General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Battle of Hue veteran, hugs a Hue veteran at the USS Hue City memorial picnic held this weekend at Kavanaugh Park at Naval Station Mayport. -Photo courtesy of USS Hue City

Hue City Marks 35th Anniversary Of Battle

By Lt. Steven Dundas
USS Hue City Chaplain

From across the country they came. Marines, Sailors and Soldiers all came to the C-12 Hangar at Naval Station Mayport to remember a battle 35 years old.

Accompanied by their families and friends, these men gathered with the crew of USS Hue City and guest speaker, Gen. Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to remember when they and their comrades fought an epic battle against all odds.

These same Marines endured the terror of battle in one of the fiercest engagements of the Vietnam War, the battle for Hué City.

In that engagement, three under-strength U.S. Marine battalions, consisting of fewer than 2,500 men, attacked and defeated more than 10,000 entrenched enemy troops.

USS Hue City, the only ship named for a battle of the Vietnam War, honored these distinguished veterans on its anniversary this past weekend.

Situated in central Vietnam, Hué was the nation's cultural capital, a unique blend of French and Vietnamese influence.

Termed the Imperial City, it gracefully retained the glory of Vietnam's past while its universities educated Vietnam's brightest minds for the future. Hué was a symbol of everything the Vietnamese people admired and respected, and for this reason it was spared the terrible effects of war - until Tet 1968.

Gen. Peter Pace relates old war stories to veterans in attendance at the USS Hue City memorial picnic. Pace is also a Vietnam and Battle of Hue veteran. -Photo courtesy of USS Hue City

Tet Nguyen Dan, the Buddhist Lunar New Year, was being celebrated across Vietnam. Hué had been virtually untouched by the war and it maintained only a small garrison of troops.

In fact, on Jan. 30, 1968, when North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regiments, supported by Combat Engineers, Artillery, Rockets and local Viet Cong (VC) units launched a surprise attack, most of Hué's South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) garrison was on holiday leave for the traditional Tet truce.

The Communists rapidly captured most of the city, leaving a few ARVN and U.S. units holding isolated pockets with the city.

As the U.S. and South Vietnamese garrisons fought for their lives, Marines drawn primarily from the 1st Marine Division were sent in to liberate Hué.

As the Marines prepared their offensive, the NVA and VC slaughtered more than 5,000 South Vietnamese civilians.

Elements of 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, and 1st and 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, launched an assault, supported by other Marines units, U.S. Army troops, and the ARVN 1st Division. Acts of heroism were the norm, not the exception.

Street to street, house-to-house, room-to-room, the battle raged for weeks while NVA and VC forces contested every block of the city. Finally, on Feb. 25, the Imperial Palace was secured. The NVA flag, which flew from the flagpole of the Imperial Palace was replaced by an American flag, and is now enshrined in the Wardroom of USS Hue City.

The following day, the city was declared secure by ARVN 1st Corps, even though furious battles would rage around the city for the next three weeks.

The Marines, now supported by more Army units, swept the remaining NVA and VC from the urban battlefield, and Hué was liberated. One hundred forty-two Marines died and 857 were wounded.

Battle of Hue veterans stand to an ovation during the memorial service. C-12 hanger at Naval Station Mayport was packed with Vietnam veterans, USS Hue City crewmembers, friends and family members during the Sunday memorial service in remembrance of the battle. -Photo courtesy of USS Hue City

Sunday (Feb. 2), the crew of USS Hue City honored those who fought the battle of Hué during a memorial service at the hanger.

The memorial service capped a weekend of events in which the veterans reminisced with one another and passed along their memories of the battle to the Sailors of Hue City.

Pace, who commanded 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines during the Battle of Hué, focused on the sacrifices of the Marines, especially the Marines under his command who gave their lives in the battle.

As Pace spoke each of their names, the memories of the battle flooded the Vets, and what he shared stirred the spirits of the assembled crew.

Pace spoke of what his Marines taught him, the leadership lessons that he learned in combat from them, and how those lessons had impacted his career. He said those lessons still shape how he performs his job in this time of conflict and ongoing struggle for freedom in the world.

Knowing that Hue City could again sail into harm's way, Pace's words resonated in the hearts of all present.

At the conclusion of the service, a saluting battery rendered a 21-gun salute in tribute to those who fell at Hué.

While the mournful echo of Taps filled the crisp morning air, and honors were rendered, the veterans of the battle stood in silent witness to the sacrifices made, and the friends who did not come home.

Friendships formed by the common bond of war were again forged between the veteran Marines and the crew of Hue City as the torch of freedom was passed from one generation of warriors to a new generation.