Timeline, November 20th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
November 1952 (Year of the Dragon [Nham Thin]): Viet Minh offensive in highlands update: CEFEO forces from Operation Lorraine continue to withdraw to the De Lattre Line, protected by air cover but still sustaining heavy casualties from Viet Minh ambushes all along the way. General Giap is counterattacking in the outpost region. The garrison at Na San has been fortified with 3,500 mines and belts of wire, and with reinforcements now consists of the 3rd Colonial Parachute Battalion, the 1st and 2nd Foreign Legion Parachute Battalions, the 3rd Battalions of the 3rd and 5th Foreign Legion Infantry Regiments, two Tirailleur and two Vietnamese battalions, supported by artillery.

November 20, 1953 (Year of the Snake [Quy Ti]): Operation Castor begins as the 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion (6 BPC) of Major Marcel Bigeard and the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, Parachute Light Infantry (II/I RCP) under Major Jean Br?chignac jump into the valley of Dien Bien Phu, reinforced by the 17th Company of Airborne Engineers and two batteries from the 35th Airborne Artillery. The day's mission is to secure the Dien Bien Phu airstrip as rapidly as possible and, if possible, to capture the HQ of the Viet Minh 148 Independent Regiment, known to be in the area along with one of its battalions (the other three are out in garrisons along the Laos-Vietnam border). What the French don't know is that the Heavy Weapons Company of one of the other battalions has remained at Dien Bien Phu, and has been joined by a heavy weapons company of the 675th Artillery Regiment of the 351 "Heavy Division" (the Viet Minh Soviet-style artillery division) and by an infantry company of Regiment 40 of the Viet Minh 320th Infantry Division, which has come to the area to rest up after being badly mauled during Operation Seagull. The heavy weapons companies have selected the valley as a good site for a firing range and training ground.

The II/I RCP is to jump into Drop Zone (DZ) Simone and then to push northwest towards town in a blocking action, while Bigeard's 6 BPC is to jump into DZ Natasha, near the air strip, where 1st Company is to cover a bridgehead west of the DZ facing the northern part of town, 2nd Company is to cover the DZ and the Village of Muong Ten, 3rd Company is to support 1st Company and cover the northeastern end of town while 4th Company shields the northern extremity of the DZ. Battalion HQ and its company, along with their mortars are to set up at the southernmost corner of the DZ.

The Viet Minh are out on field practice as the drop begins, not at their HQ in town as expected, and have the bulk of their mortars and machine guns deployed in firing positions all over DZ Natasha. They open fire immediately on the paras as they come down, but the chaos and dispersion of the drop pattern confuses the enemy, and soon part of 1st Company is deployed around Major Bigeard at the southern end of the DZ while two platoons have regrouped and now face west toward the village of Muong Ten. The battalion has its mortars, but can't find its shells, and the 35th Airborne Artillery won't find its pieces until after the battle is over. However, Bigeard calls in air strikes and eventually 3rd Company and 1st Company move into Dien Bien Phu, where bitter house-to-house fighting ensues as the French move toward the HQ of the 148th Independent Regiment, but are held off until the Viet Minh regimental staff escape. Bigeard meanwhile has secured DZ Natasha, where the 1st BPC under Major Jean Souquet lands in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the II/I RCP lands without difficulty, but is misdropped and spread over such a wide pattern that they never entirely seal off the region south of Dien Bien Phu, and most of the Viet Minh escape that way. By nightfall, however, the II/I RCP has arrived at the southeastern edge of town and linked up with the other two battalions. By evening there are 4,195 CEFEO troops in the valley.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
November 20, 1962 (Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): The first 800 of an eventual 2000 ARVN troops are airlifted by 56 helicopters into War Zone D for a planned three-week campaign.

November 20, 1963 (Year of the Hare [Quy Mao]) (US Advisory): The USAF accepts the first two Phantom F-4C's.

November 20, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Ia Drang Valley: The survivors of the 2/27 are airlifted out. B/2/20 ARA relieves C/2/20 ARA. Late in the afternoon, the South Vietnamese Airborne Brigade engages retreating NVA troops. The NVA are surprised to see a South Vietnamese force on their retreat route and "when we opened up with small arms and artillery they threw down their guns and ran for it" (Woodruff, quoting from "We Were Soldiers Once," one of the ARVN unit's American advisors, Major Norman Schwarzkopf). The advisers describe the enemy in the open, and the 24 artillery pieces on nearby fire bases open up; B/2/20 ARA alone fires 200 rockets. While some NVA escape into Cambodia, 127 bodies are left on the field. With the enemy gone, various US and ARVN forces begin to return to the An Khe base camp.

November 20, 1965 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Operation Bushmaster I update: A large VC force attacks a 1st Infantry Division convoy near Trung Loi.

November 20, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Attleboro update: The 1/5th Mech continues reconnaissance in force operations at 0745 hours to Fire Support Base #3. By 1405, all elements are in the new base area without incident. After dark, three ambushes are set, but none makes contact.

November 20, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Macarthur/Battle of Dak To update: B/2/503 is held up near the top of Hill 875, engaged in close and intense fighting. A and B Companies of the 4/503 arrive and join them during the day.

At Hill 882, A/1/503 continues search-and-destroy operations to the south and west, finding 11 60mm mortar rounds 75 m outside the battalion perimeter, D Company finds 4 82mm mortar rounds nearby. Elsewhere in the battle zone, elements of the US 4th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions, various CIDG companies and six ARVN battalions are also involved in the fighting.

November 20, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Patrick information.

November 20, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Battle of Nui Chom Mountains update: A/4/31 of the 196th LIB contacts a large well-entrenched North Vietnamese force in the area of the Hiep Duc Valley.

November 20, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Toan Thang II update: Fire Base Cantigny, about 20 miles north of Saigon, is attacked.

November 20, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): In the morning, seven US Marine battalions start moving into position around part of "Dodge City," south of Da Nang in Quang Nam Province, as Operation Meade River starts.

November 20, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Swift Move begins.

November 20, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): American troop levels in Vietnam drop to 334,600.

November 20, 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): "We are going to rescue 70 American prisoners of war, maybe more, from a camp called Son Tay. This is something American prisoners have a right to expect from their fellow soldiers. The target is 23 miles west of Hanoi." ? Colonel Arthur "Bull" Simons.

November 20, 1974 (Year of the Tiger [Giap Dan]): Operation Quyet Thang 18/24 update: ARVN infantry reenters Rach Bap, concluding the last phase of the Iron Triangle campaign, though mopping up operations will continue for the next few days.