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The withdrawal from Pleiku and Kontum begins, as thousands of civilians join the soldiers streaming down Route 7B toward the sea. In late January 1975, just two years after the cease-fire established by the Paris Peace Accords, the North Vietnamese launched Campaign 275. The objective of this campaign was to capture the city of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. The battle began on March 4 and the North Vietnamese quickly encircled the city with five main force divisions, cutting it off from outside support. The South Vietnamese 23rd Division, which had been sent to defend the city, was vastly outnumbered and quickly succumbed to the communists.
As it became clear that the city—and probably the entire Darlac province—would fall to the communists, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu decided to withdraw his forces in order to protect the more critical populous areas to the south. Accordingly, he ordered his forces in the Central Highlands to pull back from their positions. Abandoning Pleiku and Kontum, the South Vietnamese forces began to move toward the sea. By March 17, civilians and soldiers came under heavy communist attack; the withdrawal, scheduled to take three days, was still underway on April 1. Only 20,000 of 60,000 soldiers ever reached the coast; of 400,000 refugees, only 100,000 arrived. The survivors of what one South Vietnamese general described as the “greatest disaster in the history of the ARVN [Army of the Republic of Vietnam]” escaped down the coastal highway toward Saigon.
The North Vietnamese overran the South Vietnamese forces in both the Central Highlands and further north at Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang. The South Vietnamese collapsed as a cogent fighting force and the North Vietnamese continued the attack all the way to Saigon. South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally to North Vietnam on April 30 and the war was over.
SSG William Jones Samantha S. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Mikel J. Burroughs Cynthia Croft LTC Stephen F. ] Alan K. SGT John " Mac " McConnell LTC (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SPC Douglas Bolton Lt Col Charlie Brown Sgt Randy Wilber MSgt John McGowan Cpl (Join to see) PO3 John Wagner PO3 Bob McCord SGT Jim Arnold SPC Margaret Higgins
As it became clear that the city—and probably the entire Darlac province—would fall to the communists, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu decided to withdraw his forces in order to protect the more critical populous areas to the south. Accordingly, he ordered his forces in the Central Highlands to pull back from their positions. Abandoning Pleiku and Kontum, the South Vietnamese forces began to move toward the sea. By March 17, civilians and soldiers came under heavy communist attack; the withdrawal, scheduled to take three days, was still underway on April 1. Only 20,000 of 60,000 soldiers ever reached the coast; of 400,000 refugees, only 100,000 arrived. The survivors of what one South Vietnamese general described as the “greatest disaster in the history of the ARVN [Army of the Republic of Vietnam]” escaped down the coastal highway toward Saigon.
The North Vietnamese overran the South Vietnamese forces in both the Central Highlands and further north at Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang. The South Vietnamese collapsed as a cogent fighting force and the North Vietnamese continued the attack all the way to Saigon. South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally to North Vietnam on April 30 and the war was over.
SSG William Jones Samantha S. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Mikel J. Burroughs Cynthia Croft LTC Stephen F. ] Alan K. SGT John " Mac " McConnell LTC (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SPC Douglas Bolton Lt Col Charlie Brown Sgt Randy Wilber MSgt John McGowan Cpl (Join to see) PO3 John Wagner PO3 Bob McCord SGT Jim Arnold SPC Margaret Higgins
South Vietnamese flee Pleiku and Kontum
Posted from history.com
Vietnam War
American History
Military History
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
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Thank you reminding us, my friend SP5 Mark Kuzinski of a relatively short-term result from the "secret" Paris peace talks which resulted in The Paris Peace Accords.
The North Vietnamese plainly played "us." They had a long-term wait strategy to unify Vietnam under Hanoi. We played along by not bringing the war in earnest to North Vietnam except with air strikes and some covert operations.
China [grudgingly] and the Soviet Union supported North Vietnam's goals and actively worked behind the scenes to assist North Vietnam in varying ways fro funding, though technical advice to military weapons systems.
Summarized background from thevietnamwar.info/what-was-paris-peace-accords/
"The Paris Peace Accords (PPA) was an agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the United States to bring an end to the Vietnam War."
