Viet Nam Cong-Hoa "Victory in Quang Tri"

VIET NAM CONG-HOA (SOUTH VIETNAM) on 24 February 1973 issued a commemorative First Day Cover of two stamps celebrating their "Victory in Quang Tri" (or the Second Battle of Quang Tri).

When the Easter Offensive began on 30 March 1972, four North Vietnamese army divisions, with nearly 200 armored vehicles and tanks, move into I Corps. They routed the South Vietnamese 3d Division and attacked Quang Tri City. Cloud cover hindered the effectiveness of U.S. air support, and the city’s civilians fled south toward Hue. Many of them were killed by North Vietnamese artillery on Highway 1 and near the Truong Phoc Bridge. North Vietnamese forces captured Quang Tri City on 1 May 1972.

South Vietnamese forces retook the city later that year on 15 September. Casualties on both sides were very high, and the city was left largely destroyed.The northern sector of the province remained in North Vietnamese control until the war ended in 1975.