Battle of Ban Me Thuot - Aftermath

Aftermath

The loss of Ban Me Thuot and the subsequent evacuation from the Central Highlands cost South Vietnam’s II Corps Tactical Zone more than 75% of its combat units—the 23rd Infantry Division, the Ranger groups, tanks, armoured cavalry, artillery, and combat engineering units. Overall about 3/4 of all South Vietnamese army soldiers were killed, wounded, deserted, or missing. North Vietnamese casualties were light in comparison, with 600 soldiers killed and 2,416 wounded. Official Vietnamese history informs that during the eight days of fighting, North Vietnam's army put 28,514 South Vietnamese officers and soldiers out of action; 4,502 were killed in action and 16,822 were captured. The North Vietnamese army destroyed 17,183 small arms of various kinds, 79 artillery pieces, and 207 tanks and armoured vehicles; 44 aircraft were shot down and another 110 were damaged.

Civilians who took part in the evacuation suffered the consequences of the military action along Route 7. Most of the civilians who followed the military convoy were either relatives of soldiers or officers in the army, or were government civil servants. Of the estimated 400,000 civilians who initially took part in the march, only a handful actually reached their destinations in the Mekong region. In addition to the casualties inflicted upon them by North Vietnamese artillery, the civilians were also hit by air strikes from the South Vietnamese air force. As a result of those huge losses, Route 7 became known as the ‘convoy of tears’.