Mai Loc Camp

Mai Loc Camp
Coordinates 16°43′59″N 106°57′40″E / 16.733°N 106.961°E / 16.733; 106.961 (Mai Loc Camp)
Type Army
Site information
Condition abandoned
Site history
Built 1968
In use 1968-72
Battles/wars
Vietnam War
Garrison information
Occupants 5th Special Forces Group
Mai Loc Airfield
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Elevation AMSL 348 ft / 106 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3,200 975 laterite

Mai Loc Camp (also known as Firebase Mai Loc) was a U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base located west of Quảng Trị in central Vietnam.

History

Mai Loc was located approximately 8 km southwest of Ca Lu Combat Base and 25 km west of Quảng Trị.[1]

The 5th Special Forces Group first established the base here in early 1968.[2]

The 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division comprising:

supported by 2nd Battalion, 319th Artillery was based here in October–November 1969.

On 9/10 April 1970 a Company-sized People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) sapper unit attacked Mai Loc resulting in 6 U.S. (including 4 members of the 14th Engineer Battalion), 14 CIDG and 19 PAVN killed.[4] U.S Special Forces left Mai Loc in late August 1970.[2]:316

Other units based at Mai Loc included:

On 2 April 1972 the Vietnamese Marines abandoned Mai Loc in the face of the PAVN assault on Quảng Trị.[5]

Current use

The base has been turned over to farmland.

References

  1. ↑ Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. pp. 5–323. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  2. 1 2 Stanton, Shelby (2008). Special Forces at War: An Illustrated History, Southeast Asia 1957-1975. Zenith Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780760334492.
  3. 1 2 Stanton, Shelby (2003). Vietnam Order of Battle. Stackpole Books. p. 159. ISBN 9780811700719.
  4. ↑ "Viet Reds overrun U.S. camp". Chicago Tribune. 10 April 1970. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Stoffey, Robert (2008). Fighting to Leave: The Final Years of America's War in Vietnam, 1972-1973. Zenith Press. pp. 38–42, 51. ISBN 9780760333105.


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