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Operation PEGASUS to Relieve Khe Sanh Begins

April 1, 1968

1968-04-01_OpPegasus_MG_7721_(2)
1968-04-01_OpPegasus_MG_7721_(2)
As part of Operation PEGASUS, elements of the South Vietnamese Army 15th Cavalry Division (Airmobile) unload from CH-47 Chinook helicopters, May 3, 1968. (National Archives)

The U.S. Army 1st Cavalry and Marine 3d Division, joined by South Vietnamese airborne and ranger units, begin Operation PEGASUS. Its objective is to reach and relieve the garrison at Khe Sanh, which has been under siege since January. Allied forces begin by clearing the primary road to Khe Sanh of enemy units, moving westward with ground and airmobile assaults. The Marines at Khe Sanh go on the offensive, breaking out from their positions on April 4. Khe Sanh is finally relieved on April 8 when the 2nd Battalion, 7th Calvary reaches the combat base. U.S. troops proceed to clear the surrounding area of enemy forces, and PEGASUS ends on April 15.1

1Graham A. Cosmas, MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Withdrawal, 1968–1973, United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 2006), 116; Jack Shulimson, et. al., The Defining Year, 1968, U.S. Marines in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1997), 241, 281, 283–86, 289–90; Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 887–88.