Battle of Ban Houei Sane

Battle of Ban Houei Sane
Part of Vietnam War
Date23–24 January 1968
Location
Ban Houei Sane, Laos
16°36′40″N 106°32′17″E / 16.611°N 106.538°E / 16.611; 106.538[1]
Result North Vietnamese victory
Belligerents
Laos Kingdom of Laos  North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Laos Soulang Phetsampou North Vietnam Lê Công Phê
Units involved
Bataillon Volontaire (BV-33) 24th Regiment
Casualties and losses
Unknown, most survivors escaped to the nearby Lang Vei camp. 29 killed
54 wounded[2]

The Battle of Ban Houei Sane took place during the Vietnam War, beginning on the night of 23 January 1968, when the 24th Regiment of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 304th Division overran the small Royal Lao Army outpost at Ban Houei Sane. The fighting at Ban Houei Sane was one in a series of battles fought between North Vietnamese and Allied forces during the Tet Offensive. The small outpost, defended by the 700 man Bataillon Volontaire (BV-33),[3] was attacked and overwhelmed by the vastly superior PAVN and their PT-76 light tanks. The failure of BV-33 to defend their outpost at Ban Houei Sane had negative consequences only a few weeks later, when the PAVN struck again at Lang Vei.

  1. ^ Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  2. ^ "VVA article". Archived from the original on 2014-07-06. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  3. ^ Prados, John (1991). Valley of Decision: the Siege of Khe Sanh. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. p. 18.