Timeline, October 5th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR: THE BEGINNING
October 5, 1945 (Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): General Jacques Philippe Leclerc (the wartime pseudonym of Philippe Fran?ois Marie de Hautecloque), head of the Corps Expeditionnaire Francais en Extreme-Orient (CEFEO, or the French Expeditionary Force), arrives in Saigon, followed within a few days by the first troops. By December some 21,500-35,0000 troops, including commandos from the battleship Triomphant and an armored division, will be in country, their mission to "build a strong Indochina within the French Union".

INTERBELLUM:
October 5, 1954 (Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): The last French troops leave Hanoi.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 5, 1963 (Year of the Hare [Quy Mao]) (US Advisory): A fifth Buddhist monk sets himself on fire and dies on a street in Saigon.

October 5, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Detachment 6, 38th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron, scrambles two HH-43F's to Medevac U.S. Army forces in War Zone D, flying 18 sorties, during which they evacuate 24 WIA and 7 KIA. They also resupply the ground forces by airlifting in 1700 pounds of weapons and equipment. The HH-43 pilots are Capt. Raymond L. Murden and Capped Charles P. Nadler. Credited with 5 saves and 19 assists.

October 5, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): 38 ARRS Detachment 5 personnel attempt to rescue an F-4 crew downed in Laos.

October 5, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Bathurst update: Four SAS patrols, described as a "hunter/killer shadow force" insert into the area across the northern approaches to Nui Thi Vai with a mission to locate and destroy the enemy.

October 5, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Prairie update: Mutter's Ridge -- Following another air strike in the morning, 2nd Platoon, Company M, 3 Battalion attacks again and gains the ridge crest at noon. Fleeing into the jungle, the enemy leaves behind ten bodies and numerous blood trails that mark the evacuation of many wounded. The battle for the ridge is over, with the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines driving the NVA 324B Division back into the DMZ, losing twenty dead but killing one hundred enemy.

October 5, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): American Special Forces men, South Vietnamese Rangers and CIDG troops establish a new fighting, surveillance CIDG at Bu Prang (the second CIDG camp to have this name) after two parachute jumps and a helicopter assault.

October 5, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Windsor update: A seven-man SAS patrol ambushes a VC Rear Services unit killing eight VC and five oxen, 2 km north of Nui Thi Vai.

October 5, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Two HH-3s assigned to the 37th ARRS are scrambled from Da Nang to extract a ground party in the vicinity of the A Shau Valley.

October 5, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): While deploying to Fire Base Allisoun, 24 km due east of Nui Dat, 161 Battery, RNZA (Master's Battery 6), is ambushed Viet Cong, but survives and reaches the fire base.

October 5, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Air Force F-111 aircraft return to combat after five days of tests following the mysterious disappearance of one on 28 September, after their first day of action since 1968.