Timeline, October 8th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR: THE BEGINNING
October 8, 1945 (Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): Saigon uprising: On or around this date, British Gurkhas and the Japanese are moving out further detachments to occupy strategic points on the periphery of Saigon, and the incoming French troops are "on the rampage," particularly the armored division, while in areas controlled by the insurgents, the soldiers of the "second division of the Vietnamese army" (?) have been disbanded by the Viet Minh. Over the last several days, the leadership of the Trotskyite group has been disappearing, one by one, and at 0530 on the 8th (as near as I can tell), ten gardes mobiles under the Viet Minh openly arrest the two that remain; of the original seven leaders, five have been murdered and two have escaped, one to ally himself with Bao Dai and the other to live secretly in Saigon.

On the 8th, in Tha Khek, Laos, Prince Souphanouvong forms the Arm?e de Lib?ration et de D?fense Lao (ALDL) from his personal guard, the Laos for Lao troops under Sananikone and Nosavan, the Garde Indochinoise (native militia) of Tha Khek, and the Civic Guard of Vientiane. The prince becomes Commander-in-Chief, with Sananikone as his Aide de Camp and Nosavan as Chief of Staff.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR
October 8, 1961 (Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): The Lao factions agree to form a neutral coalition headed by Souvanna Phouma.

October 8, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Iron Triangle starts with the first B-52 strike in support of ground troops, after which elements of the 173rd Airborne are air-assaulted into the Iron Triangle, in west-central Binh Duong Province 29 km from Bien Hoa Air Base. At the same time, 1 RAR, as a maneuver element of the 173rd, deploys via APCs and trucks. The first 1 RAR AO is some fourteen square km of the northeast section of the brigade AO immediately southwest of Bien Cat; the second, is 10 square km to the east of the brigade AO between the Song Thi Tinh and Route 13. The terrain is flat to undulating, traversed by the Song Thi Tinh, with jungle, rubber, grassland, and rice areas adjoining the river. 1 RAR's search area is significant for booby traps (with five detonations accounting for most of the 37 ANZAC WIA) and several adapted and VC-initiated mines; they lose 2 KIA (including one American attached to the unit), and kill eight VC, wound one and take two prisoner, as well as locate four small defensive positions and three camps/VC villages, including one of 5 square km., which contains tunnels, weapon pits, trench lines and huts.

October 8, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Canberra update: A six-man SAS fighting patrol ambushes and kills three VC.

October 9, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Laos requests increased aid from the US to meet a heavier Communist presence in the country.

October 8, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): A pilot from the 40th ARRS earns a Silver Star for his rescue of a downed F-4C pilot.

October 8, 1974 (Year of the Tiger [Giap Dan]): Congress appropriates only $700 million for South Vietnamese defense for the year ending June 30, 1975; this is well below the previous year's appropriation and is less than the billion-dollar authorization used as the basis for expenditure during July, August and September 1974. Such a sudden cut in funds has a heavy physical and psychological effect on the South Vietnamese: of 66 South Vietnamese Air Force squadrons, for example, 11 are disbanded and many of the remaining squadrons are severely restricted in flying activity.