Vietnam Anti-War Movement by Joseph E. Abodeely

Author:Joseph E. Abodeely [Abodeely, Joseph E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Vietnam War, Modern, 20th Century, Social Science, Popular Culture
ISBN: 9780991528622
Google: b3AGzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Joseph E. Abodeely
Published: 2020-10-09T03:37:41+00:00

The 18th Division lodged themselves in the town of Xuan Loc and were able to block North Vietnam’s advance for nearly two weeks. The ARVN held Xuan Loc and counterattacked against impossible odds and fought well at Xuan Loc. It was described as “heroic and gallant” by the South Vietnamese defenders and as one of the few places where the ARVN, though outnumbered, stood and fought with a tenacity which stunned their opponents. The stand of the ARVN so impressed the rest of the entire South Vietnamese Army, that previously routed, they grew confident again.

After 12 days and nights of ferocious combat against the North Vietnamese Communist forces, the steel defensive line at Xuan Loc (Long Khanh) still held firm. The fighting was harsh and severe, but the ARVN troops held up the assault on Saigon for two weeks. Xuan Loc was reduced to rubble in the fight, and its population fled in a mass exodus. North Vietnamese 4th Corps forces engaged in the battle had suffered heavy losses; therefore, the Headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign hastily changed their plan for the attack on Saigon. The forces of the North Vietnamese 3rd Corps in Tay Ninh and 2nd Corps at the Nuoc Trong base would be used to make the “major effort” to attack and capture Saigon. The NVA 4th Corps abandoned its efforts against Xuan Loc and became a “reserve force.”

Xuan Loc was no longer a “hot point,” and the Headquarters of ARVN 3rd Corps/Military Region 3 ordered the 18th Infantry Division and all units participating in the Xuan Loc (Long Khanh) battle to retreat to Bien Hoa on April 20, 1975, to establish a new line defending the outer approaches to Saigon.

This withdrawal marked the end of Thieu’s political career, as he resigned on April 21, 1975. After Xuan Loc fell on April 21, 1975, the NVA battled with the last remaining elements of III Corps Armored Task Force, remnants of the 18th Infantry Division, and depleted Marine, Airborne, and Ranger Battalions in a fighting retreat that lasted nine days, until they reached Saigon. The North Vietnamese broke through Xuan Loc with Soviet T54 tanks and headed straight toward Bien Hoa and arrived at Saigon at the end of the month.

The Fall of Saigon

On April 9, 1975, NVA entered Dong Nai Province, the final swath which led to Saigon. Thousands of South Vietnamese sought refuge elsewhere and left Vietnam as the “boat people.”

When Xuan Loc fell on April 21, all order collapsed. Hoping to find safety in American-held Saigon, the ARVN and South Vietnam civilians made a chaotic retreat from the advancing North Vietnamese.

Xuan Loc was only 26 miles away from Saigon, so the Communists were already at their doorstep. By April 27, 1975, Saigon was surrounded. On April 29, the shelling began, and the following day, the NVA entered the capital.

The orderly evacuation of Americans and South Vietnam civilians turned into chaos. NVA armored columns crashed through the gates of South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace, and U.

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