Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam (Battles and Campaigns Series)

In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam in what became known as the Easter Offensive. Almost all of the American forces had already withdrawn from Vietnam except for a small group of American advisers to the South Vietnamese armed forces. The 23rd ARVN Infantry Division and its American advisers were sent to defend the provincial capital of Kontum in the Central Highlands. They were surrounded and attacked by three enemy divisions with heavy artillery and tanks but, with the help of air power, managed to successfully defend Kontum and prevent South Vietnam from being cut in half and defeated. Although much has been written about the Vietnam War, little of it addresses either the Easter Offensive or the Battle of Kontum. In Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam, Thomas P. McKenna fills this gap, offering the only in-depth account available of this violent engagement. McKenna, a U.S. infantry lieutenant colonel assigned as a military adviser to the 23rd Division, participated in the battle of Kontum and combines his personal experiences with years of interviews and research from primary sources to describe the events leading up to the invasion and the battle itself. Kontum sheds new light on the actions of U.S. advisers in combat during the Vietnam War. McKenna's book is not only an essential historical resource for America's most controversial war but a personal story of valor and survival. Copyright 5 Contents 8 List of Maps 10 Preface 12 Prologue: Kontum: Now and Then 18 1. Autumn in the Highlands, 1971 22 2. Fighting in Phu Nhon 40 3. A Hundred Tons of Bombs 49 4. The Looming Threat 57 5. The Year of the Rat 61 6. The North Vietnamese Invasion 74 7. Attacking in An Khe Pass 91 8. Our Firebases Fall 99 9. The Collapse at Tan Canh 112 10. A Debacle at Dak To 131 11. A New Team for the Defense 142 12. Closing in on Kontum 161 Photo insert 170 13. Cut Off and Surrounded 186 14. Tanks Attacking! 199 15. Struggling to Hold It Together 219 16. "Brother, This Is Going to Be It!" 241 17. "You Are Going to Be Overrun!" 250 18. The Dirty Job of Killing 264 19. All Over but the Shooting? 271 20. Finishing the Job 278 Epilogue: The End of the Fight 289 Acknowledgments 302 Glossary 304 Notes 310 Selected Bibliography 348 Index 358