Timeline, August 11th

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
August 11, 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Operation Chinh Nghia begins.

August 11, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): North Vietnamese SAMs shoot down one US Navy A-4 and damage another.

August 11, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Barracuda starts in II Corps.

August 11, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): 1 ATF receives another report that that a VC battalion and two separate companies are in the rubber plantation between Long Tan and Nui Dat 2, even though 6 RAR patrols have searched that area.

August 11, 1967 (Year of the Boar [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Cochise begins northeast of Que Son.

August 11, 1967 1967 (Year of the Boar [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Three waves totaling 26 USAF F-105D Thunderchiefs (a/k/a Thuds), each carrying one 3000-pound bomb, attack the Paul Doumer bridge (which will eventually be renamed the Long Bien Bridge). The bridge carries both rail and road traffic over the Red River at Hanoi. Each wave has four F-4s overhead as MiG cover, four more F-4s to attack AA batteries, and four Wild Weasels (F-105G's) for SAM suppression. Under this protection, aircraft in the strike force climb from tree-top height to 13,000 feet, dive at a 45-degree angle toward the bridge, drop their bomb, lower their air brakes, and pull out. The second Thud to attack releases its bomb after diving to 7000 feet and scores a direct hit that drops one span of the bridge into the water. By the end of the attack, one railroad and two highway spans have been destroyed and the bridge will remain out of service for seven weeks.

August 11, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): Operation Toan Thang II update

August 11, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Small VC detachments attack 179 widely-scattered bases with artillery fire--mainly mortars or long-range rockets fired in small salvos--and simultaneously launch a number of ground attacks.

August 11-12, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): C Company 8 RAR ambushes the village of Hoa Long. 19 NLF soldiers are killed and ten captured.

August 11, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): South Vietnamese troops take over the defense of border positions from American troops.