1. "Although the first major peace proposal from North Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong came as early as in April 1965, there wasn’t any significant progress in negotiation until an informal meeting between Averell Harriman and Xuan Thuy – the U.S. and North Vietnamese emissaries respectively on May 10, 1968 in Paris."
2. "To deal with the unsolvable problems in Paris, Nixon directed Henry Kissinger, his National Security Advisor, to start secret one-on-one meetings with Le Duc Tho, a member of North Vietnamese politburo, in August 1969. However, those secret meetings and negotiations faced the same trouble as the talks in Paris. After the Tet Offensive with a “political and psychological” victory of the Viet Cong in particular, North Vietnam’s communist leaders believed time was on their side and firmly refused to negotiate seriously."
3. "To comfort and show his seriousness to Thieu, Nixon pledged some $1 billion military support for South Vietnam and promised to second him if North Vietnam would violate the agreement. Thieu unwillingly agreed to the treaty under pressure from the U.S. On January 15, 1973, Nixon suspended the bombardment so that the negotiations could continue. On January 27, 1973, after 12 days of serious negotiations, the Paris Peace Accords were eventually signed by representatives of four sides – the U.S., South and North Vietnam as well as the NLF, ending 5 long years of negotiations."
Here is a Vietnamese music video with image of Pleiku in 1975
Hình Ảnh Pleiku Trước 1975
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyCf0Dy7WoQ
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for mentioning me.
FYI LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones
The North Vietnamese plainly played "us." They had a long-term wait strategy to unify Vietnam under Hanoi. We played along by not bringing the war in earnest to North Vietnam except with air strikes and some covert operations.
China [grudgingly] and the Soviet Union supported North Vietnam's goals and actively worked behind the scenes to assist North Vietnam in varying ways fro funding, though technical advice to military weapons systems.
Summarized background from thevietnamwar.info/what-was-paris-peace-accords/
"The Paris Peace Accords (PPA) was an agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (PRG), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the United States to bring an end to the Vietnam War."
1. "Although the first major peace proposal from North Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong came as early as in April 1965, there wasn’t any significant progress in negotiation until an informal meeting between Averell Harriman and Xuan Thuy – the U.S. and North Vietnamese emissaries respectively on May 10, 1968 in Paris."
2. "To deal with the unsolvable problems in Paris, Nixon directed Henry Kissinger, his National Security Advisor, to start secret one-on-one meetings with Le Duc Tho, a member of North Vietnamese politburo, in August 1969. However, those secret meetings and negotiations faced the same trouble as the talks in Paris. After the Tet Offensive with a “political and psychological” victory of the Viet Cong in particular, North Vietnam’s communist leaders believed time was on their side and firmly refused to negotiate seriously."
3. "To comfort and show his seriousness to Thieu, Nixon pledged some $1 billion military support for South Vietnam and promised to second him if North Vietnam would violate the agreement. Thieu unwillingly agreed to the treaty under pressure from the U.S. On January 15, 1973, Nixon suspended the bombardment so that the negotiations could continue. On January 27, 1973, after 12 days of serious negotiations, the Paris Peace Accords were eventually signed by representatives of four sides – the U.S., South and North Vietnam as well as the NLF, ending 5 long years of negotiations."
Here is a Vietnamese music video with image of Pleiku in 1975
Hình Ảnh Pleiku Trước 1975
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyCf0Dy7WoQ
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for mentioning me.
FYI LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones
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Great history share this morning- long road to this point and sad ending
LTC Stephen F. SP5 Mark Kuzinski COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Maj William W. "Bill" PriceCPL Dave Hoover SSG William Jones Sgt Vance Bonds SGT (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) SGT Rick Colburn PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj Robert Thornton PO3 Bob McCord SPC Douglas Bolton CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col Charlie Brown TSgt Joe C. PO3 Craig Phillips CW5 Jack Cardwell
LTC Stephen F. SP5 Mark Kuzinski COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Maj William W. "Bill" PriceCPL Dave Hoover SSG William Jones Sgt Vance Bonds SGT (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) SGT Rick Colburn PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj Robert Thornton PO3 Bob McCord SPC Douglas Bolton CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col Charlie Brown TSgt Joe C. PO3 Craig Phillips CW5 Jack Cardwell
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