Timeline, July 23rd

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
July 23, 1954 (24th day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): France's National Assembly approves the Geneva agreements by 462 votes (including 95 Communists) against 13, with 134 abstentions.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 23, 1962 (22nd day of the 6th month, Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): The Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos is signed. Various Laotian parties formally agree at the Geneva Conference to form a coalition government headed by the neutralist, Prince Souvanna Phouma. For text of the Declaration and Protocol on the Neutrality of Laos, signed at Geneva, July 23, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 1075-1083.

July 23, 1964 (15th day of the 6th month, Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Operation Le Loi begins in Pleiku Province.

July 23, 1966: (6th day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The CIA appraises Rolling Thunder through July 14, 1966.

July 1966 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The total number of Chieu Hoi's from January-July 22, 1966, is 10,754, with a daily average of almost 53. For the same period in 1965, the total was 4,686, and for all of 1965, it was 11,124, averaging a little over 30 per day.

July 23, 1966 (6th day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): An SAS four-man patrol is inserted into the Nui Dinh hills by RAAF helicopter with the mission of locating an enemy radio station (codename 'Fred') that has been reporting the movements of Australian and Allied forces in the Nui Dat and Baria areas to VC units in Phuoc Tuy province.

July 23, 1966 (6th day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Koko Head begins in Hau Nghia Province.

July 23, 1967 (16th day of the 6th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): An SAS patrol kills two VC 6 km east of Binh Ba.

July 23, 1968 (28th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]): Operation Swift Play begins in Quang Nam Province.

July 23, 1970 (21st day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): D Company 8 RAR deploys to FSB Brigid. Separate Company deploys to FSB Isa. A, B and C Companies begin operations around Long Dien and Hoa Long. Operation Decade starts.

July 23, 1970 (21th day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): Firebase Ripcord: Starting at first light, US Navy, Air Force and Marine fighter-bombers fly continuous strikes as 14 Chinook helicopters rush in to begin lifting out the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, from the top of Ripcord in what will be the largest "hot" extraction of US forces in South Vietnam. At 7:40 a.m., AA fire destroys a Chinook, which crashes on the lower pad, preventing other Chinooks from lifting out the rest of the men, artillery and heavy equipment. The infantry must now be lifted out by Hueys, which only can carry six men at a time. Every available Huey in the 101st Airborne is put on the job, including 60 UH-1 Hueys from the companies of the 158th AVN at Camp Evans and 60 Hueys from the 101st AVN at Camp Eagle. Meanwhile, Hueys of the Phoenix are combat-assaulting troops of D/2/506th to reinforce Alpha Company on the valley floor; with these reinforcements the American infantrymen can now beat back the NVA and be extracted after operations on the mountain are completed. Cobra gunships of the 158th AVN and the 101st AVN, as well as aerial rocket artillery of the battalion also form up with the lift birds and the other Cobras from Camp Eagle. Lieutenant Colonel Lucas, Ripcord's commanding officer, is killed while directing the withdrawal from the base. By early afternoon all known living soldiers are back in Camp Evans, including the men who were on the valley floor. All the army helicopter pilots will be given Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the crew chiefs and door gunners will receive Air Medals with V for valor.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 23, 1980 (12th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]): PAVN troops cross the Thai border, enter refugee camps and attack members of Khmer factions opposed to Heng Samrin. Thai troops fight back for two days, killing 86 PAVN and losing 22 KIAs/WIAs. A hundred refugees are killed, many more are wounded, and thousands are driven into the jungle. As a result of the incident, President Carter accelerates delivery of weapons and ammunition to Thailand.

July 23, 1980 (12th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]): Vietnamese cosmonaut Pham Tuan is launched into space aboard Soyuz 37.

June-July 1988 (4th through 7th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): By now, the bulk of occupying PAVN combat troops in Cambodia are positioned inland, with PRK forces increasingly deployed on the border.

ONGOING OPERATIONS:
SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1972 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive:
- Operation Lam Son 72 (6/28-9/16/72) (18th day of the 5th month through 9th day of the 8th month): In Thua Thien Province, ARVN 1st Division troops at FSB Checkmate are subjected to heavy enemy attacks during which the fire base is overrun and retaken several times during the month; the South Vietnamese Airborne Division and Marines continue advancing on Quang Tri City; the three provinces south of the Hai Van Pass were able to maintain reasonable control despite the low strength of friendly forces.

- The Chu Pao Pass area is cleared and the highway between Kontum and Pleiku opens to commercial traffic in early July. However, the enemy continues to harass traffic with sporadic attacks by fire and Route QL-14, although open, remains insecure.
- A total of six enemy regiments are reported in northern Dinh Tuong Province, about 65 km southwest of Saigon. After taking Kompong Trabek, NVA forces, probably elements of the 9th Division, supported by local Khmer Rouge units, are tightening control over Route QL-l from the Parrot's Beak area to Neak Luong on the Mekong River. By July 2 (22nd day), only two towns in the area remain under National Khmer control, Neak Luong and Svay Rieng. The series of heavy engagements between the NVA and South Vietnamese troops in the Elephant's Foot area in Military Region 4 continue; NVA continues to put pressure on QL-4, the supply route between the Delta's rice bowl and the nation's capital, while launching a series of coordinated attacks on the towns of Sam Giang, Cai Be and Cai Lay in Dinh Tuong Province from mid-May through mid-July; the attacks are driven back by territorial forces with strong support from U.S. tactical air and helicopter gunships.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1979 (6th month and supplemental month, Year of the Goat (Ky Mui]): The Vietnamese have consolidated control over all major Cambodian towns and cities. PAVN forces in Cambodia reach a high of 224,000 in 1979, and then stabilize at an average of 170,000 to 180,000 troops, including 11 combat divisions. Up to eight divisions operate along the border in the dry season (December to June) and pull back to established garrisons during the rainy season (July to November).

July 1981 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): The beginning of the rainy season forces the Vietnamese to pull back from the border town of Pailin, which they have occupied since May in response to Khmer Rouge advances at Phnom Malai.

July 1982 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dog [Nham Tuat]): Some 20,000 PAVN troops are sent home in the first major troop rotation since 1978. Taking their place are fresh troops, many of them southern draftees sent to complete basic training in the forward bases of understrength divisions.

July 1983 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): The Khmer Rouge increase their attacks on PAVN garrisons during the rainy season.

June-July 1984 (5th, 6th and 7th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN rotates its troops again, sending home three brigades and replacing these with an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom are sent to reinforce the weakned 5th Division.

July 1985 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Ox [At Suu]): This year as the rainy season begins ten PAVN combat divisions remain in Cambodia, all of them understrength, some with as few as 5000 troops. Meanwhile, the non-Communist resistance is recovering from PAVN's most recent dry season offensive.

July 1986 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): During this summer, PAVN withdraws Divisional Group 98 from Cambodia, replacing some of the troops with fresh men.

July 1988 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): PAVN has moved the bulk of its combat troops inland, with PRK Cambodian troops increasingly deployed on the border.