On This Day
21 June,
1967
The Battle of the Slopes, 20-22 June 1967, was the site of an engagement between elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate), nicknamed "Westmoreland's Fire Brigade" and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units, as part of Operation Greeley.
The battle occurred around Đắk Tô Base Camp, part of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) operations intended to surveil and gather intelligence on supplies flowing into South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In 1967 mortar units begun shelling the Dak To Base Camp, intending to draw US forces to assault PAVN positions within the Central Highlands.
On 20 June, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment discovered the bodies of a Special Forces CIDG unit that had been missing for four days on Hill 1338, the dominant hill mass south of Dak To. With mortar fire and ambushes ongoing around the Dak To base camp, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a highly-mobile team intended to rapidly deploy across the Central Highlands, was quickly alerted to respond.
Initial actions at Dak To intending to lure US forces to deploy and attack PAVN positions were a hallmark of PAVN strategy. Similar to the Plei Me campaign, initial mortaring and skirmishing actions were conducted by the PAVN to lure in a bigger US attack or rapid reaction force, with a subsequent ambush conducted to destroy the attacking US forces. Following further deployment of larger US forces for reinforcement, PAVN forces would melt away.
Regarded as a more elite, rapid-reaction force, the 173rd Airborne Brigade lost an entire company at the Battle of the Slopes to a well-placed ambush by a platoon-sized PAVN force. Lack of overwhelming aerial support, artillery support and firepower had rendered these two forces more or less on equal footing, with the advantage shifting to PAVN entrenchment and small-unit tactics.
A search for PAVN dead, made after the battle to justify the number of US soldiers that had been killed, was a disappointment; the search revealed just 9 to 10 PAVN dead in shallow graves. General William Westmoreland later inflated this number to 475 PAVN dead, declaring "too late it's already been sent out" when questioned about the authenticity of the number. The battle was reported to Saigon press agencies as a victory, due to the secondary number being used. The official US Army history states that 18 PAVN bodies were located, and that a total of 106 PAVN were killed and 45 weapons captured.
This engagement was part of a spike in PAVN activity intended to draw US forces into the Central Highlands, with another battle, the Battle of Dak To resulting a few months later. These two battles exacted a heavy toll on the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which was rendered combat-ineffective and withdrawn from combat.
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