Timeline, April 24th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
April 24, 1954 (22nd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]) (Fall): Dien Bien Phu: During the night of April 23-24, 72 volunteers parachute into the main position; as well, some 99 tons out of 117 tons dropped reach the French lines, giving the garrison two days of food and about five days' worth of ammunition. However, the level of flak over the valley is so intense (at times as intense as the worst encountered in Europe during WWII), that the Americans piloting the C-119 "Flying Boxcars," who have to fly ever lower through it to hit the shrinking drop zones, refuse to fly any more missions. The commander in Hanoi requests a transfer of French pilots to the C-119s, but the bureaucracy doesn't get the authorization to him right away, and supply drops to the fort diminish drastically for the next three days, with no supplies at all on April 28.

In the lull after the battle for the northern Huguettes, the garrison takes stock and tells Hanoi it has 3,250 infantrymen in some sort of fighting condition (many missing an eye or an arm); 878 seriously wounded men are being treated in the fort's underground hospital, which was originally designed with 44 beds and has since expanded out in an ever-growing maze of muddy tunnels as the fight goes on, and another 117 casualties compete for space on Isabelle's one-quarter square mile, with the rest of the 1,800 men of that garrison and their fieldpieces, ammo depots and tanks.

Meanwhile, French Intelligence reports that through reinforcements General Giap can once again field 35,000 infantrymen, while the ring of 37mm and .50 caliber flak MGs around the valley is tightening, augmented with the addition of several new batteries. Opera, outflanked now that the northern Huguettes are gone, is abandoned and its garrison of Vietnamese paratroopers falls back to a new unnamed position 150 meters north of Dominique 4.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
April 24, 1965 (23rd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): A Marine recon platoon is attacked on a hilltop about 2 km south of Phu Bai by an undetermined number of enemy; results 2 VC and 2 USMC KIAs.

April 24, 1966 (4th day of the 3rd month (supplemental D-S), Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Birmingham starts.

April 24, 1966 (4th day of the 3rd month (supplemental D-S), Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Dean Rusk and his informal working group attempt to sum up the situation in Southeast Asia neatly in a report, and they tell LBJ there are three basic choices for the US in Vietnam: to continue roughly along present lines; to continue along present lines but possibly reduce the rate of entry of United States troops and pressure/cajole the Saigon Government and the Viet Cong into talks, or to cut losses and take steps "that would probably lead to a disengagement and withdrawal." The third option is rejected out of hand by Rusk and the group.

April 24, 1967 (15th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Rolling Thunder update: For the first time, US aircraft strike North Vietnamese MiG airfields.

April 24, 1967 (15th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Since January, the North Vietnamese have been shelling Allied bases in northern I Corps from across the DMZ and troops have been fighting on the ground, especially from late March on.

Some five miles northwest of the Khe Sanh Combat Base, on the 24th, a B/1/9 patrol engages a large enemy force north of Hill 861 and prematurely triggers an attack on the combat base. The "Hill Fights" of 1967 have begun. Casualties for the day: 14 USMC KIA, 18 WIA, and 2 MIA, 5 NVA KIA (confirmed) and 100 KIA (probable). Support for the day: 660 rounds of 105mm and 8 fixed wing sorties dropping 6500 pounds of ordnance.

April 24, 1969 (8th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): How to build a patrol base in a day.

April 24, 1969 (8th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Four helicopters air-assault a CCS hatchet platoon consisting of three Special Forces and 25 Montagnard commandos into Cambodia.

April 24, 1970 (19th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): In response to Lon Nol's request for assistance, USAF and VNAF aircraft bomb enemy targets in Cambodia.

April 24, 1972 (11th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Easter Offensive: In II Corps, shortly before daybreak, enemy tanks and sappers begin attacking the ARVN 22nd Division CP at the Tan Canh compound. It's too much for the 900 troops of the 42nd Regiment, who at first fight in utter disorder and then break ranks and flee through the defense perimeter. Faced with a hopeless situation, the division advisory team fights through enemy small arms fire and is extracted by an OH-58 helicopter. Colonel Le Duc Dat, the division commander, and his deputy, Colonel Ton That Hung remain in the old CP and destroy all radio sets and signal SOIs. When it begins to rain hard in the afternoon, they, too, slip out of the compound, never to be heard from again, with the exception of one deputy, who survives and reaches Kontum several days later.

At about the same time as the start of the attack on the Tan Canh camp, the ARVN 47th Regiment at Dak To II also comes under heavy enemy pressure and the nearby landing strip is attacked. The division CP orders two armored cavalry troops and an infantry platoon from Ben Het to reinforce the ARVN troops at Dak To II, and they head out down Route 512, the only roadway available, which winds through hills and jungle. About half way, after crossing the Dak Mot Bridge, the armor column is ambushed by a large NVA force holding the high ground just east of the bridge. Enemy anti-tank weapons destroy all of the M-41 tanks, which are the division's last reserves in the Tan Canh - Dak To area. The 47th Regimental headquarters and defending troops leave the area in isolated groups and the NVA takes over the area. In the meantime, the NVA 320th Division is continuing its pressure on the remaining fire support bases on Rocket Ridge.

April 24, 1975 (14th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): The US Navy build-up off Vung Tau is complete.