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 Hill Fights (also known as the First Battle of Khe Sanh) took place during the Vietnam War between the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 325C Division and United States Marines on several hill masses north of the Khe Sanh Combat Base in northwest Quảng Trị Province.

[1]: 35 On 22 April 1967 SLF Bravo comprising 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines supported by HMM-164 had commenced Operation Beacon Star on the southern part of the Street Without Joy straddling Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Provinces against the Vietcong (VC) 6th Regiment and 810th and 812th Battalions.

[1]: 36 The next morning Company B continued its slow advance on Hill 861, hampered by fog, difficult terrain and PAVN fire.

[1]: 38 At 05:00 on 26 April, the 3rd Battalion command post and Khe Sanh Base were hit by mortar and recoilless rifle fire.

Company B was also heavily engaged throughout the morning eventually breaking contact at 12:00 and establishing a defensive perimeter on a knoll.

Medevac helicopters were called in, but as their approach brought PAVN mortar fire and by 14:45 the Company commander reported that he was unable to move.

[1]: 38  Also on 26 April, SLF Bravo received urgent orders to move to Khe Sanh to reinforce the 3/3 Marines.

The Marines found 25 bunkers and numerous fighting positions and reported an odor of dead bodies across the hilltop.

Company E almost reached the summit of the hill when it was hit by an intense rainstorm and the Battalion was pulled back into night defensive positions.

[1]: 44 After securing Hill 881N the Marines thoroughly searched the area around Hills 881N and 881S and air and artillery strikes were called in on suspected PAVN positions, but it appeared that the PAVN had withdrawn north across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone or west into Laos.

Trần Văn Trà, PAVN commander of the B-2 Front in III Corps stated in a 1990 interview that the intention of the border battles and particularly at Khe Sanh was to draw U.S forces into the remote border regions away from the population centers that would be attacked during the Tet Offensive.

[1]: 46–7 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.