Timeline, October 1st

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR: THE BEGINNING
October 1, 1945 Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): Saigon uprising: After days of negotiations a truce between the Viet Minh and the British is announced.

INTERBELLUM:
October 1, 1955 (Year of the Goat [At Mui]): The South Vietnamese Marine Group is officially formed out of several independent units of French-trained commandos in North and South Vietnam that had merged to form two naval amphibious battalions and a few supporting administrative and training units. The Marine Group is composed of the heavy 106mm (4.2'') gun company (commanded successively by First Lieutenants Nguyen Hai Dang and Nguyen Thanh Yen), which has three platoons. Each platoon has three gun squads.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 1961 (Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): It is estimated that Viet Cong regular forces in South Vietnam have grown from less than 10,000 in January 1961 to about 16,500 currently with their ranks growing by more than 1,000 per month since July. Unbeknownst to the allies, NVA assistance in September and October is helping the VC to raise their first two regular battalions. They have seized some territory, although temporarily, and have restricted the flow of food to Saigon, while nationwide food shortages have forced South Vietnam to import rice and restrict the sale of pork. Morale has fallen in the south, and there is "an air of near panic" in Saigon. Additionally worried that the policy of neutrality the US is pursuing in Laos will expose South Vietnam to more Communist infiltration that must eventually lead to large-scale battles, President Diem asks the US for a "bilateral defense treaty like the one with Taiwan." He is eventually told that his request will be studied "promptly and sympathetically" but that Article 19 of the Geneva Accords is a problem in that regard. Ambassador Nolting is told , for his own information, that it might be possible to strengthen the U.S. commitment to Vietnam under Article IV of the SEATO treaty.

October 1, 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): In a National Intelligence Estimate, the CIA says that "South Vietnam is almost leaderless at the present time" but that the Viet Cong lack the ability to seize power by force, although their presence in urban areas has increased and the police have not yet regained their capability to track them, and that the ongoing political instability has not yet affected South Vietnam's combat readiness. "The routine functions of government still work fairly normally; business does go on; and the streets are not places of constant terror."

October 1, 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Project Delta begins.

October 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): A South Korean combat division lands in South Vietnam.

October 1, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operations for 155th AHC from now to the end of the year.

October 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Sea Dragon begins as allied cruisers, destroyers, and for one month the battleship New Jersey, range coastal waters off Vietnam (initially only south of Latitude 17 degrees 31 minutes N), sinking Communist supply craft, shelling coastal batteries and radar sites, and complementing the aerial interdiction effort by bombarding the infiltration routes ashore.

October 1, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): The 1/1st Cavalry fights the battle of Cigar Island near Binh Tinh.

October 1, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Samurai III starts in Quang Nam Province.

October 1, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): The Big Red One begins a seven-day battle around this time in the Trapezoid region between Ben Cat and the Michelin Rubber Plantation.

October 1, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Bold Dragon begins in Long Tau and Ba Zuyen provinces.

October 1, 1971 (Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Consolidation I): Operation Charge School begins in Cambodia.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR - OTHER
October 1, 1980 (Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]): The USS Cochrane rescues 104 Vietnamese refugees 620 miles east of Saigon.