Timeline, December 11

[frisco-kid]

1969

After spending 22mos. in-country, the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division leaves Vietnam. They arrived in Chu Lai, Vietnam, in FEB68 [I landed 17FEB68] after being deployed from Ft. Bragg, NC, as reenforcements after the Tet Offensive was initiated by the enemy at the end of JAN68. Westmoreland had originally asked President Johnson for the whole division.

Their original AO was the Gia Le/Hue/Phu Bai area, with forays west into the A Shau Valley in I Corps. They would eventually be deployed south into III Corps, doing operations in such places as Saigon, Cu Chi, The Hobo Woods, The Iron Triangle, the Michelin Rubber Plantation, the Song Be River, and along the Cambodian border. During their Vietnam Campaign, the brigade had 223 KIA and 2 MIA.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I had the honor to treat their casualties when they were in III Corps. They had it pretty rough there.

[frisco-kid]

they received only the best, Doc. Thank you for all you did back in that other world, Fred. Like has been said before, not sure that I could have done your job.

[Bill Farnie]

Frisco,
In early October 1968 the 3rd Brigade of the 101st and the All Americans traded places with us going to I Corp to join the rest of the division and the 82nd taking our place in III Corp.

My unit went to FSB Boyd which was close to Nui Ke Mountain, you could see it from the perimeter, where the 5th NVA Regimental Headquarters had been located. The 1/508th Airborne Inf. of the 82nd overran the NVA on Nui Ke and they continued searching for and fighting the NVA for 9 more days. They used two bayonet charges to take Nui Ke. The 82nd was legendary by the time we got to I Corp.

[frisco-kid]

The 82nd wasn't like some cherry unit just getting in-country. At least 75% of us had done prior tours. Many of our officers and NCOs had done 2-3 by then. We had very good leadership. While at Ft. Bragg before the deployment, we did constant training. And, in typical 82nd style, we hit the ground with both feet, running. Before the whole brigade was even on the ground at Chu Lai, the 1/508 and one battery of 2/321 Arty had deployed to LZ Gator to establish a FSB and start combat operations.

Most of the 3rd brigade convoyed from Chu Lai to Camp Gia Le, opening up Hwy. 1 for the first time since the Tet Offensive began. My unit, 1/17 Cav, and part of 1/505, secured and held open Hai Van Pass for the first time since the offensive began so the brigade could pass through.

I left the 82nd in MAY68, being reassigned to convoy security in Cam Ranh Bay. Most of those 3mos. were spent building our basecamp from scratch, but we were almost immediately running patrols to keep the area secure during construction, and doing Search and Destroy operations to the west towards Laos. I stayed in contact with a couple buddies for a time after I left. It comes as no surprise to me that they were "legendary" by the time you got there, Bill.

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
December 11, 1951 (Year of the Hare [Tan Mao]): Hoa Binh campaign. By 0340 elements of Regiment 88 have penetrated the inner perimeter of CEFEO forces at Tu Vu. Under cover of the tanks, which are all lost in subsequent fighting, the Moroccans withdraw to a sandbar in the middle of the Black River while three artillery batteries on the Rocher Notre-Dame side pour fire into the post. At sunrise what is left of Regiment 88 withdraws, leaving 250 bodies in the wire and another 150 bodies scattered throughout the area. CEFEO casualties are also heavy, and the worst cases among them are evacuated with the only available helicopter in Indochina, which was stationed near Saigon, where it had been dismantled, flown to Hanoi and reassembled there. Captain Val?rie Andr?, an Army neurosurgeon and qualified parachutist and pilot, flies it into Tu Vu on the 11th despite heavy mist and anti-aircraft fire. There, she triages the casualties, operates on the urgent cases, and then flies the most badly wounded back to Hanoi, two at a time. (General Andre became a commandeur of the French Legion of Honor in 1981 and was awarded its grand-croix in 2000.)

A smaller attack against a single-battery firebase at Xom Bu is also driven off with the help of close air support. Meanwhile, as Mobile Group 4 slowly advances toward Rocher Notre-Dame, the Viet Minh change their strategy and, rather than continuing to attack French strongpoints, they start hitting French lines of communication, which allows them to choose the terrain. Regiments 165 and 209 infiltrate to positions in the Ba Trai and an area north of Ba Vi. Mobile Group 4 soon runs into heavy Viet Minh elements manning a series of cuts in the road between Yen Chu and Ap Da Chong. The French receive close air support, but this time the Viet Minh hold.

December 11, 1953 (Year of the Snake [Quy Ti]): Operation Pollux update: A subgroup of six of the T'ai Light Companies is ordered to pick up the T'ai palace guard and some of their family members who had insisted on staying behind until the Communists reached the town). At the news, the 273rd Company deserts to a man, except for its native NCOs.

INTERBELLUM:
December 11, 1954 (Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): The first supercarrier of 59,630 tons, the USS Forrestal, is launched.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
December 11, 1961 (Year of the Ox {Tan Suu]): A US Navy craft (the aircraft carrier USNS Card, per Airmobility, but the aircraft ferry Core of the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service, per the Navy's "Sea, Air and Land" site) arrives in Saigon with 82 US Army H-21 Shawnee helicopters and 400 men of the 57th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) from Fort Lewis, Washington, and the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

December 11, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (AR) (US Defense): "Volunteers Take Full Tour Can Tho"

December 11, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (AR) (US Defense): Operation New Life-65 update: "173rd Airborne Brigade in Operation New Life"

December 11, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Phu Vang IV begins in Thua Thien Province.

December 11, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): A Huey crashes, critically injuring eight men, within range of Detachment 9, 38th ARRS.

December 11, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Taylor Common update: Phase Two begins with an assault on Hill 575, the site selected for a new fire base (Lance). Within two hours, an adequate landing zone is created and the main assault force arrives and establishes perimeter security for the engineers, who then start construction.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
December 11, 1978 (Year of the Horse [Mau Ngo]): Vietnamese refugees reaching Australia claim that there has been a sharp increase in anti-Communist insurgency in Vietnam.

POSTBELLUM:
December 11-12, 1989 (Year of the Snake [Ky Ti]): Hong Kong authorities forcibly repatriate 51 Vietnamese refugees (a Hong Kong source says they were not refugees). Under an agreement between Great Britain, Hong Kong and Vietnam, the group is given reintegration assistance and guarantees as to their future treatment after return. They are visited by two members of the British Parliament in early 1990, after which they concluded that all 51 returnees had been properly treated by the Vietnamese authorities. The treatment of the returnees has since been monitored by the British Embassy in Hanoi. Some 2000 refugees agree to return voluntarily by year's end.

December 1992 (Year of the Monkey [Nham Than]): General Giap is placed under house arrest.