Timeline, May 3rd

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
May 3, 1954 (1st day of the 4th month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]) (Fall, including quote): Dien Bien Phu: Instead of the more than 100 tons required to break even, 53 tons of supplies are dropped to the fort, of which about 45 tons is collected. Taking advantage of heavy rain, one French patrol slips out of Claudine 3 and heads for Ban Pa Pe, but is stopped within 350 yards of its own position. However, a commando patrol of Legionnaires from Eliane 2 slips out shortly after midnight and blows up an enemy bunker. The digging that has been going on underneath E2 has stopped - if the Viet Minh are really mining E2 in order to blow it up, then it must now be time for them to start filling it with explosives. At dawn, the fort's artillery begins laying down harassing fires on E1, which the Viet Minh are actively fortifying. The enemy is also moving around on what used to be Dominique 6 and E1, but the fort's defenders in that sector have too little ammo to provoke a firefight.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, senior French military officials debate what happens if the latest reinforcements to Dien Bien Phu can't prolong the battle there long enough for the Geneva Conference to reach a ceasefire in Indochina. The French government has ordered that there be no formal act of surrender and the men in Hanoi decide that "...There will be neither capitulation nor rout under the pretext of a sortie. On the other hand, those units whose leaders...still think them capable of it, [will] be given a chance to slip through" the siege ring in a secret operation called "Albatross."

In Laos, a company in the Operation Condor/Ariege forces falls back on the Nam Ou at night, screened by one of the commando groups.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
May 3, 1965 (3rd day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): The 173rd Airborne begins landing in South Vietnam.

May 3, 1965 (4th day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Aviators from A company, 1st Aviation Company, return to Vung Tao from Ban Me Thuot to pick up their aircraft and crew chiefs.

May 3, 1967 (24th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): An SAS patrol takes enemy fire on insertion by RAAF helicopter and immediately extracts, also under fire.

May 3, 1967 (24th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Khe Sanh: G/2/3 and E/2/3 start moving towards Hill 881N from separate positions after artillery prep of the site.

May 3, 1968 (7th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): LBJ accepts a North Vietnam offer to conduct preliminary peace talks in Paris.

May 3, 1970 (28th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Sanctuary Counteroffensive): Operation Toan Thang 44: American forces in the Fishhook enter Mimot. While the NVA has been falling back with delaying actions during the advance, resistance suddenly stiffens as the American armor turns toward the town of Snoul. (TVW, Woodruff)
Details and photos about a mission that went in earlier to help prepare the way for the 1st Cavalry.

May 3, 1972 (20th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: Throughout the night of May 2-3, US aircraft and naval guns fire on the NVA column advancing toward the ARVN line at the Song My Chanh. At 0400, the NVA artillery barrage starts on ARVN defensive positions there.

A battle line 10 km long forms at the My Chanh, with neither side giving in. By 0530, ARVN troops have destroyed two tanks with LAW and at dawn tactical air support begins. By 0800, the enemy artillery fire is starting to diminish. Having been given priority use of all 30 B-52 sorties in SEA that day, all tactical aircraft of the 7th fleet, all airbases in Thailand, and all naval guns, the 369th chooses about 20 targets for the B52s, including suspected logistic dumps, garrisons, enemy command headquarters in and around the vicinity of the Route 1, north of Ben Hai River, as well as places close to the Route 9, the route along which the NVA is moving from the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos to high spots west of Quang Tri Province.

By 1030, more than 20 NVA tanks have been destroyed, but the intense battle continues. At 1500, two battalions of South Vietnamese withdraw to the south shores of the My Chanh and, two hours later, the My Chanh bridge is blown up. The Free Zone of Striking boundary for air support is shifted northwards from 1 km north of the My Chanh to the Thach Han instead and the NVA troops in between are hammered; their advance finally stops. There will be no more South Vietnamese retreats in MR-1. In the afternoon, having been given command of I Corps by President Thieu earlier in the day, Lt. Gen. Truong and his staff fly into Hue and start restructuring command and control, establishing a Forward Headquarters for I Corps with support from the US First Regional Assistance Command.

Meanwhile, the ranger border camps west and northwest of Kontum City are still under heavy attack, but show no signs of giving in. An Loc is still besieged and under NVA bombardment, taking an average of 1000 rounds a day, and enemy attacks are ongoing throughout the Mekong Delta region, mostly by enemy main force and local units against South Vietnamese territorial forces in an attempt to disrupt the pacification program as well as destroy all friendly bases and outposts along enemy communication routes.