Qualla: Operation Delaware https://qualla.com/operation-delaware en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:40:53 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Delaware https://qualla.com/operation-delaware Operation Delaware: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. The last time American and South Vietnamese forces had entered the A Shau Valley in any strength, the result had been a disaster: a Special Forces camp overrun, its defenders evacuated under fire, the valley abandoned to the North Vietnamese Army in March 1966. For two years the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) had transformed that vacuum into something formidable — underground bunkers, fuel and ammunition depots, radar-controlled antiaircraft guns, and a hard-packed supply road running the valley's 40-kilometer length. Then, on April 19, 1968, just weeks after the Tet Offensive had shaken the entire American war effort, Operation Delaware sent two brigades back in.

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Delaware: After Tet, Into the Valley https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. The strategic logic was compelling even as the timing was difficult. By early April 1968, the PAVN had just taken more than 40,000 casualties in the Tet Offensive and at Khe Sanh — staggering losses that had degraded its immediate offensive capacity. But the A Shau Valley, runnin...

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-after-tet-into-the-valley.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Delaware: Steel Against the Mountains https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. The operation began with B-52 Arc Light strikes and tactical bombing against the antiaircraft positions that made the valley so lethal to aircraft. Then helicopter assaults dropped troops into Landing Zones Tiger and Vicki at the valley's northern end, while the 1st Brigade of th...

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-steel-against-the-mountains.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Delaware: Contact and Cost https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. For the most part, PAVN main-force units avoided a pitched battle and broke contact when engaged — the classic guerrilla response to an adversary with overwhelming firepower. But on April 29, Companies B and D of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry caught a PAVN company about a kil...

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-contact-and-cost.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Delaware: A Lưới and the Airstrip https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. One of Operation Delaware's concrete objectives was reopening and improving the A Lưới airstrip in the middle of the valley, turning it into a forward logistics point. A C-7 Caribou landed there on May 2 — the first fixed-wing aircraft to use the strip since 1966. By May 4, after...

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-a-l-i-and-the-airstrip.mp3 0:06 5 full Operation Delaware: What Was Gained, What Was Not https://qualla.com/operation-delaware/ Photo credit Icemanwcs, CC BY-SA 3.0. Operation Delaware concluded in late May 1968. The 1st Cavalry Division suffered more than 130 dead and 530 wounded during the operation. PAVN losses were estimated at over 800 killed, along with a tank, 70 trucks, two bulldozers, 30 flamethrowers, thousands of small arms, and su...

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]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:32:19 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/6/u/j/operation-delaware-wp/w6uj-operation-delaware-what-was-gained-what-was-not.mp3 0:06 6 full