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Author Topic: Chronology in the Events of Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War  (Read 16209 times)
Mad_Russian
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« on: 21 February 2011, 05:03:44 »
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I will attempt to put down the major events that shaped both the Vietnam War and the events in the region immediately following the fall of Saigon in 1975.

The major resources for the chronology are:

"The Vietnam War: An Illustrated History of the conflict in Southeast Asia" by Salamander Books primarily pages 12 - 16

"NAM: The Vietnam Experience 1965-1975" by Tim Page and John Pimlott Select sections throughout the book.

"Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War" by Harry S. Summers, Jr. Select sections throughout the book.

Select books and sections from the Vietnam Studies Series published by the Department of the Army.

Where possible I'll link to websites that give more detailed information about a specific event.


I hope this chronology will help bring some understanding to a turbulent time.

Good Hunting.

MR

« Last Edit: 23 February 2011, 04:59:53 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #1 on: 21 February 2011, 05:08:19 »
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1945

February: Yalta Conference during WWII; Allies plan defeat of Germany and Roosevelt discusses Indochina with Chaing Kia-shek.

March 9: An "independent Vietnam", with  Emperor Bao Dai, as nominal ruler. is proclaimed by Japanese occupation authorities.

July: Potsdam Conference divides Vietnam into two zones.

August 15: WWII ends.

August 22: Emperor Bao Dai abdicates.

September 2: Japanese sign surrender treaty. The Communist dominated Viet Minh Independence League seizes power; Ho Chi Mihn establishes the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (GRDV) in Hanoi and declares himself president of the new republic.

September 22: French troops return  to Vietnam and clash with Communist and Nationalist forces.

September 23: During the fall of Saigon to French forces the first US death in Vietnam occurs. Lt. Col. A. Peter Dewey, head of American OSS mission, was killed by Viet Minh troops while driving a jeep to the airport. Reports later indicated that his death was due to a case of mistaken identity -- he had been mistaken for a Frenchman.


1946

March 6: France recognizes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state within the Indochinese Federation and French Union.

September: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with the French in Paris.

October: Fighting breaks out in Haiphong.

December 19: The Vietminh initiate an attack on French troops in Hanoi starting the First Indochina War.


1947

May 11: Laos is proclaimed an independent state within the French Union.

October 7 - 22 December: Operation Lea - French launch attacks on Viet Minh positions near the Chinese border. The French forces consist of 20 battalions and about 15,000 men. French tactics use a combination of ground and airborne forces in the operation. There are major clashes at Cao Bang, Nguyen Binh and P. Tong Moa. The Viet Minh suffered as many as 9,500 casualties in the fighting.


1949

March 8: France recognizes an "independent" state of Vietnam.

June: Bao Dai becomes the leader of South Vietnam.

July: French found Vietnamese National Army.

July 19: Laos is recognized as an independent state with ties to France.

October: The Communist forces of Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) defeat the Nationalist Forces of Chang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War.

November 8: Cambodia is recognized as an independent state with ties to France.



Good Hunting.

MR
« Last Edit: 23 February 2011, 03:15:01 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #2 on: 21 February 2011, 05:11:48 »
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1950

January: The newly established People's Republic of China, followed by the Soviet Union, recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam lead by Ho Chi Minh.

China begins sending arms to the Viet Minh.

February: General Giap starts an offensive against French border posts. First, General Giap massed 9 or 10 battalions, of his 308th Division, against the French 150 man garrison at Pho Lu. Then he overran Dong Khe with five battalions. The French recaptured it 3 days later by a surprise paratroop drop. Even so it only remained in French hands until 16 September.

May 8: President Truman announces US military and economic aid to the pro-French regimes of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

June 27: Korean War starts and US sends forces to Korea.

September 16: General Giap's main offensive begins as the Viet Minh launch a second attack on Dong Khe. The Viet Minh outnumbered the French eight to one. The French decided to abandon the outposts at both Cao Bang and That Khe but both garrisons were severely mauled as they withdrew.

September 27: Military Assistance  Advisory Group (MAAG) is formed.

October 17-18: Lang Son was abandoned by French Forces without a fight.

3 November: The French garrison at Lao Cai withdraws in good order. The Communist offensive had a been a tremendous success and the French forces lost about 6,000 of their original strength of 10,000 men.


1951

January 13: Viet Minh attack Vinh Yen outpost.

March 23-24: Viet Minh attack Mao Khe outpost.

May 29 - June 18: General Giap attempts to seize the De Lattre Line in the Battle of the Red River Delta. After initial successes the Viet Minh were beaten back with heavy losses. June 9th General Giap ordered a withdrawl. They lost an estimated 20,000 killed or captured and the initiative.

November 16: French assault forces link up at Hoa Binh.

December 9: General Giap again goes over to the offensive. His attack on the French outpost of Tu Vu opens the Black River campaign.



1952

December 9, 1951 through January 12, 1952: Repeated attacks against the Tu Vu outpost.

January 12: Viet Minh cut the French supply lines to Hoa Binh.

February 22-26: French withdraw from Hoa Binh.

October 29: French launch Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases.

November 14: Operation Lorraine was a failure. It was a simple diversion to distract the Viet Minh from their offensive, but when this failed the operation was canceled and all French forces are recalled.


Good Hunting.

MR
« Last Edit: 22 February 2011, 20:07:09 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #3 on: 21 February 2011, 05:16:04 »
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1953

March: Stalin dies. His death leads to Geneva Conference in 1954.

November 20: French launch Operation Castor which will result in a fortified airhead in the position of Dien Bien Phu.

December 8: The French launch Operation Pollux to clear the Tai Highlands and Lai Chi by evacuating everyone to Dien Bien Phu.


1954

March 13-17: Viet Minh launch assaults on the French outpost at Dien Bien Phu.

March 30 - May 1: Dien Bien Phu is besieged.

May 7: The remnants of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrender.

Geneva Conference begins.

June 24 - July 17: G. M. 100 is ambushed three times in the retreat from Pleiku.

July 7: Ngo Dinh Diem, newly chosen Premier of South Vietnam completes the organization of his cabinet.

