Timeline, May 16th

[David]

INTERBELLUM:
May 16, 1955 (25th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [At Mui]): The US agrees to furnish military aid to Cambodia.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
May 16, 1961 (2nd day of the 4th month, Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): A 14-nation conference on Laos meets at Geneva.

May 16, 1965 (16th day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): First US gunfire support in Vietnam by USS Tucker.

May 16, 1965 (16th day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): A bomb is accidentally detonated at Bien Hoa Airbase. Twenty seven people are killed and 95 others wounded. Forty aircraft are destroyed.

May 16, 1965 (16th day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Per Gen. Westmoreland's request for permanent assignment of a carrier to support ground forces in South Vietnam, one of the four Yankee Station carriers is detached to Dixie Station 100 miles southeast of Cam Ranh Bay.

May 16, 1966 (26th day of the 3rd month, supplemental, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Wahiawa is conducted northwest of Saigon in the Hoi Loi Woods.

May 16, 1966 (26th day of the 3rd month, supplemental, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Crazy Horse begins northeast of An Khe.

May 16, 1966 (26th day of the 3rd month, supplemental, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Hardihood starts in the Vung Tau area.

May 16, 1968 (20th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): Battle of Dong Ha update.

May 16, 1968 (20th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): In Kontum Province, a small force from the US Army's Company C, 1st Battalion, is given the mission of rescuing 11 men in a hilltop observation post who are under heavy attack by a company-sized force less than a mile from the battalion perimeter.

May 16, 1968 (20th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): Battle for FSB Coral: The night-long ground assault on Coral continues in waves during the morning, but under artillery and air strikes the enemy breaks contact.

May 16, 1968 (20th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): In Quang Tri Province, Company M, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd U.S. Marines, is ambushed by a NVA unit.

May 16, 1969 (1st day of the 4th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive) (Zaffiri): On Ap Bia Mountain/Hill 937, the NVA break off the attack on the 3/187th CP just before dawn and pull back into Laos - none of the defenders has even been wounded in the night attack. At 0734, the first of three sets of fighters goes at the mountain with 1000-pound bombs with delayed action fuses. This is followed by an artillery bombardment. The day's plan of attack is for a two-battalion assault - the 3/187th is to continue its attack up the two ridges as it has been doing, but it is to move up only far enough to exert pressure while the 1/506th assaults the mountain from the south. But the leading companies of the 1/506th aren't in position and are still almost 1.5 km away. As they try to approach their assault positions closer to Ap Bia, they are slowed and then stopped not far from when they began their march by intense enemy fire, taking many casualties. Col. Honeycutt asks brigade if they want the 3/187th to go in alone, but is told to pull his troops back and postpone the attack until the next morning.

May 16, 1969 (1st day of the 4th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): Operation Lamar Plain begins in Quang Tin Province.

May 16, 1969 (1st day of the 4th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): RAAF Bushranger gunships assist in extracting an SAS 4 man patrol, on a hot extraction.

May 16, 1970 (12th day of the 4th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Sanctuary Counteroffensive): Withdrawal from Cambodia as seen from LZ Currahee.

BORDER CLASHES: May 16, 1975 (6th day of the 4th month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): In Laos, the Pathet Lao seize Pakse.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
May 1983 (4th day of the 4th month, Year of the Boar [Giap Ty]): With the approach of the rainy season, the Vietnamese withdraw from the Cambodian border away from the front they had opened against the non-Communist Sihanoukist forces at O-smack and abandoning the Phnom Malai offensive.

[MontanaKid]

One correction. Operation Lamar Plain, involving the 1/502, 1/501 of the 101st and 1/46 of the Americal, took place in Quang Tin Province, not Quang Tri.

[David]

Thank you for the correction, the change has been made.

[David]

In researching this correction I found that 3 of the 12 Americal Medals of Honor issued in Vietnam were issued for action in Quang Tin Province.


http://www.patriotfiles.com/modules....cle&artid=6421

http://www.patriotfiles.com/modules....cle&artid=2906

http://www.patriotfiles.com/modules....icles&secid=11

http://www.americal.org/moh-ad.shtml

[frisco-kid]

In the mountains west of Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province. We've been in the mountains 6 days, making contact almost daily. During a fire fight, Sp/4 John Silver, from Wadena, MN, is KIA. He'd been with the company about 6mos.. He was 20yrs. old.

[MontanaKid]

I spoke of Dunagan's role in the Mother's Day Offensive in another post. Here is the citation taken from one of the links David posted. I'll never forget my first sight of Cpt. Dunigan (a Major a year later then the medal was actually presented). He had his face so swollen on the side of his frag wound that he looked to be sucking on a softball. You could tell the fatigue in his voice. Yet he was very much in charge as he accounted for his men. Even after joining my company's perimeter, Dunagan refused evacuation with his wounded. Only after assurance from Charlie Company's Acting company commander that his men would be taken good care of and finally, a direct order from LTC George Underhill, our Bn., Commander to get his butt on the evacuation bird when it came in, did he accept evacuation. Even then, he went to Chu Lai with the assumption he would rejoin his command in a couple days. But Dr.s in Chu Lai had to wire his jaw shut and put him on a liquid diet when they quickly discovered that the frag wound in his jaw had splintered and weakened the jaw so much it was in danger of breaking clean. He was a remarkable man. I have in my possession a copy of the letter he wrote from the hospital to his RTO, Brian Shaw. Cancer took him much too soon in 1991.

DUNAGAN, KERN W.

Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, Americal Division. Place and date: Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam, 13 May 1969. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Born: 20 February 1934, Superior, Ariz. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Maj. (then Capt.) Dunagan distinguished himself during the period May 13 and 14, 1969, while serving as commanding officer, Company A. On May 13, 1969, Maj. Dunagan was leading an attack to relieve pressure on the battalion's forward support base when his company came under intense fire from a well-entrenched enemy battalion. Despite continuous hostile fire from a numerically superior force, Maj. Dunagan repeatedly and fearlessly exposed himself in order to locate enemy positions, direct friendly supporting artillery, and position the men of his company. In the early evening, while directing an element of his unit into perimeter guard, he was seriously wounded during an enemy mortar attack, but he refused to leave the battlefield and continued to supervise the evacuation of dead and wounded and to lead his command in the difficult task of disengaging from an aggressive enemy. In spite of painful wounds and extreme fatigue, Maj. Dunagan risked heavy fire on 2 occasions to rescue critically wounded men. He was again seriously wounded. Undaunted, he continued to display outstanding courage, professional competence, and leadership and successfully extricated his command from its untenable position on the evening of May 14. Having maneuvered his command into contact with an adjacent friendly unit, he learned that a 6-man party from his company was under fire and had not reached the new perimeter. Maj. Dunagan unhesitatingly went back and searched for his men. Finding 1 soldier critically wounded, Maj. Dunagan, ignoring his wounds, lifted the man to his shoulders and carried him to the comparative safety of the friendly perimeter. Before permitting himself to be evacuated, he insured all of his wounded received emergency treatment and were removed from the area. Throughout the engagement, Maj. Dunagan's actions gave great inspiration to his men and were directly responsible for saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. Maj. Dunagan's extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.