South Vietnam 304th Division308th Division324B Division Quảng Trị Province Command [vi] I Corps supported by: Seventh Fleet Regular Force: 40,000 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 First Battle of Quảng Trị (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Trị Thiên) resulted in the first major victory for the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Easter Offensive of 1972.

As South Vietnamese soldiers were gradually replacing their American counterparts, North Vietnam's General Văn Tiến Dũng was preparing to engage three of his divisions in the province.

Just months before the battle, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) deployed its newly formed 3rd Division to the areas along the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to take over former US bases.

The newly activated 56th and 57th Regiments were deployed over a series of strongpoints and fire support bases dotting the area immediately south of the DMZ and from the coast to the mountains in the west.

Camp Carroll was the lynchpin of the ARVN northern and western defense line situated on Route 9, the main road west to the Laos border.

[4]: 23–4  The commander of the 56th Regiment was Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Dinh who had fought in the Battle of Huế and Operation Lam Son 719.

The lightning speed of the PAVN attacks on those positions delivered a great shock to the soldiers of the ARVN, who were largely unprepared for the onslaught.

[7]: 247–9  They also seized the military service road from Mai Loc through Camp Carroll to Cam Lộ, surrounding the base and making it dependent on aerial resupply.

[7]: 259  As the senior advisor to the ARVN 56th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel William Camper refused to go through with the surrender, he decided to leave Camp Carroll along with three officers and they were rescued by a US Army CH-47.

[8]: 43  Early on the morning of 1 April the 4th Vietnamese Marine Corps Battalion abandoned Firebase Sarge and retreated to Mai Loc Camp.

[8]: 50–2  Marine ANGLICO units called in naval gunfire to hit PAVN forces near the bridges on the north bank of the river and destroyed four PT-76 amphibious tanks east of Đông Hà.

[8]: 56–60  At 18:00 a USAF EB-66 was shot down west of Đông Hà and a no-fire zone was imposed around the area allowing the PAVN to capture the Cam Lo Bridge intact.

The North Vietnamese immediately imposed their authority in the province, as collective farms were set up and strict rules were forced on the villagers.

According to Gary D. Murfin, one of the lead writers to have done a survey on Vietnamese refugees after 1975, the province was an area of particularly dense Catholic concentration, many of whom were anti-communist.