July 20-21: Geneva Agreements are signed, partitioning Vietnam along the 17th Parallel and setting up an International Control Commission to supervise compliance with the agreement.

August 1: Armistice declared.

Diem is declared head of state for South Vietnam.

Laos and Cambodia are granted full independence from France.

September 8: An agreement is signed at Manila establishing a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO); aimed at checking Communist expansion.

October 5: The last French troops leave Hanoi.

October 11: The Viet Minh formally assume control over North Vietnam.

October 24: President Dwight D. Eisenhower advises Diem, that the US will provide assistance directly to South Vietnam, instead of channeling it through French authorities.


1955

January: First US military supplies reach Saigon.

March 29: Diem launches his campaign against the Binh Xuyen and the religious sects.

May: Clashes between Diem and anti-government sects begins. Diem exiles the head of the Binh Xuyen group.

May10: South Vietnam formally requests US instructors to train their military.

May 16: The US agrees to furnish military aid to Cambodia.

July 20: South Vietnam refuses to take part in the all-Vietnam elections called for by the Geneva Agreements, charging that free elections are impossible in the Communist North.

September 25: Cambodia becomes an independent state.

October 23: A national referendum deposes Bao Dai in favor of Diem, who then proclaims himself President of the Republic of Vietnam.

October 26: RVNAF founded.



Good Hunting.

MR
« Last Edit: 22 February 2011, 20:10:55 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #4 on: 21 February 2011, 05:21:54 »
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1956

February: Leader of Cao Dai sect flees to Cambodia.

February 18: While visiting Peking, Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk renounces SEATO protection for his nation.

March 31: Prince Souvanna Phouma becomes Prime Minister in Laos.

April 28: An American Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) takes over the training of South Vietnamese forces; the French Military High Command disbands and French troops leave South Vietnam.

July: Deadline passes for elections set by Geneva Conference.

July 13: Leader of Hoa Hao sect is beheaded.

August 5: Souvanna Phouma and Communist Prince Souphanouvong agree to a coalition government in Laos.

November: Peasant discontent in the North is put down by force.

Land reform campaign fails.


1957

January 3: The International Control Commission declares that neither North Vietnam nor South Vietnam has carried out the Geneva Agreements.

May 29: Communist Pathet Lao attempt to seize power in Laos.

June: The last French training personnel leave South Vietnam.

September: Diem is successful in the South Vietnamese General Election.


1958

January: Communist guerrillas attack a plantation north of Saigon.


1959

March: The North Vietnamese Politburo orders the conflict to shift from being a political effort to a military struggle. The Second Indochina war starts.

April: A branch of the Lao Dong (Workers Party of Vietnam), of which Ho Chi Minh had became Secretary General in 1956, is formed in South Vietnam and Communist underground activities are increased in South Vietnam.

May: US Commander and Chief Pacific, begins sending US Military advisors requested by the South Vietnamese government.

North Vietnamese Communist Party's 15th Plenum establishes the Central Office of South Vietnam.(COSN) This is the communist military headquarters in South Vietnam.

Construction of the Ho Chi Minh trail begins. The war to the south is to be supported at all costs by the north and the Ho Chi Minh trail is to be the logistical supply line for that to happen.

June: 4,000 Viet Minh troops are sent south to join in the fighting.

June-July: Communist Pathet Lao forces attempt to gain control over northern Laos. They receive assistance from the Viet Minh.

July: Group 579 is formed to organize and move men, material and equipment down the coast of South Vietnam.

August: American military advisors are wounded in a communist attack on Bien Hoa.

December 31: General Phoumi Nosava seizes control in Laos.


1960

May 5: MAAG's strength is increased from 327 to 685.

August 9: Captain Kong Le occupies Vientiane and urges restoration of a neutral Laos under Prince Souvanna Phouma.

November 11-12: A military coup against Diem fails.

December: The National Liberation Front is formed in Hanoi to coordinate the war in the south.

December 16: The forces of Prince Phoumi Nosavan recapture Vientiane.


Good Hunting.

MR
« Last Edit: 22 February 2011, 20:18:15 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #5 on: 21 February 2011, 05:41:12 »
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1961

January 4: Prince Buon Oum organizes a pro-Western government in Laos.

North Vietnam and the Soviet Union send aid to the Pathet Lao.

May 11-13: Vice President Lydon B. Johnson visits South Vietnam.

May 16: A 14 nation conference on Laos meets in Geneva.

September 1-4: Viet Cong forces carry out a series of attacks in the Kontoum Province, South Vietnam.

September 18: A Viet Cong battalion seizes the Provincial Capital of Phuoc Vinh. 89 kilometers (55 miles) from Saigon.

October 8: Laotian factions agree to form a neutral coalition government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, but fail to agree on the appointments to cabinet offices.

October 11: President John F. Kennedy announces that his principal military advisor, General Maxwell D. Taylor, US Army, will go to South Vietnam on a fact finding mission.

November 16: As a result of Taylor's mission President Kennedy decides to increase US aid to South Vietnam. He also decides, at this time not to commit US ground forces. But he does send advisors.

December: White Paper sets out US intentions and goals at that time for the support of South Vietnam.


1962

February: The first CIDG camps are established.

February 3: Operation Sunrise begins the new Strategic Hamlet resettlement program in South Vietnam.

February 7: American military strength in Vietnam reaches 4,000 with the arrival of two additional Army aviation battalions.

February 8: The US MAAG is reorganized as the US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). and placed under the command of General D. Harkins US Army.

February 27: President Diem escapes with no injuries when two South Vietnamese Air Force plans attack the Presidential Palace.

May: Australia sends a team of jungle warfare specialists to South Vietnam.

May 6-27: Phoumi Nosavan's forces are routed paving the way for a negotiated settlement in Laos.

July 23: Geneva Conference on Laos forbids the US invasion of eastern Laos to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

August: The first Australian Military Aid Forces (MAF) arrive in South Vietnam.

CIDG camp set up at Khe Sahn to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail and to monitor NVA infiltration into I Corps area of operations.


1963

January 2: The Battle of Ap Bac draws US public attention to Vietnam.

