The Battle of Khe Sanh
77 days of combat in Vietnam
The Battle of Khe Sanh was one of the longest and most controversial battles of the Vietnam War. Taking place in early 1968, the battle lasted 77 days and resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 soldiers, both Vietnamese and American. For years after the war, historians and veterans debated whether or not the battle was a turning point in the war.
The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, when North Vietnamese forces launched a series of attacks on American-held strongholds in the region surrounding Khe Sanh. Americans didn’t expect the attacks. A retreat was ordered to the base at Khe Sanh. The North Vietnamese then laid siege to the base, cutting off all supply lines and subjecting the Americans to nearly constant bombardment.
For weeks, it looked like the North Vietnamese were going to succeed in overrunning Khe Sanh. However, in early March 1968, American forces began a series of counterattacks that eventually drove the North Vietnamese back. Eventually, American forces claimed Khe Sanh. However, it came at a high cost. More than 10,000 people were killed in the fighting.
Eugene “Papa” Poilane
- Birth:
- Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont, Département de Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France
Eugene Poilane was a French national who came to Vietnam in the early 1920s.
He was one of the founders of Khe Sanh, and operated a coffee plantation not far from it.
He was murdered in April, 1964, allegedly by Communist VC forces.
His story is told briefly in Roger Pisor’s book ‘The End Of The Line’ about the siege of Khe Sanh, in which he eulogizes him thusly:
‘The idyll of Khe Sanh was shattered in April 1964 when men stepped from the side of the road, ordered Papa Poilane and M. Linares from their car-and riddled Poilane with bullets. The gentle mountain man who had walked Route 9 when it was still a dirt path, the builder of Khe Sanh, the father of two families, was dead.’
He was likely buried nearby.
Catherine Leroy
French Photo Journalist
The Ranch Ministries
About the Founder
Ken Korkow was raised in a ranching and rodeo family and entered the Marine Corps when he was 18. He lived through the 77-day siege of Khe Sanh which was the longest and most deadly battle of the Vietnam War. When blown up, the two fellow Marines that pulled him out both thought he wouldn’t live. Later, a doctor said, “You may as well accept this, you’re never going to walk or use your hands again!” Ken married Liz while he was still in the military hospital and neither of them knew how much Ken had changed. After his medical discharge from the military the governor of his home state named a day in Ken’s honor as the state’s most highly decorated Vietnam Veteran.
