Timeline, July 15th

[David]

INTERBELLUM:
July 15, 1954 (16th day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]) : The American Secretary of State releases a statement regarding his meeting with the French Premier and the British Foreign Secretary over Indochina.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 15, 1962 (14th day of the 6th month, Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): The first American helicopter crew is lost during a reconnaissance mission. On board the CH-21C are Colonel Anthony Tenzca, Major Bob Corniel, CWO Joseph Goldberg, SP5 Harold Guthrie, SP5 James E. Lane, and a unnamed Vietnamese observer. Visibility is poor and the Shawnee has maneuvered through low clouds and is over unsecured enemy territory in mountainous terrain when, near the village of Dak Rode, it comes under hostile fire. Specialist Lane, the door gunner, returns fire at the enemy, concealed in the mist, who fires repeatedly at the helicopter until it crashes into the trees. "I was following in my ship" said Max Wilson, "I saw it go down, but low on fuel and ammo, there was nothing we could do." One survivor, Major Corniel, floating down a jungle river, is located five miles from the crash site. The Vietnamese soldier is found nearby. Among the dead at or near the site are Colonel Tenzca, CWO Goldberg, SP5 Guthrie and SP5 Lane.

Camp Goldberg in Qui Nhon, Guthrie Hangar at Camp Goldberg, and Tenzca Tower at Fort Myer, Virginia will be named in honor of those killed in the crash. Specialist Lane, whose normal duties were maintenance and who had volunteered for the mission, will be posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Lane Hangar at Camp Goldberg will be named in his honor. Six years later Lane Barracks will also be dedicated at the Transportation School, Fort Eustis, Virginia.

July 15, 1964 (7th day of the 6th month, Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Ambassador Taylor estimates the total VC strength in South Vietnam now is 23,000-34,000 and suggests that an increase of 21,000 American troops will be needed.

July 15, 1966 (27th day of the 5th month supplemental, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Kansas update: A heavy recon team is attacked.

July 15, 1966 (27th day of the 5th month supplemental, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Joint Operation Hastings/Lam Son 289 begins (note that some sources put the start of Operation Hastings earlier, as noted below in Operations). Company K of the 3/4-4th Marines, after being brought into the landing zone, soon encounters a reinforced enemy platoon in a well-defended position. The Marines overrun the position, which contains large stores of ammunition and supplies. That evening, the first of what will be two and a half days of counterattacks by numerically superior enemy forces attack Company K, but are repulsed.

July 15, 1967 (8th day of the 6th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): 7 RAR mounts three platoon-sized patrols of two to three days' duration and four half-platoon night ambushes. This is typical of the demand placed on Australian battalions to provide base defense between operations, and in addition to this they also provide a company on ready reaction standby.

July 15, 1967 (8th day of the 6th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): A North Vietnamese trawler is captured at the mouth of the Sa Ky River.

July 15, 1968 (20th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): A/7/17th Cavalry silences an enemy position that has been firing on the Plei Mong CIDG camp.

July 15-19, 1969 (2nd through 6th days of the 6th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Operation Kentucky Jumper update: A platoon leader in Tiger Force Recon Company E, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne, is seriously wounded in the field during the initial phase of an attack on a strongly defended enemy position in the A Shau. The platoon sergeant rushes out to aid him and drag him back to a safer position, and then takes charge of the platoon and leads a successful counterattack.

July 15, 1971 (23rd day of the 5th month supplemental, Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Consolidation I): President Nixon announces he will visit Communist China in 1972.

July 15, 1971 (23rd day of the 5th month supplemental, Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Consolidation I): Operation Hawker update: After intelligence reports suggest the presence of elements of D445 in the vicinity of the now abandoned Fire Support Base Beth, to the west of Xuen Moc, 3 RAR concentrates to search the area.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR - OTHER:
July 15, 1984 (17th day of the 6th month, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): Fighting breaks out along the Vietnam-China border. The Chinese charge that the Vietnamese invaded first; Vietnam charges the Chinese were the perpetrators, and began it by shelling Vietnamese villages and moving troops into the country.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR - OTHER:
July 15, 1984 (17th day of the 6th month, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): Fighting breaks out along the Vietnam-China border. The Chinese charge that the Vietnamese invaded first; Vietnam charges the Chinese were the perpetrators, and began it by shelling Vietnamese villages and moving troops into the country.

ONGOING OPERATIONS:
SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1972 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive:
- Operation Lam Son 72 (6/28-9/16/72) (18th day of the 5th month through 9th day of the 8th month): In Thua Thien Province, ARVN 1st Division troops at FSB Checkmate are subjected to heavy enemy attacks during which the fire base is overrun and retaken several times during the month; the South Vietnamese Airborne Division and Marines continue advancing on Quang Tri City; the three provinces south of the Hai Van Pass were able to maintain reasonable control despite the low strength of friendly forces.
- The Chu Pao Pass area is cleared and the highway between Kontum and Pleiku opens to commercial traffic in early July. However, the enemy continues to harass traffic with sporadic attacks by fire and Route QL-14, although open, remains insecure.
- A total of six enemy regiments are reported in northern Dinh Tuong Province, about 65 km southwest of Saigon. After taking Kompong Trabek, NVA forces, probably elements of the 9th Division, supported by local Khmer Rouge units, are tightening control over Route QL-l from the Parrot's Beak area to Neak Luong on the Mekong River. By July 2 (22nd day), only two towns in the area remain under National Khmer control, Neak Luong and Svay Rieng. The series of heavy engagements between the NVA and South Vietnamese troops in the Elephant's Foot area in Military Region 4 continue; NVA continues to put pressure on QL-4, the supply route between the Delta's rice bowl and the nation's capital, while launching a series of coordinated attacks on the towns of Sam Giang, Cai Be and Cai Lay in Dinh Tuong Province from mid-May through mid-July; the attacks are driven back by territorial forces with strong support from U.S. tactical air and helicopter gunships.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1979 (6th month and supplemental month, Year of the Goat (Ky Mui]): The Vietnamese have consolidated control over all major Cambodian towns and cities. PAVN forces in Cambodia reach a high of 224,000 in 1979, and then stabilize at an average of 170,000 to 180,000 troops, including 11 combat divisions. Up to eight divisions operate along the border in the dry season (December to June) and pull back to established garrisons during the rainy season (July to November).

July 1981 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): The beginning of the rainy season forces the Vietnamese to pull back from the border town of Pailin, which they have occupied since May in response to Khmer Rouge advances at Phnom Malai.

July 1982 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dog [Nham Tuat]): Some 20,000 PAVN troops are sent home in the first major troop rotation since 1978. Taking their place are fresh troops, many of them southern draftees sent to complete basic training in the forward bases of understrength divisions.

July 1983 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): The Khmer Rouge increase their attacks on PAVN garrisons during the rainy season.

June-July 1984 (5th, 6th and 7th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN rotates its troops again, sending home three brigades and replacing these with an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom are sent to reinforce the weakned 5th Division.

July 1985 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Ox [At Suu]): This year as the rainy season begins ten PAVN combat divisions remain in Cambodia, all of them understrength, some with as few as 5000 troops. Meanwhile, the non-Communist resistance is recovering from PAVN's most recent dry season offensive.

July 1986 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): During this summer, PAVN withdraws Divisional Group 98 from Cambodia, replacing some of the troops with fresh men.

July 1988 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): PAVN has moved the bulk of its combat troops inland, with PRK Cambodian troops increasingly deployed on the border.