In April 1967, North Vietnamese Army units opened their biggest offensive of the Vietnam war. Their role was to draw American forces into the remotest parts of South Vietnam, far away from the populated areas. The hope was that the main attacks, scheduled for early 1968 would find the Americans deployed in all the wrong places.
Fighting began at the end of March when a strategic marine patrol ran into an ambush near one of the strategic hills that lay between the fire bases of Khe Sanh and Con Thien. Dozens of marines were killed during this first brief and unforeseen combat. The North Vietnamese had by then assembled nearly 2,000 men near the base at Con Thien and almost every day they hit the marines with artillery, rockets and mortars.
In the rugged country side around, there were savage battles as patrols from each side clashed in what became known as the Hill fights. During these battles 160 marines were killed and 700 wounded. The NVA resisted with such courage, that as a mark of respect, the marines who usually called the Vietcong “charlie”, rechristened them “Mr. Kong.”
But in the end, it was the sheer weight of American firepower that turned the tables at Con Thien. Repeated NVA assaults were broken and more than 900 North Vietnamese soldiers were killed by marine artillery, massive bombing and the guns of naval vessels off shore.
