First Battle of Quảng Trị The First Battle of Quảng Trị resulted in the first major victory for the North Vietnamese Army during the Nguyen Hue Offensive of 1972 . The province of Quảng Trị was a major battle ground for the opposing forces during the Vietnam War . As South Vietnam ese soldiers were gradually replacing their American counterparts , North Vietnam ' s General Văn Tiến Dũng was preparing to engage three of his divisions in the province . Just months before the battle , the Army of the Republic of Vietnam deployed its newly formed 3rd Division to the areas along the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone to take over former U . S bases . North Vietnamese forces deployed against the inexperienced ARVN 3rd Division included the North Vietnamese 304th , 308th and 324B Divisions . Battle . The battle for Quảng Trị began on March 30 with preparatory artillery barrages on the key areas of the province . Meanwhile , infantry assaults supported by tanks overran outposts and firebases . The lightning speed of Communist attacks on those positions delivered a great shock to the soldiers of the ARVN , who were largely unprepared for the onslaught . Camp Carroll . In 1972 Camp Carroll at was occupied by the ARVN 56th Regiment , under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Dinh . During the first hours of the Easter Offensive , Camp Carroll was one of the first targets to come under North Vietnamese artillery barrage . The North Vietnamese Army deployed a full artillery regiment against Camp Carroll with supporting infantry units , showing their full intention to take the camp . Throughout February and March 1972 , the North and South Vietnamese armies exchanged artillery fire , but South Vietnamese resistance gradually worn down as ARVN artillerymen began seeking shelter against the devastatingly accurate North Vietnamese 130mm shells . By Easter , the morale of the South Vietnamese had dropped after suffering heavy casualties , as a result Lieutenant Colonel Dinh informed his American advisors that what was left of the 56th Regiment would surrender to the Viet Cong . As the senior advisor to the ARVN 56th Regiment , Lieutenant Colonel William Camper refused to go through with the surrender , so he decided to leave Camp Carroll along with three officers . On April 2 , 1972 , Camp Carroll was officially surrendered to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong , with a white flag raised over the main gate of the camp . Following the surrender , a B - 52 strike was ordered against Camp Carroll . However , it was too late as the North Vietnamese had already moved the M107 self - propelled gun out of the camp . Dong Ha . Following the loss of Camp Carroll on April 2 , South Vietnamese forces continued to put up resistance elsewhere . At Dong Ha at the South Vietnamese 3rd Marines Battalion , under the command of Major Le Ba Binh , faced the tremendous task of stopping , or at least delaying a huge force of over twenty - thousand North Vietnamese troops well - equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles . Major Le Ba Binh ' s seven hundred - men battalion was reinforced with M - 48 tanks from the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment . Their task was to stop the North Vietnamese from crossing over the Dong Ha bridge stretched across the Cua Viet River . In order to do so the bridge had to be destroyed . Marine Captain John Ripley , advisor to the 3rd Marines Battalion , carried out the task of destroying the Dong Ha bridge . In full view of the North Vietnamese , Captain Ripley climbed under the bridge and placed the explosives in key positions . At 1245 hours an order was given for the bridge to be blown up . At this point the North Vietnamese Army had failed in its attempt to cross the Dong Ha bridge , but it continued to hit South Vietnamese positions with artillery strikes . The South Vietnamese 3rd Marines Battalion and the 20th Tank Regiment held on to their positions on the other side . Although vastly outnumbered by enemy T - 54 and PT - 76 tanks , South Vietnamese M - 48s inflicted heavy damages on their North Vietnamese counterparts , demonstrating their superior training and discipline . Four days following the destruction of the Dong Ha bridge , Major Le Ba Binh intended to hold Dong Ha at all costs . However , his unit was completely surrounded and casualties were mounting . So the 3rd Marines Battalion fought their way out of Dong Ha , grudgingly giving ground to the North Vietnamese Army . Dong Ha was captured on April 28 and all of Quảng Trị was in Communist hands by May 1 . Aftermath . The fall of Quảng Trị gave North Vietnam its first major victory of the offensive . The Viet Cong ' s Provisional Revolutionary Government immediately imposed their authority in the province , as collective farms were set up and strict rules instilled by the Viet Cong were forced on the villagers . Many victims and villagers who fell along with province under Communist control eventually fled . According to Gary D . Murfin , one of the lead writers to have done a survey on Vietnamese refugees after 1975 , the province was an area of particularly dense Catholic concentration , many of whom were anti - communist . He estimated that 41 % fled the area in fear of Viet Cong reprisals , 37 % feared fighting , shelling , and bombing , and others fled because they were a family related to a Nationalist soldier , or were at one point landowners . While the North Vietnamese tried to consolidate their rule over the so - called " Liberated Zones " , South Vietnamese General Ngô Quang Trưởng was drawing up a plan to retake the province . The stage was set for the Second Battle of Quảng Trị which would last from June 28 to September 16 , 1972 , where the South Vietnamese Army would retake their positions . Although the North Vietnamese eventually lost most of Quảng Trị , the northern parts of the province would remain in their control until the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 .