The Siege of Khe Sanh lasted 77 days, from January 21 to April
8, 1968 . It pitted several divisions of the North Vietnamese
Army (NVA) against elements of the 9th and 26th U.S. Marine
Divisions in action at the Khe Sanh Combat Base and on several
hills to the north and west of the base. It was one of the
largest and most significant battles of the Vietnam War , as
much for the ways that the siege affected public opinion as for
military reasons, if not more. Khe Sanh is a village in central
Vietnam, located approximately 10 miles away from the Laos
border on Route 9. As the tensions mounted between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it became
apparent that Khe Sanh was strategically important in the
defense of South Vietnam, as Route 9 was the first major east-
west highway south of the demilitarized zone that divided the
two countries. In addition, the town controlled two mountain
passes that had been used in several invasions, through one of
which ran Route 9. The first Americ