Timeline, October 31st

[David]

PREBELLUM:
October 1936 (Year of the Rat [Binh Ty]): Starting at the end of October and continuing into 1937, an unprecedented series of labor strikes begin in Indochina's distilleries, clothing industry, sawmills, potteries, railways, factories, soapworks, electric and water companies, etc.

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
October 1945 (Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): Saigon area: At month's end, Binh Xuyen/Avant Garde troops retreat back into the Rung Sat, leaving some 250 stay-behind agents in and around Saigon. These agents start a ruthless campaign of terror and extortion, and soon the Binh Xuyen has become a well-armed, disciplined force of approximately 10,000 men there, allied with the Viet Minh.

October 1950 (Year of the Tiger [Canh Dan]): By the end of the month, after the fall of Dong Khe and other French outposts along the Chinese border in September, as well as the destruction of the 1st BEP (Bataillon Etranger de Parachutistes, or Foreign Legion Parachute Battalion) during its withdrawal from Cao Bang in early October, General Giap has driven the French out of northern Vietnam. Out of some 10,000 troops the French had stationed in the area, some 6000 have become casualties or prisoners. The Viet Minh have seized more than 900 machine guns, 125 mortars, and some 13 heavier guns, as well as approximately 1200 automatic rifles, 8000 rifles and 450 trucks. Morale among the French and allied troops is low, and politicians are blaming military leadership and vice versa.

October 1952 (Year of the Dragon [Nham Thin]): Operation Lorraine update: Viet Minh regional troops fight strong delaying actions that slow down the two French land forces heading toward their rendezvous at Phu Tho.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): During the month, the Viet Cong have killed 48 South Vietnamese government officials and 100 other South Vietnamese. 69 government officials have been abducted, as have been 477 other South Vietnamese. There have been 83 VC attacks, 1790 acts of terrorism, 480 sabotage incidents and 197 forced propaganda sessions.

October 31, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): VC attack the Bien Hoa Airbase, killing five Americans and destroying a number of aircraft.

October 31, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Boatswain's Mate First Class James E. Williams, U.S. Navy, River Section 531, My Tho, RVN, is serving as Boat Captain and Patrol Officer aboard PBR 105 during a patrol with another PBR when they are suddenly taken under fire by two enemy sampans.

October 31, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Attleboro update: Sweeping operations by American units near Dau Tieng uncover a major enemy supply base. Phase 1 of Attleboro ends this date, during which there have been few and light encounters with the VC since September 14, but huge quantities of rice and other stores seized.

October 31, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Battery C, 2/20 ARA responds to a fire mission requested by a unit in contact in the Sui Ca Valley.

October 31, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Loc Ninh SF Camp: At 0050 an estimated two battalions of the 273rd Viet Cong Regiment, supported by a battalion from the 84A North Vietnamese Army Artillery Regiment attack the camp again, hitting it with an estimated two hundred rounds from 82mm. and 120mm. mortars and eighteen rounds from 122mm. rockets, as well as RPG-40, RPG-7V, and recoilless rifle fire, which together with AA guns comes mostly from enemy positions set up in civilian homes, especially those with more than one story. A Viet Cong battalion also attempts a mass assault on the camp, but the defenders break up the attack and pin down the attacking force, which is then destroyed by coordinated fire from the camp and tactical air strikes. At dawn, the Communists withdraw to the north, northeast, and northwest. Allied air observers note heavier than usual antiaircraft guns surrounding Camp Loc Ninh. While the enemy AA fire at Loc Ninh is not effective, it does divert extensive suppressing fire from other targets.

Per VHPA, while supporting Operation Shenandoah II in War Zone D near Loc Ninh, elements of the 6/15th Arty, 1st Infantry Division kill 82 VC in the battle of Loc Ninh Airstrip, the third of three small battles prior to Srok Silamlite III.

October 31, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Captain Riley Pitts, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, leads his men in an airmobile assault near Ap Dong, in Binh Duong Province.

October 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Update on battles in I Corps involving the US 1st Cavalry Division and enemy troops trapped between the US forces and the sea: By the end of the month, Communist units have broken up into small bands that slip through American lines and disappear to the north and west. The month-long running fight has accounted for over 2,000 enemy killed. Large caches of supplies, equipment, and food have been uncovered, and the Viet Cong shadow government in some coastal hamlets and villages has been severely damaged, with some hamlets reverting to government control for the first time in several years.

October 31, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Macarthur update: Paratroopers of the 2/503 of the 173rd Airborne start moving through the hills along South Vietnam's border with Cambodia and Laos near Dak To. Intelligence reports have confirmed that the NVA 1st Division, consisting of three infantry regiments (the 32nd, 66th and 24th), as well as the 40th NVA Artillery Regiment, some 4300 troops in all, are occupying positions in the area. The Americans find several enemy base camps.

