the NVA troops hurrying to their bunkers. I looked at my watch. It was 5.15 am. An Artillery round fell 20m behind me.
“Thach Thao, are you alright?”
“Yes. Please tell the Artillery to stop. I'm letting my men climb up now.”
The sky became lighter, To the east, it was clear and blue. With daybreak, I could see where the wall started, and where it ended. I decided to exploit the time the NVA were entering their bunkers to climb the wall. I called forth Sergeant Xuan, an audacious and experienced squad leader and hurriedly ordered:
“Lead your squad in climbing up first. I'll follow. Don't make any noise. Hurry!”
Xuan's squad quickly exited their hiding places, forded the moat and scaled the wall. The whole platoon followed. Xuan reached the top of the wall, and the Marines behind him, began to throw grenades. I saw Xuan throwing himself at the NVA bunkers. The entire platoon scaled up a full speed. I called over the radio: “Thach Sanh, order the company to storm over now!” I hastily gave my signalman the hand set and threw more grenades. In a short period of time, a whole stretch, 150m long was ours. The enemy ran off, and gaining momentum we pursued.
Ten minutes later, Thach Sanh and the rest of the company reached the top to reinforce us. The thunderous shouts of “Charge!” petrified the enemy. They had no option but to flee, throwing their weapons as they went, every man for himself. It had never occured to them that the Marines would dare scale the Citadel. It was this bold action that lead to the complete routing of the NVA at the Citadel.
The NVA were no different to a group of ducks rushing out of their pens. We captured many prisoners and hordes of weapons of all kind.
About 30 minutes later, a company of the 6th Marine Battalion started charging at the South west side of the Citadel. In a very short time, the “Divine Hawks” had mastered an area of the Citadel. After that moment, the Citadel was ours. The purging of remaining enemy bunkers did not cause much problems.
At 7.00 am, Major De, the Executive Commander of the 3rd Battalion came to me with a bottle of brandy. He said: “Thach Thao, have a sip, please. I congratulate you on having gained the victory. You and your men have brought honour to the Marine Corps and especially the “Sea Wolves” of the 3rd Marine Battalion”. I drank with him, and the warmth of the alcohol helped me forget the hardship endured during the night. As I saw smoke billowing up from where the enemy artillery landed, I was reminded that my entire platoon was safe! At the thought, tears poured down my face...
On the 16th of September 1972, we all dressed in our marine fatigues, and made ourselves presentable for the President's visit. At 10.30 am, The President came. Whilst in line, I was hoping that he would visit the “Sea wolves”, however he stopped only at the “Divine Hawks” and then left. A few days later, Captain Bang, the Chief of Battalion S3 told me that I had been commended for a promotion and a medal. I told him that all the men in the Platoon were worthy of recognition. As things turned out, for some reason or another, no one in our company - not even Thach Sanh - was recognized in any way. I was disappointed for my platoon, many of whom had fought well. Numerous ended up sacrificing their lives in other operations. This hurtful oversight, turned out to be a blesssing in disguise: later, when the Communists took over in 1975, the length of the sentences in the concentration camps was directly proportional to the ranking one held!
But though Thach Sanh, the “Sea wolves”, my platoon and I, had to swallow a bitter pill in the celebrations that followed the Victory, nothing could detract from our pride at having been the first to scale the wall, and play such an important role in history. We were proud of our achievement - I was proud, and still am. After Quang Tri, I continued to fight. Eventually, I was wounded, and was given permission to return home. Home I went to my wife and 2 month old son, who I hadn't seen since birth...
First Lieutenant Van Tan Thach
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