Timeline, June 25th

[David]

HISTORICAL:
June 1884: The Treaty of Hue confirms the Harmand Convention of 1883, which establishes a French protectorate over north and central Vietnam. By the end of 1884, there will be 16,500 French troops in Vietnam.

June 25, 1884: Bac Le: Lt. Colonel Duguenne's battalions withdraw.

PREBELLUM:
June 25, 1940 (20th day of the 5th month, Year of the Dragon [Canh Thin]): Vichy relieves General Catroux, replacing him with the vice-admiral of squadron, Jean Decoux, controlling the French naval forces of the Far East, based in Shanghai and Saigon.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
June 25, 1962 (24th day of the 5th month, Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): Ambassador Nolting reports how an American medical missionary from Da Nang, Dr Gordon Smith, who has lived and worked in Viet Nam for some thirty years, mainly among the Montagnard population in central Vietnam, views the situation in the central coastal provinces, concluding that Dr. Smith's views are "discouraging" and should be "closely protected."

June 25, 1962 (24th day of the 5th month, Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): The ICC issues a report charging North Vietnam with a deliberate campaign aimed at the violent overthrow of South Vietnam and citing South Vietnam for importing military equipment and personnel above the limits imposed by the Geneva Accords.

June 25, 1964 (16th day of the 5th month, Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Robert McNamara requests from LBJ authorization for combined US/South Vietnamese planning and training for cross-border operations from South Vietnam into Laos.

Summer 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): As 56,000 Viet Cong spread their guerrilla war throughout South Vietnam, they are reinforced by NVA regulars pouring in from the Ho Chi Minh trail. Responding to this escalation, LBJ authorizes Operation Plan 34A, CIA-run covert operations using South Vietnamese commandos in speed boats to harass radar sites along the coastline of North Vietnam. The raids are supported by U.S. Navy warships in the Gulf of Tonkin including the destroyer U.S.S. Maddox, which conducts electronic surveillance to pinpoint the radar locations.

June 25, 1965 (26th day of the 5th month, Year of the Snake [At Ty]) (US Defense): 1 RAR's shake-down operation on joining the 173rd Airborne at Bien Hoa airbase, Operation 1/65, begins in the form of a battalion search-and-destroy operation in an area of operation 11 km southeast of the base, between the convergence of Routes 1 and 15 on Bien Hoa. The 24-square-km AO sits astride a likely VC line of approach to attack the air base. It is undulating terrain covered mainly in jungle. The operation is also designed to clear a base area for the incoming US 2nd Brigade 1st Infantry Division. Results: Two platoon-size VC camps located, VC documents and books captured. The accidental detonation of a grenade on return from the operation kills three Australians and one US soldier, with a further soldier dying of wounds; eleven soldiers are injured, including two US soldiers.

June 25, 1965 (26th day of the 5th month, Year of the Snake [At Ty]) (US Defense): US strength in South Vietnam is now at 125,000.

June 25, 1965 (26th day of the 5th month, Year of the Snake [At Ty]) (US Defense): A day after Hanoi announces that an American POW, Sgt. Harold G. Bennett, has been executed, a VC bomb explodes in the My Canh floating restaurant in Saigon, killing 44 persons, including 13 U.S. citizens.

June 25, 1966 (7th day of the 5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Joint operation Jay/Lam Son 285 begins in Thua Thien Province.

June 25, 1967 (18th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): An SAS patrol kills two VC and wounds another, northeast of Nui Dat.

June 25, 1968 (30th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV) (PS&S): "Jet Downed, Pilot Saved, Bomb Panhandle Storage Complex"

June 25, 1968 (30th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV)(PS&S): "No Proof Of Red Copters"

June 25, 1968 (30th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): B Company, 3 RAR conducts Operation Ulladulla with C Squadron, 1st Armored Regiment.

June 25, 1968 (30th day of the 5th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV)(PS&S): "Rescue 'Big E' Jet Crew"

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
June 1984 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN forces in Cambodia are rotated, with the 2 and 10 Border Defense Regiments (also called the 688 and 690 Brigades) and a third brigade being sent home, to be replaced by an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom are sent to reinforce the 5th Division, which sustained heavy losses in an unsuccessful attack on the rebel HQ complex at Ampil in April.


ONGOING OPERATIONS:
SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
June 1972: (4th and 5th months, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty] (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter offensive: By now, casualties on both sides are in the thousands. The 17th parallel has been eliminated as a division between North and South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese have developed a line of communication from Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province to Dong Ha and the logistical complex along Highway QL-9 from Dong Ha to Khe Sanh. ARVN forces are gathering at a line along the Song My Chanh (June 1-10) as plans for a push to retake Quang Tri City are put into effect. The North Vietnamese have cleared western Quang Tri Province for an alternate corridor from Khe Sanh to the B-3 Front in Kontum; the B-3 Front is the NVA command in the Central Highlands. The fighting in Kontum Province has reduced South Vietnamese influence north and west of Kontum City, although the South Vietnamese have defeated most of the Communist forces in the city itself, and are now clearing out the last pockets of resistance there. The Communists are trying to develop logistics complex at Duc Co and to extend the alternate corridor south to Binh Long Province but ARVN, in heavy fighting, continues to hinder these efforts.

