9th Division 8 fire support companies of Main Force Military Region 6[1]: 90–91 ARVN Rangers ARVN Airbone III Corps 3 Companies of the CIDG 5th Special Force Group (Airborne) United States Naval Construction Battalions American intervention 1965 1966 1967 Tet Offensive and aftermath Vietnamization 1969–1971 1972 Post-Paris Peace Accords (1973–1974) Spring 1975 Air operations Naval operations Lists of allied operations The Battle of Đồng Xoài (Vietnamese: Trận Đồng Xoài) was a major battle fought during the Vietnam War as part of the Viet Cong (VC) Summer Offensive of 1965.

The fight for Đồng Xoài began on the evening of June 9, 1965, when the VC 272nd Regiment attacked and captured the Civilian Irregular Defense Group and U.S. Special Forces camp there.

The ARVN forces arrived on the battlefield on June 10, but in the vicinity of Thuận Lợi, the VC 271st Regiment overwhelmed the South Vietnamese battalion.

On June 13, U.S. Army General William Westmoreland, fearing that the VC might secure enough area to establish a large base in Phước Long Province, decided to insert elements of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade into a major battle for the first time.

[8] Internally, the concessions made by Khánh had the effect of unsettling Catholic officers such as Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and Trần Thiện Khiêm, because they were concerned by what they perceived to be the handing of power to Buddhist leaders.

[12] For the first time, the newly created VC 273rd and 274th Regiments was ordered to join the 271st and 272nd Regiments on the battlefield; their objective was to destroy the regular units of the South Vietnamese military and eliminate the strategic hamlets to enlarge what North Vietnam viewed as liberated zones and that, in view of the forced relocation, the compulsory labor, the fund diversion by corrupt officers and the burning of old villages implied, were labelled by Noam Chomsky "virtual concentration camps".

Beginning on May 10, the VC 271st Regiment, supported by the 840th Battalion and local sapper units, attacked the district town of Phước Long, capital of the province.

[20] There were also 400 soldiers from 3 companies of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group,[21] 11 United States Army Special Forces personnel and nine men of Seabee Team 1104.

[24] At 23:30, VC heavy mortar rounds began to fall on South Vietnamese and American positions around Đồng Xoài, soon followed by an infantry assault led by the 272nd Regiment.

During the initial assault, the VC sustained heavy casualties as they tried to navigate through the surrounding minefields and barb wire fences, which they had failed to pick up during previous reconnaissance missions.

[24] At about 01:30, two helicopter gunships from the U.S. Army's 118th Aviation Company were dispatched to support the Special Forces Camp, they fired on the VC around the compound, and returned to base only after their weapons load was emptied.

[25] While fighting raged inside the district, all flyable aircraft from the 118th Aviation Company flew out from Biên Hòa to Phước Vinh, a small town about 30 kilometres from Đồng Xoài.

At around 08:00, the UH-1 formations of the 118th Aviation Company descended on the landing zone near the Thuận Lợi rubber plantation, about 4 kilometres north of Đồng Xoài; they immediately began to receive fire from bunkers and foxholes surrounding the area.

[27] At around 11:55, the last remaining soldiers of the ARVN 1st Battalion were disembarked near the original landing zone in Thuận Lợi, and they too were put out of action within three minutes of touching down on the field.

Second Lieutenant Williams then ordered 14 Americans inside the building, along with an equal number of Vietnamese women and children, to retreat to the artillery position located east of the town where they continued their resistance.

On the night of June 10, the battalion began attacking VC positions around the Special Forces Camp, and they gradually recaptured the compound and much of the town.

The VC eventually launched a counter-attack in an attempt to win back the lost ground, but they failed to dislodge the soldiers of the ARVN 52nd Ranger Battalion.

Taking advantage of the poor weather conditions that had limited U.S. air strikes, as well as their numerical superiority, the VC broke the South Vietnamese formation into small groups and destroyed many of them.

[32][33] After the defeat of the ARVN 7th Airborne Battalion, U.S. General William Westmoreland concluded that the VC still had the strength to continue the attacks on Đồng Xoài.

Upon arrival at Phước Vinh, the U.S. Army task force waited for five days, but it soon became apparent that the VC had withdrawn from the area and had no intention of holding territory.

In their efforts to recapture the district town of Đồng Xoài, the South Vietnamese military lost 416 soldiers killed in action, 174 wounded and 233 missing.

According to Vietnam's official account of the Đồng Xoài campaign, from May to July 1965, they claimed to have put 4,459 enemy soldiers (including 73 Americans) out of action.

[2] Unlike previous leaders, Kỳ and Thiệu were more interested in fighting the Communists, and they intended to stop the Buddhist factions from interfering with their decision-making processes.

Nonetheless, Kỳ's ascension to the position of prime minister had effectively ended the cycle of military coups which had plagued Saigon since the downfall of Ngô Đình Diệm.