Battle of Ap Bac - 7th ARVN Division believed there were 100 Local Force VC from the 514th Regional Battalion at the village of Ap Bac defending a radio transmitter. They devised a plan for an easy victory. There were in fact 350 VC of the 261st Main Forces Battalion all dug in and prepared to fight. The VC knew the attack was coming from radio intercepts.

President Diem wanted nothing to do with big battles that involved heavy casualties and ordered his commanders to keep casualties at a minimum. This in turn kept the ARVN forces from fully engaging VC forces.  

During the Battle of Ap Bac the ARVN did everything they could to keep casualties low and in the process let the VC dictate both the terms of the fight and when they disengaged. Viet Cong suffered 18 killed and 39 wounded while the ARVN had 80 killed and more than 100 wounded.

The resounding ARVN defeat made headlines all across the US.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac

April: Inception of the Chieu Hoi Program (Open Arms) amnesty program, which encouraged Communist soldiers to defect to the South Vietnamese side and was aimed at rallying the VC to the government side.

May: Duc Lap is designated a strategic hamlet.

May 8: Riots in Hue, South Vietnam when the government tries to stop celebrations of Buddha's birthday. From this single event country wide Buddhist demonstrations continued into August.

June 11: The first seven Buddhist commit suicide by setting themselves on fire in Saigon. They were protesting the government's ongoing persecution of their religious order. The US government is pressured to distance itself from the South Vietnamese regime.

November 1-2: A military coup overthrows President Diem. Both the President and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, are murdered.

November 6: General Doung Van Minh, leading the Revolutionary Military Committee, takes over the leadership of South Vietnam. In the power vacuum from the murder of President Diem a series of civilian and military leaders attempt to take control of the Government. General Minh was just the first in line.

November 15: Defense Secretary McNamara predicts that the US military presence in South Vietnam will have ended by 1965. In conjunction with his prediction the US declares that 1,000 of the 15,000 advisors will start to be pulled out of South Vietnam beginning in early December.

November 22: President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and Vice President Johnson becomes President.

December: SOG is transferred from CIA control to MACV control.
  


Good Hunting.

MR


« Last Edit: 23 February 2011, 00:51:11 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #6 on: 21 February 2011, 05:57:06 »
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1964

January: President Johnson authorizes covert operations against North Vietnam. Operation Plan 34A (DeSoto) raids and cross border operations against North Vietnamese infiltration routes into Laos begins.

January 30: A junta headed by General Nguyen Khanh deposes General Doung Van Minh as the leader of South Vietnam.

June 20: General William C. Westmoreland, US Army, replaces General Harkins as commander of US MACV.

July: First New Zealand forces arrive in South Vietnam.

July 2: General Maxwell D. Taylor is named as US Ambassador to South Vietnam.

August 2: Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. At 1605 the USS Maddox fires three warning shots. At 1608 torpedoes are launched at the USS Maddox and the destroyer opens fire. All torpedoes miss the USS Maddox. North Vietnamese torpedo boat T-339 observed dead in the water and burning. 1607 the USS Maddox changes course to avoid more torpedoes fired from the North Vietnamese torpedo boats. One torpedo strikes the USS Maddox but fails to detonate, the destroyer is also hit by shellfire. The North Vietnamese torpedo boats reverse course to disengage. 1628 F-8 Crusaders from VF-51 and VF-53, from the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga attack. The torpedo boats retire to coastal waters.

August 4: The destroyers USS Maddox and  USS C. Turner Joy report a second attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. After further investigation it was determined that this attack was a false alarm raised by nervous, overexcited sonar operators. At the time the 2nd attack was thought to be genuine. President Johnson used the second attack as a justification for war. The President asked Congress to give him the power to "take all necessary measures to repel an armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further attacks."

August 5: US 7th Fleet carrier aircraft retaliate by attacking bases used by the torpedo boats and other military targets in North Vietnam.
      
August 7: The Southeast Asian Resolution was passed. Better known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, it passed the US Senate on a vote of 88 to 2 and the US House of Representatives by a vote of 416 to 0.

November: President Johnson is reelected.

November 1: After two months of turmoil Tran Van Huong becomes South Vietnam's Premier.

Two Americans are killed when the Viet Cong shell Bien Hoa.

December: One regiment of the NVA 325th Division arrives in the Central Highland, with the other two regiments enroute down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
This will change the nature of the war. North Vietnamese Army units are about to be introduced to the fighting in the south. No longer will it be simply a guerrilla war.

December 14: Operation Barrel Roll was a covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division (later the Seventh Air Force) and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the Kingdom of Laos between 14 December 1964 and 29 March 1973 concurrent with the Vietnam War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barrel_Roll

December 24: Terrorist bomb in Saigon kills 2 Americans and wounds 52 others.

December 31: Total US military strength in South Vietnam is 23,000.



Good Hunting.

MR
 
« Last Edit: 23 February 2011, 07:59:28 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #7 on: 21 February 2011, 06:05:15 »
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1965

January 8: 2,000 South Korean troops arrive in South Vietnam.

January 31: Escalation of the Vietnam War officially started on the morning of January 31, 1965 when orders were cut and issued to mobilize the 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Okinawa to Da Nang Air Base. A red alert alarm to "scramble" was sounded at Kadena Air Base at 3:00 a.m. F-105's, pilots and support were deployed from Okinawa and landed in Vietnam that afternoon to join with up with other smaller units who had already arrived weeks earlier.

February 7: Viet Cong forces attack US troops at their base in Pleiku.

Operation Flaming Dart I is launched. The operation had the US and South Vietnamese Air Forces flying missions against North Vietnamese army bases near Dong Hoi, while the second wave targeted Vietcong logistics and communications near the Demilitarized Zone. Among the pilots was Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky, then a member of Vietnam's ruling junta. 49 sorties were flown during Flaming Dart I.

February 10: Vietcong terrorists bomb a hotel billet in Qui Nho in reaction to Operation Flaming Dart I killing 23 American soldiers.

February 11: Operation Flaming Dart II launched. The Vietcong attack a hotel billeting U.S. personnel in Qui Nho prompted the second air strike with 99 more sorties being flown in Operation Flaming Dart II.

