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An LocAn Loc is a small town in southern Vietnam, located approximately 90 km north of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The town became famous during the Vietnam War, as the location of a major battle in 1972. In North Vietnam's "Easter Offensive" of 1972, North Vietnam planned to invade South Vietnam at several points simultaneously, inflicting a defeat of the US-supported South Vietnamese Army, as well as capture and hold as much territory as possible. At this time, the overall number of United States ground forces in South Vietnam was only 65,000 from an all-high of 543,000 in 1969, and the North Vietnamese correctly anticipated that the US was unwilling to commit ground troops to the war again. The United States Air Force, however, was at hand to give strong and at many times crucial air-support to The South Vietnamese Army. One of the main attacks of the offensives took place north of Saigon, where North Vietnamese troops from base areas inside Cambodia launched a full-scale invasion starting on April 2, 1972. Quickly overrunning minor South Vietnamese defensive positions, the North Vietnamese rolled down Highway 13 towards Saigon. The South Vietnamese Army decided to take a stand at An Loc, which was shortly thereafter surrounded by North Vietnamese troops. The North Vietnamese forces, supported by heavy tanks, started their assault on the town April 13, 1972. A three-days all-out attack failed, after which the battle turned into a prolonged siege with shifting attacks and counter-attacks, during which the town was totally obliterated. Although the North Vietnamese on several occasions managed to break into the town, they never managed to deal the defenders a knock-out blow, and An Loc remained in the hands of the South Vietnamese Army and Government. By July, the fighting had subsided. Although the South Vietnamese Army in some regards showed a good performance at An Loc, US Air-support and air-borne supplies and reinforcements were key ingredients in preventing the fall of the town to the North Vietnamese. As such the battle did not do much to convince US policymakers that the South Vietnamese could continue the war on their own. In his memoirs, national security advisor Henry Kissinger notes that the South Vietnamese Army never managed to reopen the road into An Loc.
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