The Battle of Kontum 1968 Overview

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

The Battle of Kontum

Overview

At the end of January, 1968 the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launched an ambitious offensive operation throughout the entire country of South Vietnam. Every major city and every Provincial Capital was attacked in what came to be called the Tet Offensive. The attack on the city of Kontum, the capital of Kontum Province was initially hampered by elements of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) who prevented the communists from taking complete control of the city. However, during the assault enemy forces managed to occupy part of the city and some of the outlying territory.

The U.S. Army organization responsible for this area of operations was the 4th Infantry Division. As part of the Division 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry was tasked with clearing the enemy out of Kontum and pursuing him into the countryside. LTC William P. Junk, Commander of 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry was given command of the ground forces of the operation and was directed to assume control of all 4th Infantry Division forces in the area. LTC Junk organized the elements at his disposal into six main teams under the heading of Task Force 1-22. Joining 1/22 Infantry in the Task Force and coming under LTC Junk's command were elements of 1/12 Infantry, 2/1 Cavalry, 7/17 Cavalry and 1/69 Armor. Also under LTC Junk's control was a battery of 105mm howitzers from 4/42 Artillery, a battery of 155mm howitzers from 5/16 Artillery, two M-42 Dusters with their 40mm twin guns and 3rd Platoon of Company B from the 4th Engineers.

Taking the civilian population of 20,000 into consideration, the approval of LTC Nguyen H. Doan the Province Chief was solicited and received prior to the commencing of any operation. The fourteen days of fighting in and around the city from January 30 through February 12 became known as the Battle of Kontum. (The fighting around Konutm in 1972 during the later Easter Offensive also was known as the Battle of Kontum but this action during the Tet Offensive of 1968 was the first battle for the city.)

Just past 0200 on January 30, 1968 various units of the communist B-3 front launched attacks first on the airfield at Kontum and then against the city itself. At the airfield they were repulsed by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces, with the 57th Assault Helicopter Company getting their gunships in the air to help in breaking up the attack.

In the military compound area of the city elements of the South Vietnamese Army and Militia personally led by LTC Doan managed to stop the enemy attack and held a defensive perimeter around several of the headquarters buildings. At mid-day of January 30 Task Force 1-22 began the retaking of Kontum. Company B 1/22 Infantry and elements of 7/17 Cavalry arrived north of the city and commenced search and destroy sweeps in the area to the north of the airfield. Company A 1/22 Infantry was airlifted to near the bridge over the Dak Bla river at about 1900 hours where LTC Junk joined them and set up his Tactical Operations Center.

One platoon of Company A 1/22 Infantry and the Recon Platoon 1/22 Infantry moved across the bridge and took up positions inside the city. The North Vietnamese again attacked the airfield but helicopter gunships drove them off. About 0400 on the morning of January 31 the communists tried to overrun the forces still holding out in the city. Despite a rocket attack which hit the ammo dump and destroyed most of their artillery ammunition, South Vietnamese (ARVN) forces repulsed the attack.

In the morning of January 31 ARVN and RF/PF (South Vietnamese Militia) troops entered the city to provide security for those areas in friendly hands. LTC Junk brought in more assets of Task Force 1-22. Elements of D 1/22 Infantry, B 1/22 Infantry and 1/69 Armor broke into small teams and moved throughout the area, eliminating pockets of enemy resistance. By the end of the day 65 enemy soldiers had been killed by Task Force 1-22 alone. Altogether over 250 enemy dead littered the streets of the city and the area around Kontum from the first two days of fighting. On February 1 Company C 1/22 Infantry was brought into the city and the counterattack began.

February 1 to 4 saw the Task Force engaged in house-to-house street fighting which was some of the bloodiest and most violent of the entire operation. The enemy had established themselves in basements, lofts of buildings, rooftops, trenches and tunnels. On February 1 a team from 1/22 Infantry cleared the western part of the city utilizing gunship and tank fire against communist strongpoints. The enemy lost 90 men on February 1 before retreating. Company C 1/22 Infantry made sure the airfield was secure. On February 2 Company D 1/22 Infantry attacked the NVA in the military compound and its 1st Platoon got caught in an ambush. Company C came to their assistance with two tanks and an Armored Personnel Carrier from 2/1 Cavalry, giving Company D time to pull back and regroup. This attack cost the NVA another 47 men killed. About 100 enemy soldiers became trapped in the compound due to Company C’s movements and attempted to flee across open ground. Company C, Company D and the three Cavalry vehicles killed most of the enemy in their attempted escape. Companies B and D 1/12 Infantry were airlifted from Dak To the same day and were brought north of the airfield.

The following excerpts from a Stars and Stripes article by the 4th Infantry Division Information Officer described the fighting in Kontum:

“As Company D 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry swept from the center of Kontum to the north, both sides of the street erupted in heavy fire from machinegun nests hidden in two churches. Gunships, called immediately, temporarily silenced the activity. On each corner sporadic sniper fire opened up. In a scene more apropos of World War II the infantrymen moved from house to house, kicking in doors and lobbing grenades into the enemy infested buildings. Near the MACV compound NVA soldiers were holed up in trenches, bunkers and spider holes. Airstrikes were called and secondary explosions shook the area. ‘We passed over bunker after bunker, each one containing five to eight NVA dead’ remarked SP4 Roger Ziegler.”

