"Big Red One" - 28mm US Infantry, 1943
Tank v. Tank in Vietnam - Ben Het 1969
When one thinks of tanks trading blows in open battle, Vietnam is not usually the war that comes to mind. But that’s exactly what happened at the Ben Het firebase and special forces camp on the night of March 3-4, 1969.
Situated in the central highlands near the border junction of South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, artillery at Ben Het could shell key infiltration routes branching off the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Furthermore, “Montagnard” locals trained by US Special Forces could infiltrate into Laos or Cambodia and root out these infiltration channels at the source.
The People’s Army of Vietnam (NVA) realized they had to eliminate this threat, and soon mounted a tank and mechanized infantry assault against Ben Het. Unfortunately for them, there were also American tans there from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment. One of the very few actual “tank battles” of the Vietnam War was on.
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