February 19: American reaction to Communist escalation was not restricted to the bombing of North Vietnam. Washington also authorized the use of U.S. jet attack aircraft to engage targets in the south. On February 19, U.S. Air Force B-57s conducted the first jet strikes flown by Americans in support of South Vietnamese ground units.

February 24: US Air Force jets support ARVN forces breaking up a Communist ambush in the Central Highlands with a massive series of tactical air sorties.

March 2: Operation Rolling Thunder begins. The operation lasts from March 2nd, 1965 until November 1st, 1968. The operation was the gradual and sustained air campaign by the US 7th Air Force, the US Navy, US Marine Corps and the South Vietnamese Air Force against military targets in North Vietnam.

Operation Rolling Thunder - Between March 1965 and November 1968, aircraft of the U.S. Air Force had flown 153,784 attack sorties against North Vietnam, while the Navy and Marine Corps had added another 152,399. On 31 December 1967, the Department of Defense announced that 864,000 tons of American bombs had been dropped on North Vietnam during Rolling Thunder, compared with 653,000 tons dropped during the entire Korean War and 503,000 tons in the Pacific theater during the Second World War.

The CIA estimated on 1 January 1968 that damage inflicted in the north totaled $370 million in physical destruction, including $164 million worth of damage to capital assets (such as factories, bridges, and power plants). The agency also estimated that approximately 1,000 casualties had been inflicted on the North Vietnamese population per week, or approximately 90,000 for the 44-month period, 72,000 of whom were civilians. Due to combat and operational circumstances, 506 U.S. Air Force, 397 Navy, and 19 Marine Corps aircraft were lost over or near North Vietnam. During the operation, of the 745 crewmen shot down, the U.S. Air Force recorded 145 rescued, 255 killed, 222 captured (23 of whom died in captivity), and 123 missing. Figures on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps casualties are harder to find. During the 44-month time frame, 454 Naval aviators were killed, captured, or missing during combined operations over North Vietnam and Laos.

Rolling Thunder had begun as a campaign of psychological and strategic persuasion, but it changed very quickly to interdiction, a tactical mission.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Rolling_Thunder

March 8: The first US Marine (USMC) infantry battalion arrives in Da Nang. These are the first US ground combat troops to arrive in South Vietnam.

March 11: Operation Market Time is put into action. Operation Market Time was the United States Navy's effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was one of four Navy duties begun after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, along with Operation Sea Dragon, Operation Sealords and naval gunfire support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Time

March 30: A terrorist bomb, detonated outside the US Embassy in Saigon, kills two Americans and wounds several others. Among the wounded is Deputy Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson.

April 6: President Johnson authorizes the use of US ground forces for combat missions in South Vietnam.

May: The first bombing halt in Operation Rolling Thunder.

US ground are used in combat for the first time.

First Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) battalion arrives in Vietnam.

May 3: US Army's 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade begins to arrive in South Vietnam.

June: Nguyen Cao Ky becomes the new head of the Saigon government.

June 18: B-52 bombers, flown from Andersen AFB on Guam, make their first strikes of the war in South Vietnam. B-52 raids on targets in South Vietnam were known as Arc Light missions.

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~tpilsch/AirOps/arclight.html

June 27: US servicemen in South Vietnam exceeds 50,000.

July 28: President Johnson authorizes 50,000 additional ground forces to be sent to South Vietnam.

July 31: Coastal Surveillance Force (Task Force 115) is formed. The coastal surveillance operation was organized around nine (initially eight) patrol sectors covering the 1,200-mile South Vietnamese coast from the 17th parallel to the Cambodian border and extending 40 miles out to sea.

http://www.mrfa.org/tf115a.htm

August: Combined Action Platoons begin on an ad hoc basis. Drawing from previous experience in "small wars", the United States Marine Corps operated the Combined Action Program during the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1971. "The Combined Action Platoon's (CAP) genesis was not a deliberate plan from a higher headquarters, rather, it was a solution to one infantry battalion's problem of an expanding Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR). The concept of combining a squad of Marines with local Popular Forces (PFs) and assigning them a village to protect proved to be a force multiplier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program

August 17-24: US Marines launch their first major operation of the Vietnam War. This was the first operation that was conducted solely with US combat units.

The various Marine units reported killing 600+ enemy fighters. Nine prisoners were taken along with 42 suspected guerrillas; 109 assorted weapons were seized. To the Americans, the battle was considered being a great success for U.S. forces as they engaged a Main Force Viet Cong unit and came out victorious. Despite this, the National Liberation Front also claimed victory, announcing that they had inflicted 900 American casualties, destroyed 22 tanks and APCs, and downed 13 choppers. In fact, the VC 1st Regiment was not yet totally wiped out, and the VC still had control over some hamlets in the peninsula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Starlite

October: A South Korean combat division starts to arrive in South Vietnam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreans_in_Vietnam

November 8: During Operation Hump the 173rd Airborne Brigade launches a major offensive northeast of Saigon. The result of the battle was heavy losses on both sides—48 Paratroopers dead, many wounded, 2 Australian KIA and 403 dead PLAF (VC) troops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hump

November 14-18: 1st Cavalry Division meets the 325th NVA Division that had started moving south in December of 1964. They intend on cutting South Vietnam in half at it's narrowest part. The battle featured airmobile operations and close air support by both U.S. tactical and B-52 bombers. Both sides suffered heavy losses and both claimed victory. The U.S. lost 234 dead, with 242 wounded; November 17 was the deadliest ambush for Americans in the entire Vietnam War, with 155 men killed and 126 men wounded. The NVA lost as many as 2,000 casualties in this 4 day battle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_la_Drang

November: Anti-war demonstrations are widespread in the United States.

December 18: Operation Gamewarden becomes operational. This operation is to deny use of the Mekong Delta, Mekong River and the Plain of Reeds to the Viet Cong.

http://www.monsterchef.net/LST838/GameWardens.pdf

December 24: The second pause in Operation Rolling Thunder.

December 25: US Troop levels have reach 184,300.



Good Hunting.

