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mauling from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam defenses within Quang Tri and had been thoroughly demoralized by the air assaults, gunships, and aerial rocket artillery of the 1st Cavalry Division. Although well equipped, the North Vietnamese Army troops appeared to be inexperienced and were obviously completely unfamiliar with the airmobile tactics of the 1st Cavalry. The aerial rocket artillery and the helicopter gunships experienced unusual success against the enemy troops. Many of them attempted to play dead as the helicopters approached, seldom attempting to return fire.

By noon on 1 February, Quang Tri City had been cleared of the enemy and the 1st Brigade immediately initiated pursuit. A Company of the 1st Battalion, 502d Airborne made a heavy contact just south of Quang Tri killing 76 of the enemy with the help of aerial rocket artillery. Other units of the 1st Brigade made numerous smaller contacts throughout the day as the brigade elements moved out in ever-increasing concentric circles around the city.

In this abortive attack, the enemy lost 914 soldiers killed in action and 86 captured. The city of Quang Tri was without a doubt one of the major objectives of the Tet offensive. Its successful defense was one of the highlights of this period. The enemy's offensive time table in the I Corps Tactical Zone had been completely disrupted and a major communications hub remained in allied hands. The successful defense of Quang Tri resulted from the tenacious defense of the city itself by Army of the Republic of Vietnam forces; the accurate assessment of the tactical situation by Colonel Rattan and Mr. Brewer, the senior province advisor; and the ability of the 1st Cavalry Division to immediately react to this assessment by a complete change of orientation of its units and launching a series of air assaults on top of the enemy's supporting positions that very afternoon.

Volumes have been written about the battle for Hue and the house-to-house fighting that went on until almost the end of February. My Cavalry squadron, the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, had been very actively engaged in the outskirts of Hue and the division was given the mission to interdict the routes of egress and destroy the enemy units west of the city. The 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry began to seal off the city from the west and north with its right flank on the Perfume River on 2 February. The weather was miserable