(Note: After surviving the Battle of Kontum, Corporal Roger Ziegler of Company C 1/22 Infantry quoted above, was killed a little over two months later on April 27, 1968 in the Battle of Chu Moor Mountain.)

Members of Company D 1/22 Infantry reacting to sniper fire on the streets of Kontum during the battle,
on February 1, 1968.

Photo by SP5 James Doyle, PIO 4th ID 1968

On February 3 the enemy realized their hope to control Kontum was gone. Those NVA who had not already left the city broke up into small groups and began to retreat as best they could as Task Force 1-22 steadily pushed them out of the city limits. By February 4 only a handful of communists were left in the city; the majority of enemy forces still in the vicinity were regrouping to the north. LTC Junk designated areas of possible withdrawal by the communists, and sent his forces into these areas with the purpose of finding the fleeing enemy. By the end of the day on February 4 the 1/22 Infantry After Action Report recorded that 634 of the enemy had been killed and confirmed by body count in the battle thus far.

Company C 1/22 Infantry was searching in the area to the northeast of the city, when at 1330 in the afternoon on February 5 it met the North Vietnamese head-on. South of Hill 684 Company C ran into a large enemy force supported by automatic weapons and mortars. Company A 1/22 Infantry joined as reinforcements along with four tanks and the small American force called in artillery, airstrikes and gunships against the enemy. The fighting lasted for six hours before the NVA broke contact and retreated to Hill 684. During the encounter Company C lost 8 men killed and 12 wounded. Company A lost one man killed and 3 wounded. The two Companies pulled back to the military compound at Kontum for the night."

On February 6 Task Force 1-22 began the attack on Hill 684. Company A 1/22 Infantry and Company B 1/22 Infantry were to move abreast and take their objectives. Company A had Objective 1, which was Hill 684. Company B had Objective 2, which was Hill 721, the high ground about one kilometer to the east of Hill 684. Company C 1/22 Infantry was held to the south in reserve and Company D 1/22 Infantry remained at Kontum. Early in the morning airstrikes and artillery were rained down on Hill 864 after which Company A advanced up its slopes. The attack was stalled around 1030 by well dug in NVA who unleashed a storm of small arms, mortar and B-40 rocket fire from their prepared bunkers on the hill. Company B was directed to discontinue their mission against Hill 721 and join Company A in their assault. Together the two Companies made a second attack that was also stopped during which Company A sustained many casualties with its Commander taken out of the fight by an incapacitating wound. Airstrikes and artillery hit the enemy on Hill 684 and a third frontal assault was carried out at 1318 in the afternooon. After fifteen minutes of taking more casualties this attack was discontinued.

The rest of February 6 was spent with sporadic contact. Because of the heavy resistance of the North Vietnamese on Hill 684 LTC Junk devised a plan of attack for February 7, in which Companies A and B 1/22 Infantry would repeat their frontal assault on Hill 684 while Company D 1/22 Infantry, joined by tanks from 1/69 Armor would circle to the west and seize the high ground to the north of Hill 684, trapping the enemy in a pincer movement.

On the morning of February 7 airstrikes and artillery pounded Hill 684 with cluster bombs, napalm and tear gas. LTC Junk's plan of attack was carried out with the addition of C 1/22 Infantry moving to the east to block a possible avenue of escape and Company A 1/12 Infantry joining in the frontal attack on Hill 684. Most of the communist forces had already begun abandoning the hill and when elements of Task Force 1-22 occupied the summit it was found to be deserted. During the next five days intermittent contact was made with the enemy until by February 12 it was apparent that the North Vietnamese had departed the area and the battle for Kontum was over.

Soon after the battle, 1st Lieutenant Al Williams, a Platoon Leader in 1/22 Infantry ponders the fight for Hill 684

Photo from the 4th Infantry Division newspaper The Ivy Leaf March 3, 1968

During the fourteen day battle 17 soldiers from 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry were killed in action while 12 U.S. soldiers from other units were also killed making the total of Americans killed 29. South Vietnamese losses were 66 killed. The 1/22 Infantry After Action Report showed enemy losses recorded as 844 killed.* Another report gives the number of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong killed during the battle as 1189. The battle reduced the 24th North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Regiment to a small force of battered and dismayed men and within a couple of months it was pulled into Cambodia to refit and replace its losses.

In July 1968 a recommendation that the Presidential Unit Citation be awarded to Task Force 1-22 for its actions during the Battle of Kontum was forwarded through channels. In January 1969 Major General Donn R. Pepke, Commander of the 4th Infantry Division added his endorsement to the recommendation. The Commander of United States Army Vietnam (USARV) General Creighton W. Abrams added his endorsement and forwarded the recommendation to the Adjutant General’s Office whose final decision in March 1970 downgraded the award. On April 16, 1970 USARV General Orders Number 883 authorized the Valorous Unit Award (VUA) to 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry and its attached units “for extraordinary heroism while engaged in military operations in defense of Kontum during the period 30 January 1968 to 12 February 1968.” The Battalion or elements of it would receive seven more Valorous Unit Awards during its service in Iraq from 2003 – 2009.

* This total of 844 enemy KIA was disputed by LTG William R. Peers, Commander of IFFV in 1968. For this reason, Peers returned without action the recommendation for the Presidential Unit Citation. A subsequent review of reports and studies ordered by MG Donn Pepke, Commander of the 4th Infantry Division in 1968, re-calculated the total of enemy KIA by Task Force 1-22 in the battle as 374.

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