The Đắk Sơn Massacre was the

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of Montagnard villagers perpetrated by the

Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

on 5 December 1967 during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, in the village of Đắk Sơn, Phước Long Province,

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

Massacre

Prior to the attack, earlier battles had occurred between the

(VC) and the village militias. On 5 December 1967, two VC battalions attacked Dak Son village, and after a battle with the militia, killed 252 civilians and kidnapped an estimated 100 civilians in a "vengeance" attack on the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Đắk Sơn, home to over 2,000 Montagnards. The VC believed that the hamlet had at one point given aid to refugees fleeing VC forces. An additional 800 displaced Montagnard had previously arrived to Dak Son from nearby villages that had been taken over by the VC. Troops marched into a village near Dak Son, some of whom used

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...

s effectively. As the VC fired their weapons, people were incinerated inside their own homes, and some who had managed to escape into

foxhole Foxhole may refer to: Military * Foxhole, a type of defensive fighting position A defensive fighting position is a type of Earthworks (engineering)#Military use, earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodat ...

s in their homes died of smoke inhalation. The homes that were not destroyed by flamethrowers were destroyed with grenades, and on the way out patches of the main town were set afire. Before leaving the village, the VC shot 60 of the 160 survivors. The remaining 100 were taken hostage.

Vietnamese government claim

According to the Vietnamese government there was no massacre by the VC but rather many civilians were actually killed by US bombing during a battle at Đắk Sơn with the VC.

Gallery

File:DakSonMassacre1.jpg File:DakSonMassacre2.jpg File:DakSonMassacre3.jpg File:Infant victim of Dak Son massacre.jpg

References

External links

*
The Massacre of Dak Son
''Time'', 15 December 1967 * "", ''VN Archive''
Vietnam War Atrocities
''Olive Drab''
Massacre at Dak Son
''Death in the Highlands'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dak Son massacre 1967 in South Vietnam Mass murder in 1967 Massacres in 1967 Massacres in the Vietnam War Viet Cong December 1967 in Asia Communist terrorism History of Bình Phước province Vietnam War crimes by the Viet Cong

Massacre

Vietnamese government claim

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links