Timeline, March 29th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
March 29, 1954 (25th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): Dien Bien Phu: The previous day's success having shown French effectiveness in the lowland area, the fort's hill positions east of the river are considered the next Viet Minh target and these are reinforced, with Dominique being reduced to strongpoints 1, 2, 3 and 5, and D4 becoming a new strongpoint, called Sparrowhawk, held by a battalion with one platoon of quad-50's. The remaining two quad-50 units are set up on another new strongpoint, Juno (formerly Claudine 6). The heaviest reinforcements, however, go to the Elianes. Heavy monsoon rains hamper supply drops and recon flights all day. The garrison at Isabelle manages to get an ambulance truck through to the main fortress, but no convoys can travel through because of the tightness of the siege. The night of the 29th is calm, with only light harassing fire from enemy artillery.

INTERBELLUM:
March 29, 1955 (6th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [At Mui]): Under Bao Dai, after having failed to bribe the Saigon-Cholon area gangsters of the Binh Xuyen organization into cooperation (using US funds) due to their independent wealth, Premier Ngo Dinh Diem cancels the "arrangement" Bao Dai had made with this group and sends South Vietnam's army against them, eventually driving them into the Rung Sat swampy region east of Saigon. The two other private armies in the area, those of the religious groups of the Hoa Hao, consisting of some 10,000 to 15,000 men, and the Cao Dai, composed of some 30,000 men, stand aside in the struggle, an estimated $12 million (including US funds) having found its way into the treasuries of the two groups.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
March 29, 1965 (27th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Snake [At Mui]): Rolling Thunder update: The Bach Long Vi radar and communications center is hit hard.

March 29, 1966 (8th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Defense): Operation Circle Pines begins near War Zone D.

March 29, 1967 (19th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Junction City update: Artillery moves into Fire Support Patrol Base Thrust.

March 29, 1968 (1st day of the 3rd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): An Australian SAS patrol ambushes three VC, killing two.

March 29, 1969 (12th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Ron Ridenhour writes a letter to government officials, notifying them of the My Lai massacre.

March 29, 1970 (22nd day of the 2nd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): Landing Zone Jay in Tay Ninh Province comes under heavy attack.

March 29, 1971 (3rd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi])(US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): The NVA attacks Duc Duc, a district HQ not far from An Hoa in Quang Nam Province.

March 29, 1972 (15th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (U.S. Consolidation II): The NVA unleashes a massive 130mm artillery barrage across the DMZ that paralyzes South Vietnamese forward defenses.

March 29, 1973 (25th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Ox [Quy Suu]): The last 2500 US troops depart Vietnam from Saigon and Da Nang. MACV is deactivated, ending the U.S. military advisory effort at the unit level with the South Vietnamese military, and including the deactivation two days earlier of the U.S. Marine Advisory Unit to the South Vietnamese Marine Corps. The Naval Advisory Group and Naval Forces, Vietnam, are formally disestablished. Thereafter, only 9 Navy and Marine Corps officers assigned to the U.S. Embassy's Defense Attache Office and 156 Marine embassy guards will remain in South Vietnam.. Additionally, the last of the 591 prisoners released by the North Vietnamese board an Air Force plane at Gia Lam airfield near Hanoi; some 2494 servicemen and civilians are still unaccounted for at this point.

March 29, 1975 (17th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): Ho Chi Minh Campaign: The last air flight, an American contract Boeing 727 transport, leaves Da Nang carrying some 300 persons, most of them soldiers who forced their way aboard.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR: March 29, 1979 (2nd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Ky Mui]): Vietnam announces that Soviet warships have been granted the use of Cam Ranh Bay facilities.

March 29, 1984 (27th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]: In Cambodia, PAVN infantry from the 302, 307 and 9 Divisions, with tanks and artillery, hit the Phra Palai Pass, a key Khmer Rouge infiltration route near the triborder region while 400 Vietnamese cross the border into Thailand to try to catch the guerrillas in a pincer movement. The operation fails as most of the Khmer Rouge have already slipped through the Vietnamese lines; in addition, Thai artillery sends PAVN scrambling back into Cambodia.