Siege of Plei Me The Siege of Plei Me ( Vietnamese : " bao vây diệt địch ở Pleime " ) was a battle during the Vietnam War , which led up to the Battle of Ia Drang . The repulsion of the North Vietnam ese assault immediately set the stage for the offensive in Ia Drang . Background . Brigadier General Chu Huy Man of the People ' s Army of Vietnam ( PAVN ) was tasked with drawing the U . S . Air Cavalry into battle , to learn about its fighting capabilities , and then circulate the information among the PAVN and Viet Cong ( VC ) . To this end , Lt Col Hoang Phuong was tasked with debriefing PAVN commanders after battles . This was a dangerous mission but Chu Huy Man , an intelligence expert trained in Moscow , felt confident . The camp at Plei Me , 40 km south of Pleiku city in the central highlands of Vietnam , was constructed in October 1963 by the United States Army Special Forces . In 1965 the camp was manned by around 350 Civilian Irregular Defense Group ( CIDG ) soldiers - local Montagnard mercenaries , many of whom had family just outside the base . The base served as a critical hub for U . S . Special Forces movement across the country . PAVN attacks . General Man ordered the 33rd PAVN regiment to seize the camp at Plei Me at 1930 hours on 19 October 1965 , while the 32nd regiment would move into position to ambush reinforcements , repeating tactics successfully used against the French . The 33rd launched the attack by bombarding the camp , followed by repeated infantry assaults , initially overrunning a 20 - man outpost . The remaining defenders , backed by U . S . attack helicopters , repelled the PAVN , and the siege situation developed . At first light the next morning , 250 Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) Rangers advised by Major Charles Beckwith arrived by helicopter at the camp . Subsequently , the base was resupplied with airdrops from CV - 2 ( Caribou ) of the 92d Aviation Company , the CV - 7 ( Buffalo ) of the U . S . Army Aviation Test Board , and a number of night drops of munitions , medical supplies , and rations by C - 123s from the 310th Air Commando Squadron from Nha Trang USAF base . Some of the air drops landed outside the camp , while two defenders were killed when a pallet of supplies fell on them . Reinforcements from the ARVN were also sent by road from Pleiku to raise the siege , while Task Force INGRAM was airlifted into Pleiku to secure the city . The ARVN armored column proceeded down Provincial Road 6C to Plei Me , and was ambushed at two places at 1730 hours on 23 October 1965 , but the attack was beaten back with accurate U . S . artillery support . Beckwith personally lead the counterattack , brandishing a cutlass and riding atop an ARVN Armored Troop Carrier . By the time relief column arrived at the Plei Me camp on 25 October 1965 , the North Vietnamese attackers were already reeling and the U . S . and ARVN forces prepared for the final blow . The U . S . 1st Air Cavalry Division arrived on the 26th , sending the North Vietnamese into a hasty retreat , thus ending the siege . Chu had drawn out the Air Cavalry , but at a heavy price . During the battle , A - 1A Skyraider pilot Captain Melvin C Elliott was shot down while strafing the area around the camp . After evading the PAVN for 36 hours , Elliott was rescued by helicopter . U . S . President Lyndon Johnson called Beckwith during the siege to congratulate him .