Tây Lộc Airfield (also known as Huế Citadel Airfield) is a former United States Air Force (USAF), U.S. Army and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) airfield located within the Huế Citadel in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province, Vietnam.[1]
Tây Lộc Airfield  | |
|---|---|
| Part of Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) Pacific Air Forces (USAF) | |
 Tây Lộc Airfield, July 1967 | |
  Tây Lộc Airfield | |
| Coordinates | 16°28′28″N 107°34′23″E / 16.47444°N 107.57306°E |
| Type | Airfield |
| Site information | |
| Condition | abandoned |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1930s |
| In use | 1930s-75 |
| Battles/wars |  Vietnam War Battle of Huế |
Airfield information | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 5 ft / 2 m | ||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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History
editThe airfield was originally built in the 1930s by the French to serve as the airfield for Bảo Đại, the last Emperor of Vietnam.
USAF units based at Tây Lộc included:
- 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron (20th TASS) detachments
US Army units based at Tây Lộc included:
VNAF units based at Tây Lộc included:
- 219th Squadron Kingbees
Battle of Huế
editIn the early morning of 31 January 1968 at the start of the Battle of Huế, the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 800th Battalion of the 6th Regiment attacked the airfield which was defended by the Army of Vietnam (ARVN) "Black Panther" Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Division. The fight for control of the airfield continued until dawn when 1st Division commander General Ngô Quang Trưởng called the Black Panthers back to defend the 1st Division headquarters in the northeast corner of the Citadel.[2] All aircraft at the airfield were destroyed in the fighting including 4 newly delivered O-2s. The airfield was recaptured on 3 February by the ARVN 3rd Infantry Regiment and 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron.[3]
Current use
editThe airfield is now covered with housing while the former runway is now La Sơn Phu Tử road. The airfield's former control tower remains in a park area by the road.
References
edit- ^ Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-1555716257.
- ^ Schulimson, Jack; LtCol. Leonard Blasiol; Charles R. Smith; Capt. David A. Dawson (1997). U.S. Marines in Vietnam: 1968, the Defining Year. History and Museums Division, USMC. p. 167. ISBN 0-16-049125-8.
- ^ DiMarco, Louis (2012). Concrete Hell: Urban Warfare From Stalingrad to Iraq. Osprey Publishing. pp. 95–6. ISBN 9781782003137.