Timeline, March 1st

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
March 1957 (1st through 3rd months, Year of the Rooster [Dinh Dau]): Australia announces a new defense policy providing for closer cooperation with America in Southeast Asia. Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies states, "Though this is a wholeheartedly British nation this is not a hearsay. It merely recognizes the facts of war". (Sunraysia)

March 1, 1966 (10th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Hattiesburg begins in Tay Ninh Province.

March 1, 1966 (10th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Black Horse, the fifth phase of Operation Masher/White Wing, begins.

March 1, 1967 (21st day of the 1st month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Junction City update: A battalion of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, sweeping in the same general area as the location of the COSVN military affairs section, finds what appeared to be a school and propaganda center, with light office-type huts, a mess hall, two dispensaries, and sleeping quarters, but no fighting positions. Among the items taken are a loudspeaker system complete with speakers and amplifiers, material for making identification cards, and a bag of documents. (Rogers)

March 1, 1968 (3rd day of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): Battle of Western Valley.

March 1, 1968 (3rd day of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive): Khe Sanh: A C-123K Provider is gathering speed for takeoff when a mortar shell bursts alongside, knocking out an engine. The plane veers from the runway and catches fire, but the crew escapes.(TVW)

March 1, 1969 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Operation Oklahoma Hills begins south of Da Nang.

March 1, 1969 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): In Quang Nam Province, a US Marine night defensive position at Fire Base Tomahawk is attacked in the early morning hours.

March 1, 1969 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Operation Wayne Grey begins.

March 1, 1969 (14th day of the 1st month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Operation Massachusetts Striker begins in the A Shau Valley.

March 1, 1970 (24th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): Eagle Dustoff information.

March 1, 1970 (24th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): Operation Spurs begins in III Corps.

March 1, 1970 (24th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): C/2/20 ARA sees action.

March 1, 1970 (24th day of the 1st month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): The 119th AHC extracts dog teams, recon patrols, and LRRPs from Kilo Company from their AOs, 7 km west of FSB Hopper.

March 1, 1971 (5th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): Operation Lam Son 719 update: The loss of two firebases and the isolation of two more on the ARVN force's northern flank prompt ARVN leadership to change the tactical plan. With three Communist divisions pressing hard from the north toward Highway 9, the armored brigade can't be pushed forward from Aloui to Tchepone. Armored, airborne and Ranger battalions are deployed defensively and the ARVN 1st Infantry Division is ordered to make a series of helicopter landings along the escarpment from Route 9 south of Aloui to Tchepone. Hanoi calls the CAs "leapfrogging" to create the illusion of a victorious thrust to the west since no ARVN battalion stays in any of the three LZs set up for the maneuver long enough to hold it against counter-attack. (TVW)