In an effort to better
understand the
battle at Khe San that involved Americans during the Vietnam War, the paper first examines
the historical
battle at Dien Bien Phu, which preceded the Khe Sanh battle by ten years. The paper points out that in order to
understand the battle at Khe Sanh, it is necessary to first fully understand the Dien Bien Phu battle. The paper then goes on to discuss the battle at Khe Sanh and explain why the dien Bien Phu battle and the Khe Sanh battle were both similar and yet different.