Timeline, December 5th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
December 5, 1946 (Year of the Dog [Binh Tuat]): The US State Department instructs its diplomatic representative in Hanoi on what to say to Ho Chi Minh.

December 1-5, 1953 (Year of the Snake [Quy Ti]): Operation Castor update: Airborne battalions from the Dien Bien Phu garrison begin sorties as soon as they receive General Cogny's Directive 739 of November 30. Elements of the 8th Parachute Assault Battalion, reinforced by a company of T'ai mountaineers from the 3rd T'ai Battalion, start out into the jungle north of Dien Bien Phu to make contact with the French-led guerilla units in the mountains as well as to push as far as the strategic road junction at Tuan Giao, some fifty miles northeast of the garrison. While the commandos hack their way overland through the hills, the 1st Colonial Parachute Battalion (BPC) and parts of the II/1 Colonial Parachute Regiment (RCP) advance along Road 41, three miles northeast of Dien Bien Phu. At 0945 on December 5, 1st Company of the 1st BPC radios that it sees signs of enemy troops nearby. Almost immediately after the report, the company is hit by heavy mortar and grenade-launcher fire that wipes out its lead platoon in seconds. The rest of the company forms a hedgehog position as waves of Viet Minh infantry attack, and the battle soon develops into hand-to-hand combat. 1st Company is saved by the arrival of the rest of the task force as well as by artillery fire from the main garrison, but loses 14 KIA and 26 WIA. The Viet Minh disappear as quickly as they came, taking most of their casualties with them. In the pockets of those enemy dead left behind, the French find evidence that the attackers were not local guerrillas, but regulars of Battalion 888 of Regiment 176 of the 316 Division.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
December 1962 (Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): Disposition of US Special Forces detachments in South Vietnam.

December 5, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Bushmaster II update: The battle of Ap Nha Mat begins when American forces engage an estimated VC regiment.

December 5, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): ARG/SLF teams strike a suspected Viet Cong infiltration base at Phu Tho in northern II Corps without success.

December 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The Seventh Division, Chinese People's Volunteer Engineering Force(CPVEF), enters North Vietnam to replace the Second Division, which has been there since June 1965. The Seventh Division is composed of three construction and engineering regiments and several anti-aircraft artillery battalions, has over 16,000 soldiers, and its main tasks are to construct permanent underground defense works in the Red River Delta area and build underground plane shelters for Hanoi's airport.

December 4-5, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Meade River update: By nightfall on the 4th, US forces have entered "the Hook" and maneuvered to the rear of enemy bunker complex. After a night of artillery fire and air strikes, and a morning prep with napalm and bombing, the 3/26th Marines begin their final assault and overrun "the Hook" without incurring a single casualty. The 3/5th Marines then start a sweep to the west and the 3/26th prepares to take its place on Phase Line Charlie. The 2/5th Marines and BLT 2/26, minus E Company, now squeezed out of the cordon, are ordered to depart and return to base. As H/2/5th is waiting for the helicopters to pick them up, word comes at 1400 that the company is now under the control of the 3/26th and is to prepare to be lifted, not back to base, but for a combat assault into a hot landing zone...in five minutes. A/1/7th Marines also is lifted in and takes up a position west of H/2/5th. The 3/26th, now reinforced with two additional companies, lines up five companies abreast and heads for Phase Line Charlie, where BLT 2/26's E Company has already arrived and discovered strong enemy fortifications in a northern bunker complex just south of the Song La Tho.

December 5, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): RAR elements cordon and search the village of Xa An Nhut Village for VC and ARVN deserters during Operation King Hit.

December 5, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): An F-4C, "Boxer 22," is shot down just south of the Mu Gia Pass on the North Vietnam-Laotian border, in one of the most heavily defended sections of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and one of the largest SAR missions conducted in Southeast Asia begins.

December 5, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): In Darlac Province, a 361st AWC fire team silences enemy positions after a mortar attack on The Volcano.

December 5, 1972 (US Cease-Fire): In Australia, conscription ends.