MR
« Last Edit: 23 February 2011, 15:22:35 by Mad_Russian » Logged
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« Reply #8 on: 21 February 2011, 06:09:56 »
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1966

January: The Concept of Combined Action Platoons is formalized.

January 28-March 6: Operation Masher was a combined U.S., ARVN, and ROKA operation that began on January 28, 1966. The name "Operation Masher" was changed to "Operation White Wing", because the name was deemed too crude for 'nation-building'. Masher" was changed to "Operation White Wing", because the name was deemed too crude for 'nation-building'.

The mission was a search and destroy mission, and had little to do with nation-building. The operation was divided into four Phases.

Operation Masher/White Wing lasted 42 days and ended on March 6. As many as 1,342 enemy soldiers had been killed by the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) at the cost of 288 United States' troops killed and 990 wounded. The ARVN and ROKA forces killed an additional 808 enemy soldiers. The 3rd NVA Division was pronounced destroyed, but later was back in action elsewhere on the battlefield.

January 31: Bombing of North Vietnam resumes after a 37 day pause.

February 7-8: President Johnson and Premier Ky meet in Hawaii.

March: Buddhists in Saigon protest military rule for South Vietnam.

March 2: Secretary of Defense McNamara announces that the US troop level is at 215,000 with another 20,000 en-route.

March 9-10: NVA capture US Special Forces base in the A Shau Valley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_A_Shau

April: 1st Australian Task Force is formed.

April 12: B-52 bombers make their first attacks on North Vietnam attacking the Mu Gia Pass.

June 23: South Vietnamese troops seize Buddhist headquarters in Saigon. This brought to an end a wave of protest against military rule that began back in March.

August 11: USCGC Point Welcome (WPB-82329) was a Point-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. Point Welcome was just south of the 17th parallel, in the limits of the DMZ, when she was attacked in the pre-dawn hours of 11 August 1966 by aircraft of the United States Air Force while on patrol in the waters near the mouth of the Cua Viet River, about three-quarters of a mile south of the Demilitarized Zone (the 17th Parallel). Her commanding officer, LTJG David Brostrom, along with one crewmen, EN2 Jerry Phillips, were killed in this friendly fire incident. The ship's executive officer, LTJG Ross Bell, two other crewmen, GM2 Mark D. McKenney and FA Houston J. Davidson, a Vietnamese liaison officer, LTJG Do Viet Vien, and a civilian freelance journalist, Timothy J. Page, were wounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Point_Welcome_%28WPB-82329%29

August 18: The Battle of Long Tan was fought between the Australian Army and Viet Cong forces in a rubber plantation near the village of Long T?n, about 27 kilometres (17 miles) northeast of Vung Tau, South Vietnam. The action occurred when D Company of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), part of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF), encountered the Viet Cong 275th Regiment and elements of the D445th Local Forces Battalion. D Company was supported by other Australian units, as well as New Zealand and United States artillery.

It was a decisive Australian victory and is often cited as an example of the importance of combining and coordinating infantry, artillery, armour and military aviation. The battle had considerable tactical implications as well, being significant in allowing the Australians to gain dominance over Ph??c Tuy province, and although there were a number of other large-scale encounters in later years, 1ATF was not fundamentally challenged again.

18 Australians were killed and 24 wounded, while at least 245 Viet Cong were killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan

September 14–November 24: Operation Attleboro takes place.

Operation Attleboro was a search and destroy operation by the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. The operation was named after Attleboro, Massachusetts, where the brigade had been formed. Operation Attleboro turned out to be the largest series of air mobile operations to date and involved all or elements of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 25th Division 1st Infantry Division, a brigade of the 4th Division, as well as numerous Army of the Republic of Vietnam and Regional Forces/Popular Forces and Nungs. In the end, the operation became a Corps operation commanded by II Field Forces. U.S. military spokesmen claimed that the most significant result of Operation Attleboro was the severe blow struck against the communists' supply system.

This operation was divided into two phases. Initial fighting was light. In late October, U.S. forces consisting of the 196th and the 1st Battalion of the 27th Infantry Regiment encountered the 9th Viet Cong Division, resulting in a major three-day battle. Fighting was then taken over by the 1st Infantry Division. The most significant fighting occurred when Viet Cong forces assaulted the U.S. perimeter at Suoi Da on November 8th. The assault was defeated by artillery and air strikes. Afterwards, a large Viet Cong base camp was detected. It was certainly one of the largest hauls to date in the Vietnam War: the American forces seized two million pounds of rice; 116 transportation bicycles; approximately 25,000 Chinese-made hand grenades (many containing tear gas); 481 M18 Claymore anti-personnel mines; 80 rocket launchers; 25 machine guns; and a myriad number of pistols, riles like AKMs and AK-47s, clothing, tobacco, miscellaneous foods like cooking oil and salt and fish, and as well as a large amount of petroleum.

Communist forces left behind 1,106 of their dead, which included 4 battalion commanders and 5 company commanders. US losses were 155 KIA and 494 WIA. US commanders decided from this battle that the way to combat the communist forces was to attack his base camps. The Communists would try to defend those.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Attleboro

October: 2,000 non-combatant Filipino troops arrive in South Veitnam.

October 24-25: Manila Conference of Free World Nations is committed to support the Free World conflict in Vietnam.

October 25: Two US Navy destroyers interdict North Vietnamese shipping trying to infiltrate supplies along South Vietnam's coastline.

December 31: US forces in South Vietnam number 385,300.

By the end of 1966, the number of Communists captured in South Vietnam had reached 17,000 but there were over 1.2 million civilian refugees.




Good Hunting.

MR
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1967

January 2: Operation Bolo was a deception program during the Vietnam War, to lure Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) fighters into battle where the odds were stacked against them; devised to reverse alarming loss rates among United States Air Force (USAF) fighter bombers flying missions as part of the Operation Rolling Thunder aerial bombardment campaign.

Operation Bolo pitted the F-4 Phantom II multi-role fighter against its rival, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptor and was considered to be one of the most successful combat ruses of all time, eventually forcinging VPAF pilots and strategists, as well as Soviet tacticians, to re-evaluate the tactics and deployment of the MiG-21.