October 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Since May 1966, 74% of all Australian contacts with the enemy have involved infantry, 24% have involved SAS patrols, and 2% have involved armor. Of the total number of 410 enemy KIA, infantry accounted for 188, SAS for 173 (33 in the month of October 1968 alone), and armor for 49. In return, the infantry has suffered 9 KIA and 73 WIA, the SAS 19 WIA, and armor 2 KIA and 22 WIA.

October 31, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): LBJ orders a halt to Operation Rolling Thunder in the hopes of restarting peace talks. Since March 2, 1965, some 304,000 tactical air sorties have been flown during Rolling Thunder, mostly by US Air Force and Navy fighter bombers along with the South Vietnamese Air Force. North Vietnam has shot down over 900 US aircraft, though it has expended many SAMs in the process, with a ratio as high as 67 SAMs fired per US aircraft downed (in late 1967). Civilian casualties in North Vietnam from allied and North Vietnamese ordnance during the campaign have been an estimated 52,000. Allied bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos is tripled in an effort to stem the expected increase in enemy efforts at infiltrating and resupply. By now, the North Vietnamese Air Force has been just about totally wiped out. During the bombing halt, North Vietnam sends its pilots for more training and, with substantial Soviet aid, almost triples the number of its strike aircraft over the next three years. In addition, its fleet of 66 fixed-wing transports and 36 helicopters remains active, with occasional missions extending into Cambodia during 1969.

October 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): During the month, the 135th Assault Helicopter Company has operated throughout III Corps. Many operations, however, were with the 9th Infantry Division in the III Corps portion of the Mekong Delta.

October 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Update on the month's activities for B/7/17th Cavalry.

October 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Eagle Dustoff update for the month.

October 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Classes and awards for the 61st AHC at LZ English.

October 31, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): 7/1st Cavalry ORLL for the period August 1 to October 31, 1969.

October 31, 1971 (Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi]) (US Consolidation I): The first Viet Cong POWs are released by South Vietnam, per The History Place. I don't know what their source is. According to a Center for Military History source (below), such releases had been going on since at least as early as 1967.

October 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: Communist forces in the Delta have sustained heavy losses, those in main force units have range from 15 to 26 percent of authorized strength. During October alone, the enemy has probably lost more than 5,000 men.

October 31, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Petty Officer Michael Thornton, as Assistant U.S. Navy Advisor, and Lieutenant Thomas Norris, who has just earned the Medal of Honor in an April 1972 engagement and is now serving as Senior U.S. Navy Advisor, accompany a three-man Vietnamese Navy SEAL patrol on an intelligence gathering and prisoner capture ("poop and scoop") operation against an enemy-occupied naval river base.

October 31, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): US troop strength in South Vietnam is 32,000. By the end of the month, heavy aerial combat with US forces has destroyed over two-thirds of North Vietnam's MiG-21 fleet.

October 1973 (Year of the Ox [Quy Suu]): The ARVN 2nd Division, 5th Infantry Regiment, 68th Battalion is driven from its dug-in positions on Hill 252, in the important Cong Hoa Valley approach to Quang Ngai City, by an inferior VC unit.

In the Son Tinh District, the people of An Tinh Hamlet finish rebuilding their town, which was burned to the ground by VC sappers on September 6.

Between late October 1973 and the end of January 1974, 20 helicopters will attempt to land at the besieged city of Tong Le Chon to evacuate casualties and land replacements. Only six will succeed in landing, and of these three will be destroyed by fire upon landing.

North of Saigon, the NVA is openly constructing a modern, mechanized, heavily fortified logistics and communications center that is mostly out of reach of ARVN artillery and is protected by large and mobile NVA infantry formations,. In late October President Thieu decides to attack this complex with air strikes.

In a separate incident, a single air attack is made in late October against Xa Mat in Tay Ninh Province, a small hamlet on the border with Cambodia which had been named as a "point of entry" in Article 4 of the "Protocol to the Agreement Concerning the International Commission of Control and Supervision," but at which no ICCS team has been posted because, per Le Gro, the Communists don't want their activities at Xa Mat observed. The only report the US Defense Attache Office receives about this attack comes through an agent who has passed through Xa Mat and reports that the market, a fuel dump, and about 60 structures there have been destroyed.

October 1974 (Year of the Tiger [Giap Dan]): In the ongoing battle for Phu Bai, the 803rd and 812th NVA Regiments are so depleted that the 2nd NVA Corps withdraws them from the battle and assigns the defense of Nui Mo Tau and Nui Bong to the 6th Regiment and 271st Regiment, respectively. As heavy rains continue, movement and fire support become increasingly difficult, and the ARVN offensive in southern Thua Thien Province slows considerably. Enemy artillery continues to inhibit the use of Phu Bai Air Base, and 1st ARVN Division infantrymen around Nui Bong suffer daily casualties to NVA mortars and field guns.