fighting. An estimated 6,000 survivors from the old Lang Vei Camp including CIDG soldiers and their families, Montagnard tribesmen and the Laotians, followed the Americans and descended on the Khe Sanh Combat Base. However, when they reached the American compound, Lownds refused to give them entry because he feared that PAVN soldiers may have mingled with the crowd. Instead, Lownds ordered his soldiers to herd the civilians into bomb craters, disarmed the local soldiers, and kept them under guard even though PAVN artillery shells continued to rain down on the base. No food or medical aid was given to the civilians as they were kept outside the wires of the American compound. Frustrated by the lack of support and poor treatment by the Americans, Phetsampou complained that his people were being treated more like an enemy. On 10 February, Laotian civilian refugees started walking back to Laos along Highway 9, because they feared for their lives and preferred to die in their own country. On 15 February, through arrangements made by the Laotian embassy in Saigon, Phetsampou and his soldiers were flown back to their country on a Royal Laotian Air Force C-47 transport aircraft. See also Battle of Ban Houei Sane Battle of Khe Sanh References Further reading External links Special Forces: Untold Stories –The U.S. Green Beret: The Battle of Lang Vei Khe Sanh 1968 by Lt. Col. Nguyen Duc Huy (Vietnamese) The Armoured Forces by Diep Ninh (Vietnamese) The 202nd Armoured Regiment by Duc Viet (Vietnamese) Khe Sanh: The Other Side Of The Hill Battle of Lang Vei (Vietnamese) Conflicts in 1968 1968 in Vietnam Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968 Battles involving the United States Battles involving Vietnam Lang Vei History of Quảng Trị province