As the F-4s landed at Ubon, their ground crews lined the taxi way. As each Phantom passed, cockpits opened, the pilots indicated with upheld fingers the numbers of kills they'd scored. Of the 16 MiG-21s known to be in the VPAF inventory, 11 to 14 had been engaged (depending on the source), with 7 destroyed and two others probably shot down (by Combies and Maj. Herman L. Knapp, Rambler 03).

The success of Operation Bolo led Seventh Air Force to plan a similar mission simulating an RF-4C photo reconnaissance mission. The immediate reaction to Bolo by the VPAF was to challenge the daily "recce" mission on the two days immediately following Bolo, in each case causing the mission to be aborted. On both January 5 and January 6, a pair of 555th TFS F-4C Phantoms, flying a close formation to appear as a single target on North Vietnamese radar, flew the high-speed profile. On the second day, intercepted by 4 MiGs, they again surprised and shot down two during the encounter, with Crab 01 (Capt. Richard M. Pascoe and 1st Lt. Norman E. Wells) and Crab 02 (Maj. Thomas M. Hirsch and 1st Lt. Roger J. Strasswimmer) each scoring a kill.

For the North Vietnamese (and their Soviet allies who supplied the MiG-21 aircraft and helped set up the integrated air defense network), the two reverses forced them to husband their assets by grounding the MiGs for several months for retraining and devising of new tactics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bolo


January 8-26: Operation Cedar Falls was a military operation of the Vietnam War conducted primarily by US forces. The aim of this massive search and destroy operation was to eradicate the so-called "Iron Triangle", an area located in close proximity to Saigon which had become a major stronghold of the communist National Liberation Front (NLF) or Viet Cong.

Operation Cedar Falls was the largest American ground operation of the Vietnam war; Two Army divisions, one infantry and one paratrooper brigade, as well as one armored cavalry regiment participated in the operation.

The Vietcong, however, chose to evade this massive military force by either fleeing across the border to Cambodia or hiding in a complex system of underground tunnels. Nevertheless, the allied forces uncovered and destroyed some of the tunnel complexes as well as large stockpiles of Vietcong supplies. In the course of the operation, so-called tunnel rats were introduced for the first time to infiltrate Vietcong tunnel systems.

In an attempt to permanently destroy the Iron Triangle as a Vietcong stronghold, Operation Cedar Falls also entailed the complete deportation of the region's civilian population to so-called New Life Villages, the destruction of their homes, as well as the defoliation of whole areas.

While most senior officers involved in planning and executing the operation later evaluated it as a success, Cedar Falls failed to achieve its main goal since the Vietcong's setback in the Iron Triangle proved to be only temporary. As well as treating the civilian population harshly. Since most of the population living in the area were considered VC sympathizers that may not have been as big a deal as the media made it out to be.

Even though the Communists evaded most US forces there were still 750 Vietcong killed, 280 taken prisoner, and 540 defected in the so-called Chieu Hoi ("open-arms") program; an additional 512 suspects were detained and almost 6,000 individuals were deported. Moreover, allied forces captured 23 crew served weapons, 590 individual weapons, over 2,800 explosive items, 60,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, and enough rice to feed 13,000 troops for an entire year. Also, large amounts of enemy documents were obtained and a massive complex of underground tunnels, bunkers, and other structures was destroyed. Some 100 bunkers, 25 tunnels, and over 500 structures were destroyed. Finally, in order to deny the NLF cover and make future penetrations of the area simpler, eleven square kilometers of jungle were cleared.

In comparison, allied losses were light. US forces lost 72 killed and 337 wounded while South Vietnamese casualties amounted to 11 killed and 8 wounded. U.S. equipment lost included two tanks and five armored personnel carriers destroyed; damage was sustained by three tanks, nine APC's, one tankdozer, two jeeps and two light observation helicopters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cedar_Falls

February 22-14 May: Operation Junction City was an 82-day military operation conducted by United States and Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam) forces. It was the largest U.S. airborne operation since Operation Market Garden during World War II, the only major airborne operation of the Vietnam War, and one of the largest U.S. operations of the war.

Junction City was a massive search and destroy operation, conducted in hopes of clearing People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong units from the area of War Zone C, northwest of Saigon. Another goal of the operation was the possible capture or destruction of the PAVN/NLF Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN). This headquarters controlled all enemy activities south of the tri-border region of Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam.

The operation was considered largely successful by the U.S. command, although PAVN/NLF units returned to the area once allied forces withdrew. COSVN itself withdrew to the safety of Cambodian territory, where it remained for the rest of the U.S. commitment to the Vietnam War.

All three regiments of the 9th Viet Cong Division were engaged; in all 2728 VC were killed and another 34 captured. American losses were 2842 killed and 1,576 wounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Junction_City

February 25: Operation Highrise fires US 175mm artillery into the DMZ and North Vietnam in response to AAA gunfire on FAC aircraft.

http://www.2ndbattalion94thartillery.com/Chas/OperationHighrise.htm

February 27: In response to Marine artillery fire into and the area north of the DMZ (Operation Highrise) NVA mortar, rocket and artillery fire hit Con Thien and Gio Linh


February 28: The Mekong Delta Mobile Riverine Force is created.

March 20-July 5 1972: Operation Popeye (Project Popeye/Motorpool/Intermediary-Compatriot) was a US military cloud seeding operation during the Vietnam war to extend the monsoon season over Laos, specifically areas of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The operation seeded clouds with silver iodide, resulting in the targeted areas seeing an extension of the monsoon period an average of 30 to 45 days. As the continuous rainfall slowed down the truck traffic, it was considered relatively successful. The 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron carried out the operation to "make mud, not war."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Popeye

May 1: US military strength in South Vietnam reaches 438,000.