The city of An Loc is still besieged, but the attackers have lost an estimated 10,000 men and a lot of equipment, and the city's ARVN defenders are going on the offensive to try to expand the city's defensive perimeter. The ARVN fire base at Tan Khe, 10 km south of the city, is successfully fending off repeated attacks by the 141 Regiment, 7 Division as the South Vietnamese relief effort continues to slowly push north.

In the Delta, the NVA campaign against Kien Luong District in Kien Giang Province using the 1 Division is underway, but ARVN Rangers of the 44th Special Tactical Zone are pushing the North Vietnamese back into Cambodia. Meanwhile, the NVA 5 Division has pulled away from battlefields in Binh Long Province, moved across Prey Veng Province in Cambodia, and has the capital of Kien Tuong Province, Moc Hoa, under attack, as well as Tuyen Binh District town. In conjunction with this, other NVA units, probably elements of the 9th Division, are moving toward Kompong Trabek.

June 1973 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Ox [Quy Suu]): South Vietnam: In I Corps, both sides are avoiding serious contact as the NVA continue to consolidate and defend their positions in South Vietnam, and to construct major logistical bases in northern Quang Tri and western Thua Thien provinces. The South Vietnamese are using artillery sparingly and no air power to defend military posts and communication lines along the coast.

In II Corps, both sides hold strong positions around Kontum City. The South Vietnamese are trying to keep North Vietnamese forces out of rocket range of the city, and to keep Route 14 south to Pleiku open. The NVA's 10 Division is pressing the city's defenses to the north and west, while another area of contact has developed around the western ARVN outposts of Plei Mrong and Plei Djereng, the latter of which is close to Duc Co, the major NVA logistical base in the highlands. The NVA are also improving their north-south logistical route from near Dak To southward through the Plei Trap Valley of western Kontum Province. Most fighting in the eastern part of II Corps is in Binh Dinh Province, where the NVA are harassing South Vietnamese posts in the populated areas and along lines of communication. ARVN is responding with sorties into NVA areas.

In III Corps, the NVA continue their siege against the ARVN outpost of Tong Le Chon, deep in Communist-held Tay Ninh Province. Elsewhere in the region, action is light, although Communist harassment of outlying hamlets and resettlement areas is constant.

In IV Corps, there is heavy action centered in the Seven Mountains area of Chau Doc Province, where ARVN Rangers are slowly destroying the remaining elements of the NVA 1 Division in its stronghold there. Other fighting is going on in the Hong Ngu region along the border region near where the Mekong River flows in from Cambodia. There is also ongoing harassment of Regional and Popular Forces outposts and of populated areas.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
June 1978 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Horse [Mau Ngo]): Unhappy with its troops' performance, PAVN conducts a major reorganization and modernization of its forces and professionalizes its officer corps. It also streamlines the chain of command by dropping the "dual commander" system that has been in place since 1952; now, the political officer of a regiment or division is subordinate to, rather than equal or superior to, its military commander.

June 1979 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Goat [Ky Mui]): As dry season ends, the Vietnamese consolidate their control of all major Cambodian/Kampuchean towns and cities and establishes a counter-insurgency General Headquarters, Front 478, at Chamka Morn in Phnom Penh, though rebel resistance is low.

June 1980 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]): As dry season ends, PAVN divisions (up to eight) withdraw from activities operating along the border to established garrisons in country. Rebel resistance during the dry season has been low.

June 1981 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): PAVN's 309 Division is at the border town of Pailin to counter Khmer Rouge advances at Phnom Malai, but is preparing to pull back as the rain season approaches.

June 1982 (4th month-supplemental and 5th month, Year of the Dog [Nham Tuat]): During the rainy season, PAVN conducts its first major troop rotation since 1978, sending up to 20,000 fresh soldiers, mostly southern draftees who will complete their basic training at the forward bases of divisions that are under strength. An equal number of seasoned troops are sent home.

June 1983 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): During the rainy season, the Khmer Rouge increase the number of attacks on PAVN garrisons.

June 1984 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN conducts another troop rotation, sending home the 2 and 10 Border Defense Regiments (also called the 688 and 690 Brigades) and a third brigade, and replacing these with an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom reinforce the weakened 5 Division.

June 1985 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Ox [At Suu]): PAVN recalls the 2 and 7 divisions. Remaining in Cambodia are ten PAVN combat divisions, all of them under strength and some with as few as 5000 troops. These include the 5, 302, 309 and 330 divisions in Front 479, along the border; the 4 and 8 divisions in Front 579, on the coast; a division and several technical brigades in Front 779, in the interior; and the 9 and 339 divisions held in reserve around Phnom Penh.

June 1986 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): During the summer, PAVN withdraws Divisional Group 98, which includes the 8 Division, the 95 Brigade and the 37 Infantry Regiment. Part of the withdrawal is compensated for by the arrival of fresh troops.

June 1987 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Hare [Dinh Mao]): Counter-insurgency sweeps, with PAVN lowering its profile by conducting more artillery barrages and fewer infantry sweeps, and trying without much success to encourage greater participation by the military forces of the PRK.

June 1988 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): PAVN has moved most of its combat troops inland, with government forces deployed on the border.

June 1989 (4th and 5th months, Year of the Snake [Ky Ti]): PAVN continues counter-insurgency sweeps and training of the government army, navy and air force in preparation for the Vietnamese withdrawal in September.