Khe San Combat Base, Vietnam

In early 1968, U.S. Marines at a small, remote combat base at Khe San, just south of the Demilitarized Zone, held off a North Vietnamese siege for 75 days. The siege marked one of the opening moves in the Tet Offensive. Coffee fields now grow over the former battlefield, and only a handful of abandoned helicopters, a few restored bunkers, an overgrown airstrip, and a small museum mark the place where 500 Marines and 10,000 North Vietnamese troops fought and died.

The U.S. abandoned the base at Khe San in April 1971. Two years later, North Vietnamese forces rebuilt the airstrip and used it to fly to points further south. Today, plants have begun to reclaim the old dirt airstrip, though patches of the runway show through.

Khe San is now a regular stop for bus tours of the area. Amuseum, whose relatively new construction contrasts with the base, displays photographs and weapons from the Vietnam War. Outside, visitors can walk among American helicopters in varying states of disrepair and explore restored bunkers from the former base.