May 4: Ambassador Robert W. Komer becomes General Westmoreland's deputy for Civil Operations and Rural Development Support. (CORDS)

May 8: At 03:00, 300 rounds of mortar and artillery fire hit the base, while NVA sappers with Bangalore torpedoes breached the perimeter wire. At 04:00 two battalions of the 812th NVA Regiment armed with flamethrowers attempted to overrun the base. At the time of the attack the base was defended by the command element and Companies A and D of 1/4 Marines and a CIDG unit. The attack fell primarily on Company D. A relief column from Company A was sent with an M42 Duster, 2 LVT-5s and 2 1/4 ton trucks. The M42 was hit by an RPG-7 and an LVT-5 and one truck were destroyed by satchel charges. By 09:00 the NVA had withdrawn leaving 197 KIA and 8 prisoners. The Marines had suffered 44 KIA and 110 wounded.

After the 8 May attack, recognizing that the NVA were using the DMZ as a sanctuary for attacks into I Corps, Washington lifted the prohibition on US forces entering the DMZ and MACV authorized the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) to conduct combat operations into the southern half of the DMZ.

From 13–16 May, 1/9 Marines cleared Route 561 from Cam Lo to Con Thien fought a well-entrenched NVA force south of the base. The NVA subsequently withdrew into the DMZ.

May 18-28: Operation Hickory was an operation conducted by the United States Marine Corps in the area around Con Thien, South Vietnam known as Leatherneck Square from May 18, 1967 until May 28, 1967. During the course of the fighting Marine casualties were 142 killed 896 wounded while the NVA suffered 304 killed, unknown number wounded and 30 taken as prisoner of war.

2nd Battalion, 26th Marines and 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines advanced north from Con Thien on the morning of 18 May to press any NVA against a blocking force from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines on the Ben Hai River. At 10:00 2/26 Marines made contact with 2 NVA Battalions in bunkers and trenches. The 2/9 Marines joined 2/26 and fought a running battle until nightfall. 5 Marines were KIA and 142 were wounded, while 31 NVA were killed. That night 75 radar-controlled airstrikes were called in on the bunker complex. At 07:00 on 19 May after 2 hours of artillery preparation (in which short rounds killed 3 Marines), the 2/26 proceeded to attack the bunker complex, overrunning it by 10:30 killing 34 NVA[11]. At 13:30 2/9 Marines met heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire and an M-48 moved up to silence the NVA positions with canister fire. 2 M-48s were later knocked out by RPG-7 fire and 2/9 Marines suffered 7 KIA and 12 wounded[12]. On 20 May, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines covering the left flank of the operation encountered an NVA bunker complex and in fighting lasting into the 21st May suffered 26 KIA and 59 wounded for 36 NVA dead. On 25 May Companies H and K from the 26th Marines engaged an NVA Company in a bunker complex near Hill 117 5 km west of Con Thien, fighting lasted throughout the day and cost 14 Marine KIA and 92 wounded for 41 NVA killed. Marine air and artillery pounded the complex throughout the night and a new assault was planned for the morning of 26 May, but NVA fire brought down a UH-1E injuring the command element and the assault was postponed until 27 May when Companies E and F 2/26 Marines and 3/4 Marines took the hill with no resistance. For the remainder of Operation Hickory the Marines encountered only scattered resistance but discovered and destroyed numerous bunkers, ordinance and rice. Operation Hickory concluded on 28 May, the Marines had suffered 142 KIA and 896 wounded for 362 NVA killed. Lam Son 54, Hickory, Belt Tight and Beau Charger also resulted in the removal of the entire civilian population from the area with the result that it was all now a free fire zone

May 19-27: Operation Lam Son 54, a part of Operation Hickory, the 1st ARVN Division advanced parallel to 3rd Marines while the amphibious Special Landing Force Alpha secured the coastline south of the Ben Hai River. When Lam Son 54 ended the ARVN were in constant contact with the NVA. The ARVN suffered 22 KIA and 122 wounded, while the NVA suffered 342 KIA and 30 captured.

The amphibious Special Landing Force Alpha secured the coastline south of the Ben Hai River under Operation Beau Charger, a part of Operation Hickory, and Special Landing Force Bravo linked up with 3rd Marines under Operation Belt Tight. Once at the Ben Hai River, the forces swept south on a broad front to Route 9. The amphibious element of Operation Beau Charger met no opposition while the heliborne assault dropped into a hot LZ. Only one platoon was landed and it remained isolated until rescued several hours later. Beau Charger continued until 26 May with minimal contact. 85 NVA were killed.

September 3: General Nguyen Van Thieu is elected as President of South Vietnam. Nguyen Cao Ky is elected as Vice President.

September 29: A contingent of Thai troops arrives in South Vietnam.

October 4: The NVA siege at Con Thien is broken.

November 27: The Pentagon declared that if the major operations needed to neutralize North Vietnamese and NLF forces were to succeed, U.S. troop levels in South Vietnam would have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000. In a series of meetings between Westmoreland and the President held in Honolulu in February 1966, Westmoreland argued that the U.S. presence had succeeded in preventing the immediate defeat of the South Vietnamese government but that more troops would be necessary if systematic offensive operations were to be conducted. The issue then became in what manner American forces would be used.

December 31: US military strength in South Vietnam is 486,000.

Good Hunting.

MR
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« Reply #10 on: 21 February 2011, 20:35:25 »
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1968

January 5: Operation Niagara I to locate NVA units in the vicinity of Khe Sanh begins.



January 22 - April 7: The Siege of Khe Sanh.

The village of Khe Sanh was the seat of government of Huong Hoa district, an area of Bru Montagnard villages and coffee plantations, situated about seven miles from the Laotian frontier on Route 9, the northernmost transverse road in South Vietnam. The origin of the combat base lay in the construction by U.S. Army Special Forces of an airfield in August 1962 outside the village at an old French fort.

For 77 days NVA forces tried to overrun the base. In the end they sustained over 16,000 casualties during the attack and untold hundreds/thousands more from B-52 strikes into both Laos and North Vietnam into the NVA staging areas. This was the longest battle of the Vietnam War.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838216,00.html
http://www.vietnam-war.0catch.com/vietnam_war_khe_sanh.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh

January 31 -  August: The TET Offensive.

