In Heavy Fog, An Entire NVA Army Overran Firebase Kate

October 28, 1969. 16:00 Hours. Western II Corps. Captain William Albracht, the youngest Green Beret captain in Vietnam, steps off a helicopter onto a dying hilltop. Inside the rotting sandbags of Firebase Kate, he commands 27 Americans and 156 Montagnard strikers. Outside the wire, the silence is a deception. Hidden in the fog are 6,000 regulars of the NVA 66th Regiment.

The ratio is 30-to-1. The artillery support is cut off. The road is cut. The trap is shut.

This video dissects the Siege of Firebase Kate, a masterclass in NVA strangulation tactics that rendered American air power useless. We analyze the "Flak Trap" established by NVA 37mm anti-aircraft guns which starved the garrison of supplies, and the terrifying effectiveness of direct-fire recoilless rifles used to dismantle bunkers one by one.

We detail the mechanics of the "Kate Escape"—the desperate decision to spike the American artillery with thermite grenades and lead 150 men into the pitch-black jungle. We trace their route through the legendary "Old French Minefield," a suicidally dangerous path that proved to be their only salvation because the enemy deemed it impassable.

Beyond the ballistics, this story exposes the dark underbelly of the "Vietnamization" policy. It reveals how intelligence warnings were ignored by a command structure eager to withdraw, and the tragic eventual abandonment of the Montagnard allies who fought with primal ferocity for the Green Berets.

📊 SIEGE & SURVIVAL STATISTICS:

Defenders: ~180 men (27 US, 156 Montagnards).

Attackers: ~6,000 NVA Regulars (28th & 66th Regiments).

Incoming Fire: Over 5,000 rounds of artillery/mortar fire in 5 days.

Escape Distance: Approximately 10 kilometers through hostile jungle and river crossings.

Outcome: The base was overrun, but the majority of the garrison successfully evaded capture.

🎖️ FEATURED UNITS & PERSONNEL:

5th Special Forces Group (Detachment A-236)

Montagnard Strike Force (CSF)

NVA 66th Regiment

USAF Forward Air Controllers (Callsign "Covey")

AC-47 "Spooky" Gunships

#VietnamWar #GreenBerets #SpecialForces #FirebaseKate #Survival #Escape #MilitaryHistory #Montagnards #MedalOfHonor #ColdWar

📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

"Abandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam's Firebase Kate" by William Albracht and Marvin J. Wolf

Medal of Honor Citation: Captain William Albracht

MACV Intelligence Reports on the 1969 Winter-Spring Campaign

"The Green Berets in Vietnam" - US Army Special Forces History

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