Timeline, September 15th

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
September 15, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): The first in a series of major US operations throughout the Phuoc Vinh area of Binh Duong province begins.

September 15, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): A battalion of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, runs into heavy fire from an enemy force in the tree line around its landing zone in the Song Con valley, about 18 miles northeast of An Khe. Four helicopters are lost and three company commanders killed, and reinforcements are unable to land because of intense enemy fire. The Americans on the ground can't call in close air support, armed gunships, or artillery fire because the enemy is so close. But as they are pressed back, almost 1000 air strikes and 11,000 rounds of artillery are placed almost on top of the American positions. At dusk, the fighting subsides and the Communists slip away during the night. Inspection of the battlefield later will reveal that the Americans unwittingly landed in the midst of a heavily bunkered enemy base.

September 15, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Sunset Beach begins in Hau Nghia Province.

September 15, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Prairie update: Operation Deckhouse IV begins.

September 15, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Rolling Thunder update: Walt Rostow notes that bombing the North hasn't stopped Communist infiltration into the South, but it may be setting a limit on the scale of military operations in the South. For example, the Laos road net has been expanded, with great effort, to a capacity of 400 tons a day; however recent reports indicate it is only being used at a rate of 80-100 tons a day.

September 15, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The 5th Special Forces Group establishes the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Recondo School at Nha Trang ("recondo" is derived from 'reconnaissance,' 'doughboy,' and 'commando,' and the term had been used by the 101st Airborne Division recondo school under Gen. Westmoreland's command in 1958-60). All students have to be volunteers, possess a combat MOS, be in excellent physical condition, have been in Vietnam at least one month and have six months retainability in Vietnam, have an actual or anticipated assignment to a LRRP unit, and be proficient in general military subjects. The training is tough, with a 60% attrition rate in normal classes. The first phase consists of academic classroom subjects and conditioning exercises. During the second week, the physical training intensifies and field coursework expands to include weapons familiarization, enemy mines and booby traps, LZ selection, and adjusting artillery and mortar fire. Patrol training is covered, including patrol preparation, tracking, security, using special equipment, helicopter insertion and extraction techniques, and "break-contact" immediate action drills. In week three, proficient students go out on a four- or five-day LRRP patrol in "Indian Country," territory held by the VC.

September 15, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Sioux City is conducted in the Xom Cat region.

September 15, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): One of two gunships conducting a recon of the area around the LZ to be used for an insertion near Ban Me Thuot is fired on.

September 15, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Swift ends, with the 2nd NVA Division and 1st VC Regiment largely giving up the southern half of the Que Son Valley. The two enemy regiments involved in the fighting, it is later determined, have sustained such losses that they are unfit for combat, and from now until the Marines turn all of southern I Corps over to the U.S. Army at the beginning of 1968, the reinforced 2nd NVA Division will not fight the Marines again.

September 15, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Two lift ships conducting a visual recon in an area near Ban Me Thuot in preparation for a combat assault later in the day are fired on.

September 15, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Crimson Tide begins in the Mekong Delta.

September 15, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Coronado V update: battle in the Cam Son Special Zone.

September 15, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Ten U.S. and ARVN companies converge on the village of Phu Hoa Dong in a 1st Infantry operation and seal it for 11 days while it is thoroughly searched by five RF companies and the national police. By the end of the operation, 23 enemy are dead, 17 are detained and 16 have become Chieu Hoi.

September 15, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): The Deputy Chief of the NVA's General Staff reports to the Politburo on, among other things, the details and status of American POWs, and discusses possible uses for them in the overall strategy of the war.

September 15, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: In Quang Tri City, more South Vietnamese Marines are injected into the breach made on the 14th, and other Marine spearheads repeatedly assault the eastern and southern faces of the Citadel. During the night, the Marines regain control of the Old Citadel.