The Siege That Failed: America's Stand at Khe Sanh

VIDEO HERE  (28:37 minutes)

In the winter of 1968, as North Vietnamese forces massed in the hills surrounding a small Marine outpost, the world held its breath. Would Khe Sanh become America's Dien Bien Phu—a catastrophic defeat that would change the course of the war? For 77 brutal days, 6,000 U.S. Marines and their allies withstood relentless bombardment while surrounded by an estimated 20,000 North Vietnamese troops under the command of the legendary General Giap.

This official Department of Defense film documents one of the most intense battles of the Vietnam War, where American air power unleashed the heaviest bombing campaign in military history—over 103,000 tons of bombs—to break the siege. Through rare combat footage and firsthand accounts from commanders and Marines who lived through the ordeal, witness how the defenders of Khe Sanh transformed what could have been America's darkest military defeat into what General Westmoreland called a decisive demonstration of "the utter futility" of North Vietnam's military ambitions.

From the first artillery barrage on January 21st to the relief forces' arrival on April 7th, 1968, this is the story of extraordinary courage under fire, military strategy in the face of overwhelming odds, and a pivotal moment that would shape both the outcome of the Vietnam War and America's perception of it. As one Italian journalist observed among the besieged Marines: "I see no agony... but also no ecstasy."