An Khê is a
town (''thị xã'') of
Gia Lai province in the
Central Highlands region of Vietnam.
As of 2003 the district had a population of 63,118.
The district covers an area of 199 km². The district capital lies at An Khê.
Located on the main highway,
QL-19, between
Qui Nhơn
Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. Hi ...
on the coast and
Pleiku
Pleiku is a city in central Vietnam, located in the Central Highlands region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or De ...
in the Central Highlands, An Khê was of strategic significance during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
History
During the early 15th century, An Khe was a
Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
***Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albanian ...
/highlander city bore the name Samriddhipuri (City of Virtue, Richness).
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
The
Battle of Mang Yang Pass
The Battle of Mang Yang Pass (also known as the Battle of An Khê or the Battle of Đắk Pơ) was one of the last battles of the First Indochina War which took place on 24 June 1954. The battle was one of the bloodiest defeats of the French Unio ...
, the last major battle of the First Indochinese War, started near An Khê: on June 24, 1954, French colonial ''Groupe Mobile 100'' received orders to abandon its defensive position at An Khê and to fall back to the safer
Pleiku
Pleiku is a city in central Vietnam, located in the Central Highlands region. It is the capital of the Gia Lai Province. Many years ago, it was inhabited primarily by the Bahnar and Jarai ethnic groups, sometimes known as the Montagnards or De ...
, some 50 miles away over Route Coloniale 19. At the road marker 'Kilometer 15' the column was ambushed by
Việt Minh
The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Front ...
troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment and suffered heavy losses.
Second Indochina War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
In August 1965 the U.S.
1st Cavalry Division established their main base,
Camp Radcliff
Camp Radcliff (also known as An Khê Army Airfield, An Khê Base or the Golf Course) is a former United States Army base in the An Khê District in central Vietnam.
History
1965–67
Camp Radcliff was established in late August 1965 by the 70t ...
, near An Khê. In September of that year, the
Battle of An Ninh
The Battle of An Ninh took place from 18–19 September 1965 between elements of the Vietcong (VC) 94th and 95th Battalions, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Division and the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (AR ...
took place about 30 km east of the town. Camp Radcliff remained in use by various U.S. Army units until late 1970 after which it was turned over to the
ARVN
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It is estimated to have suffe ...
.
Image:An Khe airfield 1965.jpg, An Khê airfield, 1965
References
External links
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Districts of Gia Lai province
County-level towns in Vietnam
Populated places in Gia Lai province
{{GiaLai-geo-stub
es:An Khe