Timeline, October 20th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR: October 1945 (Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): With his troops making slow progress on the road to My Tho, General Leclerc decides to instead send forces by water to capture the city. Compagnie Merlet (a company of naval infantry under LV Merlet) and the SAS Battalion of Commando Ponchardier (which is the first airborne unit into Vietnam and is under the command of Pierre Ponchardier) are embarked on an LCI provided by the British Royal Navy, and the sloop Annamite.

October 20, 1952 (Year of the Dragon [Nham Thin]): Tu Le: Somewhere between 0200 and 0300, the Viet Minh start a mortar prep of 6th BPC positions, followed by human wave assaults. The paratroopers, supplemented by troops from the nearby garrisons who have joined them, fend off two to three attacks during the night, and at dawn the Viet Minh withdraw, leaving behind 96 bodies, 41 weapons and two prisoners of war. The weather is cloudy and this prevents air support from coming to the aid of Bigeard and his men. Around 1100, a French unit located some 6 km to the east reports massive infiltration of the basin. The Viet Minh have Tu Le surrounded. At 1300, Bigeard orders a withdrawal. The paras have five seriously wounded men; each stretcher is allocated four teams of two men each for protection. The remainder of the withdrawal column is formed, with the garrisons of Gia Hoi, Lang Chang and Tu Le and their families in the lead, followed by the rest of the troops, who also are carrying out the mortars and other crew-served weapons, as well as the 6th BPC radio equipment. Every para, including the officers, is burdened with an extra load on the way out in addition to his own gear. The paths they must take were made by the Meo and climb straight up the hills and then straight down, and the weather is hot and rainy. The column gets off to a relatively easy start, with no sign of the Viet Minh at first, and the first watershed is crossed without contact. But the enemy, with a healthy respect for the French automatic weapons, has been waiting for the column to get stretched out on a bad section of the path that is cut off from outside aid. They spring their ambush between the outer hills of Tu Le and the first designated assembly point, taking the column under a density fire without parallel thus far in Indochina. The fight degenerates into two hours of hand-to-hand combat along a 5 km line. More than 100 paras are seriously wounded and can't go on. The chaplain, Father Jeandel, voluntarily stays with them and is made prisoner along with the survivors. Only Father Jeandel and three of the 110 paras captured during this fight will survive the next two years in Viet Minh prison camps and be released in August 1954. Meanwhile, the survivors of the column manage to set off again and get a one-hour lead on the Viet Minh.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 1957 (Year of the Rooster [Dinh Dau]): Communist Vietnamese guerrillas begin a terror campaign in South Vietnam, including bombings and assassinations.

October 20, 1958 (Year of the Dog [Mau Tuat]): Bloodless coup in Thailand.

October 20, 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Approximately 30 Special Forces camps have been opened near the border as the border surveillance program is incorporated into the program and area development is deemphasized. As a result, some 30 other sites have been closed and their personnel relocated closer to the border. Training requirements now focus on strike forces, and almost no hamlet militias are being trained any more, while former CIDG troops are being retrained for the new mission. The US Special Forces now have forty-four A detachments in Vietnam with four B detachments controlling them- one in each corps tactical zone. Another B detachment is assigned to the Vietnamese Special Forces Training Center at Dong Ba Thin, just south of Nha Trang.

October 20, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Battle of Plei Me SF camp update: The NVA break off contact during the night. Tactical air strikes by fight-bombers and B-52 begin; fighter-bombers fly 696 sorties and drop 750 short tons of ordnance during action, while transports make round-the-clock airdrops. Company A, 1st Aviation Battalion, is the only airmobile company available for support for the next five days and prepares to lift in reinforcements.

October 20, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Allentown begins in the Lai Thieu-Di An region.

October 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Enemy forces appear in strength around the Plei Djereng SF camp, and elements of the US 4th Infantry and 1st Cavalry divisions quickly reinforce the camp. There are intermittent sharp firefights in the area throughout October and November.

October 20, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Bethlehem begins southwest of Phu Cuorg.

October 20, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): An H-3 goes down during an attempt to rescue two downed F-4 pilots near Dong Hoi.

October 20, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Osceola I begins in the Hai Lang Forest of Quang Tri Province.

October 20, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Coronado VII begins in the Mekong Delta.

October 20, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): The US 9th Infantry Division and the Royal Thai Army Volunteer Regiment end Operation Don Ched and begin Operation Narasuan.