Description

In fall 1965 North Vietnams high command smelled blood in the water The South Vietnamese republic was on the verge of collapse and Hanoi resolved to crush it once and for all The communists set their sights on South Vietnams strategically vital WestCentral Highlands Their first target was the American Special Forces camp at Plei Me remote and isolated along the Cambodian border

As darkness fell on 19 October 1965 two North Vietnamese Army regiments crept into their final strike positions The plan was as simple as it was audacious one regiment would bring the frontier fortress under siege while the other would lie in wait to destroy the inevitable rescue force Initially all that stood athwart Hanois grand scheme was a handful of American Green Berets a few hundred Montagnard alliesand burgeoning US airpower

But as the overland relief force bogged down 5th Group ordered in the legendary Chargin Charlie Beckwith and his elite Project Delta to help hold the line Soon the newly formed 1st Cavalry Division under its commander Maj Gen Harry Kinnard would join the fray setting the stage for its bloody Ia Drang Valley fights a few weeks later Before it was over the siege of Plei Me would push its defenders to the brink and usher in the first major clashes between the US and North Vietnamese armies