Timeline, October 22nd

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
October 22, 1952 (Year of the Dragon [Nham Thin]) The trek from Tu Le: In the morning, after 12 hours of nonstop travel over difficult ground, the column is exhausted and can go no further without rest. Bigeard radios the commander of the 2nd Thai Battalion (2e Bataillon Tha?, or BT 2) in Ban It Ong and learns that a detachment has left the station to meet them; it arrives one hour later. The column starts out again and between 1000 and 1200 meets the infantrymen of the 56th Vietnamese Battalion (Bataillon Vietnamien, or BVN), which will protect it from now on. They reach Ban It Ong at 1530, but get little rest. At 19 hours, the 56e BVN, under heavy attack by the Viet Minh 165 Regiment and a battalion of the 209th, withdraws to Ban It Ong and the exhausted paras and column members must set out again on another night march toward Ban Ta Bu; if they reach it, they can cross the Black River to safety. Meanwhile, to the northeast, the 43 survivors of the Muong Chen garrison are also trying to get to the Black River, struggling through 2.6 km mountain chains with two companies of Viet Minh in pursuit.

INTERBELLUM:
October 22, 1955 (Year of the Goat [At Mui]): Laos becomes the first Indochinese nation to sign a treaty of association and several conventions with France which simultaneously reaffirm the independence of Laos and its membership in the French Union. Although the treaty does not mandate that France will come to the defense of Laos if needed, "the commitment [is] clearly implied. Indeed, there [is] no other reason for Laos to sign the treaty." Vietnam and Cambodia will eventually sign similar treaties with France.

October 22, 1955 (Year of the Goat [At Mui]): The first flight of the F-105D (Thunderchief) prototype.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 22, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Third Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, engages the enemy in the jungle near Phu Cuong.

October 22, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Battle for Plei Me SF Camp: After being reinforced with the two companies from the 91st ARVN Airborne Rangers, the Project Delta force sends three companies to clear the NVA from the high ground. They are defeated in a bitter fight with the NVA. Company A, 1st Aviation Battalion attempts to rescue downed US pilots in two separate incidents.

October 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Coronado update: The MRF and the Vietnamese Army 7th Division trap elements of the VC 263nd and 514th Main Force battalions, inflicting 173 casualties.

October 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): The dry season in southern Laos, and North Vietnamese trucks are again on the move along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but now the computer radio center at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, is picking up, interpreting and displaying data reported by sensors and relayed by transmitters in Lockheed "Bat Cat" electronic warfare aircraft. The system from the outset furnishes detailed information on volume of traffic, convoy speed and hours of operation on the Trail, but in four months the Tet-68 offensive will force the Americans to redeploy the aircraft that could have attacked the supply routes.

October 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): The CIDG camp at Thuong Duc is attacked again, but the defenders seize the initiative and, in three days, kill 74 of the enemy by small arms alone. Over a seven-day period, three heavy battles occur, resulting in a final total of 150 enemy KIA.