AP Lang. and Comp. 19 February 2013 The Battle of Khe Sanh Khe Sanh, a plateau in the northwest corner of South Vietnam, was a U.S. Marine Corps base and airstrip. Located where North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Laos came together, the Khe Sanh base was important for American forces, as it enabled troops to gather information about the traffic on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. However, the Communists.