The situation at Khe Sanh had a superficial similarity to the 1954 siege of Dien Bien Phu in North Vietnam, then part of French Indochina, when a major French force was surrounded and forced to surrender to the Viet Minh. The only way to resupply the Marines was by air-drop or high-risk landings by C-130s and helicopters at the airfield. Although the NVA force never launched an all-out assault, smaller-scale ground attacks and infiltration attempts were frequent. Army over-land operation, the 6,000 Marine defenders endured near constant rocket and artillery attacks, sometimes over 1,000 rounds per day, with a one-day peak of 1,307 on 23 February. From then until the siege was finally lifted in April by a U.S. Marine combat base near the isolated village of Khe Sanh, located about seven miles from the Laotian border and about 15 miles south of the “Demilitarized Zone” (DMZ) on the border between North and South Vietnam in the far northwest corner of South Vietnam. He went on to serve as a school police chief and worked with the Navy to help recruit young men for SEAL training and increase diversity in the teams.On 21 January 1968, a force of well over 20,000 North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops laid siege to the U.S. He then spent time on the early version of the Navy's parachute team but was injured in a jump and then retired in 1987. Now-retired Master Chief William Goines graduated from Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) training in 1956 but was serving as a frogman in 1962 when he was assigned to SEAL Team Two, making him the first Black to serve under the newly created designation.Īccording to, Goines served all over the world, including a stint in Cuba during the missile crisis, and he did three combat tours in Vietnam. While many recognize Morrison as the first Black SEAL, the first two official teams were not formed until 1962 under President John F.
He also served on Underwater Demolition Team 12 in Korea and was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions there. He served in World War II and served as a member of Underwater Demolition Team 1 in 1948. According to Navy.mil, Morrison was a second-class petty officer and was known as an expert in underwater demolition.