According to General Tr?n V?n Trà, the new military head of COSVN, the offensive was to have three distinct phases: Phase I, scheduled to begin on 31 January, was to be a country-wide assault on the cities conducted primarily by Vietcong forces. Concurrently, a propaganda offensive to induce ARVN troops to desert and the South Vietnamese population to rise up against the government would be launched. If outright victory was not achieved, the battle might still lead to the creation of a coalition government and the withdrawal of the Americans. If the general offensive failed to achieve these purposes, followup operations would be conducted to wear down the enemy and lead to a negotiated settlement; Phase II was scheduled to begin on 5 May; and Phase III on 17 August.

To further enhance their political posture at the Paris talks, which opened on 13 May, the North Vietnamese opened the second phase of the General Offensive in late April. U.S. intelligence sources estimated between February and May the North Vietnamese dispatched 50,000 men down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to replace losses incurred during the earlier fighting. During the early morning hours of 4 May, communist units initiated the second phase of the offensive (known by the South Vietnamese and Americans as "Mini-Tet") by striking 119 targets throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon.

Phase III of the offensive began on 17 August and involved attacks in I, II, and III Corps. Significantly, during this series of actions only North Vietnamese forces participated. The main offensive was preceded by attacks on the border towns of Tay Ninh, An Loc, and Loc Ninh, which were initiated in order to draw defensive forces from the cities.

The leadership in Hanoi must have been initially despondent about the outcome of their great gamble. Their first and most ambitious goal, producing a general uprising, had ended in a dismal failure. In total, approximately 85,000–100,000 communist troops had participated in the initial onslaught and in the follow-up phases. Almost half of all Communist forces that participated were killed. Overall, during the "Border Battles" of 1967 and the nine-month winter-spring campaign, 45,267 communist troops had been killed in action. The Viet Cong was destroyed as a military organization and from this point on was manned by NVA regulars brought down from the north.

TET had been a tremendous military defeat for the Communists. While catching Free World forces off guard in Phase I, the reactions from Free World forces contained the damage and Phases II and III ended up being nothing more than costly attrition attacks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive

March 1: The Action of 1 March 1968 refers to three naval engagements fought during the Vietnam War on the same morning. A large force of American and South Vietnamese warships assigned to Operation Market Time engaged three North Vietnamese ships at different locations along the South Vietnamese coast. In the action, the three North Vietnamese vessels were destroyed while the Americans and South Vietnamese ships sustained only light damage. Though the battles took place several miles from each other, they were all part of the same operation to defeat a North Vietnamese attempt to resupply the Viet Cong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_1_March_1968

March 16: The My Lai massacre took place.

March 31: President Johnson restricts the bombing of North Vietnam to the pan handle region. He announces that he will not seek re-election.

April 1: Clark M. Clifford is appointed Secretary of Defense replacing Robert McNamara.

April 8 - May 31: Operation Toan Thang I (Complete Victory) was the first of a series of massive combined operations to maintain post-TET pressure on the enemy and to drive the enemy from III Corps and the Saigon area. 43 US and 37 ARVN battalions participated in the operation.

April 10: President Johnson announces that General Creighton Abrams will take over as commander of MACV from General Westmoreland in June.

May 3: President Johnson accepts a North Vietnamese offer to conduct preliminary peace discussions in Paris.

May 4-5: Phase II of the TET Offensive is launched. This was known throughout Free World forces as Mini-TET.

May 13: Delegates from the US and North Vietnam hold their first formal meeting in Paris.

June 23: The combat base at Khe Sanh is abandoned.

July 18-20: President Johnson and Premier Thieu meet in Honolulu Hawaii.

October 31: President Johnson announces that the bombing of North Vietnam will cease the following day. Reconnaissance flights will continue without halt.

November: Richard M. Nixon is elected as President of the United States.

December 31: The horrendous losses inflicted on Viet Cong units struck into the heart of the irreplaceable infrastructure that had been built up for over a decade. MACV estimated that 181,149 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops had been killed during 1968. The Viet Cong had been destroyed as a military organization. For the second  year in a row the North Vietnamese couldn't replace the losses suffered by their forces in South Vietnam.

Good Hunting.

MR
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« Reply #11 on: 21 February 2011, 21:17:40 »
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1969


Under Construction.

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1970


Under Construction.

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« Reply #13 on: 22 February 2011, 00:42:07 »
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1971


Under Construction.

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1972


April 19: The Battle of Dong Hoi was a clash between United States Navy warships and three North Vietnamese air force MiG-17F fighter bombers, several torpedo boats and shore batteries on April 19, 1972 during the Vietnam War.

The U.S. warships involved were the 7th Fleet flagship, guided missile cruiser USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5), the guided missile frigate USS Sterett (DLG-31), and destroyers USS Lloyd Thomas (DD-764) and USS Higbee (DD-806).

The American warships were shelling North Vietnamese coastal targets around Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province, Bac Trung Bo when attacked by North Vietnamese aircraft. This was the first MiG attack on U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. The battle site is in the Gulf of Tonkin, near the DMZ along the 17 parallel, the provisional borderline of the Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
USS Higbee

One of the MiG-17F's, flown by NVAF pilot Le Xuan Di, scored a direct hit on Higbee with a BETAB-250 (250kg/551lb) bomb, after failing to hit his target twice on two previous attack runs. The MiG was then shot down by a Terrier surface-to-air missile fired from Sterrett. The explosion destroyed Higbee's aft 5-inch gun mount and wounded a disputed two to four sailors in the gun mount's upper handling room. The gun mount itself was empty, the 12 man crew having been evacuated following a "hang fire" (a round stuck in one of the barrels). Oklahoma City received minor damage from shrapnel resulting from shore fire. Two of several North Vietnamese torpedo boats were sunk by gun fire when they engaged the U.S. ships as they escorted the Higbee from the area.

After their bombing run, the North Vietnamese pilots retreated back to their air base. If there were any remaining torpedo boats, they withdrew as well. The U.S. warships would engage several more MiG-17s over the next few days, shooting down at least three more enemy aircraft, they also continued shelling North Vietnamese ground targets and rescuing downed aviators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%C4%90%E1%BB%93ng_H%E1%BB%9Bi

Good Hunting.

MR
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1973


Under Construction.

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1974


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1975


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