The Patriot Files Forums

The Patriot Files Forums (http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/index.php)
-   Vietnam (http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=99)
-   -   February 23 (http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38114)

frisco-kid 02-28-2005 03:50 PM

February 23
 
1971 South Vietnamese advance stalls

In Operation Lam Son 719, the South Vietnamese advance into Laos grinds to a halt.

The operation began on February 8. It included a limited incursion by South Vietnamese forces into Laos to disrupt the communist supply and infiltration network in Laos along Route 9 adjacent to the two northern provinces of South Vietnam. The operation was supported by U.S. airpower (aviation and airlift) and artillery (firing across the border from firebases inside South Vietnam).

Observers described the drive on Hanoi's supply routes and depots as some of the "bloodiest fighting" of the war. Enemy resistance was initially light as a 12,000-man spearhead of the South Vietnamese army thrust its way across the border into the communists' deepest jungle stronghold, with the town of Tchepone, a major enemy supply center on Route 9 in Laos, as the major objective. However, resistance stiffened in the second week as the North Vietnamese rushed reinforcements to the area. On this day, the big push bogged down around 16 miles from the border, after bloody fighting in which the communist troops overran two South Vietnamese battalions.


1966 Desertion up in South Vietnamese army

According to the U.S. military headquarters in Saigon, 90,000 South Vietnamese deserted in 1965. This number was almost 14 percent of total South Vietnamese army strength and was twice the number of those that deserted in 1964. By contrast, the best estimates showed that fewer than 20,000 Viet Cong defected during the previous year.

David 03-06-2005 06:11 AM

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
February 23, 1966 (4th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo])(US Counteroffensive): Operation Double Eagle II update.

February 23, 1967 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): 6 RAR conducts Operation Kirribilli.

February 23, 1967 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): In Huong Tra, AATTV Major Peter Badcoe, under heavy fire, rescues an American Medical Adviser.

February 23, 1967 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Junction City update.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): Khe Sanh: The base receives a record number of incoming rounds for a single day - 1,307. An enemy trench system around KSCB also appears with the enemy often excavating up to 1000 feet per night. Delayed bombs prove the best defense against this traditional siege tactic.

The air defense continues. Besides receiving an average of 300 sorties per day by Air Force and Marine aircraft, Khe Sanh is also getting as many as 48 out of 60 daily B-52 sorties, sometimes with three Stratofortresses over their target every 90 minutes.

During Operation Niagara, a new bombing tactic is very effective. Previously, B-52s wouldn't drop their bombs within 3 km of the area they were defending in order to avoid hitting their own troops, as the bombers fly so high that pin-point accuracy is not possible. But during defense of Con Thien in November 1967, some B-52 bombs had hit closer in than was usual, and the resulting explosions showed that the NVA was taking advantage of this restriction to move his ammo very close to the action. During the siege of Khe Sanh, the presence of two Combat Skyspot radar bomb scoring and impact systems, a combination of radar and computer, with the heart of the system based at Lima Site 85 and other ground stations in Laos, operating in tandem with aircraft carrying new radar transponders, allows close-in B-52 bombing to within 1000 yards of the perimeter. This was devastating to the NVA/VC during the early days of the siege. One mission, Yankee 37, struck some 1400 yards from Marine lines and touched off secondary explosions that lasted for over two hours.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): Camp Coryell is hit by mortars for the first time since the beginning of the Tet-68 Offensive.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): The 155th Aviation Company's 2nd platoon accomplishes a combat assault for the 22nd ARVN Division in II Corps.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): B Company 7 RAR conducts company Operation Mildura.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): MAG-16 update.

February 23, 1968 (26th day of the 1st month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): A/7/17 Cavalry Blues make contact with an estimated NVA battalion in Pleiku Province.

February 23, 1969 (8th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Communist forces launch a series of mortar and rocket attacks on 115 targets in South Vietnam, including the cities of Saigon, Da Nang and Hue, Hau Nghia Province, Quang Nam Province, and the U.S. base at Bien Hoa. This is one day following the expiration of the seven-day Viet Cong proclaimed truce for Tet. The allied fuel and ammo dumps at Da Nang are largely destroyed.

February 23, 1969 (8th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): In III Corps, Bien Hoa base is attacked.

February 23, 1969 (8th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Patrol Base Diamond is attacked.

February 23, 1969 (8th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): 1st Battalion, 9th Marines is halted by an extensive bunker system while in support of Operation Dewey Canyon in the A Shau Valley.

February 23, 1969 (8th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): The NVA begin to bombard the SF camp at Ben Hat and send ground probes against it.

February 23, 1970 (18th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): The Joint Chiefs of Staff order MACV-SOG to cease operations under the code name Eldest Son, Italian Green, and Pole Bean.

February 23, 1970 (18th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): Operation Halfback is conducted in Laos.

February 23, 1971 (28th day of the 1st month, Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): Three US Army gun trucks are sent to help defend a convoy that has come under attack near An Khe.

February 1972 (late Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]/early Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]): Amid intelligence reports of a building enemy offensive, it is learned that the NVA 324B Division is moving into the A Shau Valley. The ARVN 1st Infantry Division is deployed to preempt an attack on Hue.


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:09 AM.

Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.