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Old 05-14-2005, 04:37 AM
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Default Timeline, May 2nd

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
May 2, 1954 (30th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]) (Fall): Dien Bien Phu: The first of 388 reinforcements from the last reserve paratrooper battalion start arriving and will continue through May 5th, but the fort's defenders lose a battalion's worth of fighting men this night. By 0200, Dominique 3 and Eliane 1 are gone, and Huguette 4 is under attack. Enemy snipers are everywhere in the triangle between H2, H3 and H4, but the Viet Minh have taken heavy losses, too, and the pace of the battle slackens somewhat, only to resume at 0250 with an attack on the Legionnaires on E2 which develops into hand-to-hand fighting in the forward trenches around the south bunker there.

At 0305, H4 is attacked again and that fight focuses around the last remaining moveable tank, while a mixed force of Legionnaires from Lily 2 reoccupy the trenches to the rear of H4. By 0625, all penetrations on E2 and E4 have been cleared and H4 is again holding, but with the loss of E1 and D3, other positions of Eliane are outflanked and every part of the fort is under direct enemy fire. At 1020, the fort reports it's regrouping its units under light artillery fire. By 1220, E10 and E12 have been reinforced-with wounded from the underground hospital.

The good news of the day is that troops from Isabelle has succeeded in retaking strongpoint Wieme. The day's supply drops are terrible: at 1400 two "Boxcars" drop their complete loads of six tons each into enemy lines, and almost half of the rest of the day's drops land in places where they can't be retrieved. At 2400, Communist artillery starts bombarding Wieme again.

Meanwhile in Laos, Operation Condor/Ariege forces are still holding a defense position on the Nam Ou and one of the commando groups this date abandons the drop zone at Nga Na Song.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
May 2, 1965 (2nd day of the 4th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): The Australian Military Planning Team arrives in Saigon.

May 2, 1967 (23rd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): A five-man SAS patrol ambushes an enemy, killing 3 VC. Recovered are one US M1 carbine, one French MAT49 SMG, a diary and quantity of documents. The patrol extracts.

May 2, 1967 (23rd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): In the Ap Bac Zone Company A, 3/60th, 9th Infantry Division, is attacked while sweeping through an area where an enemy ambush had occurred earlier. Sgt. Keller and Sp4c. Wright assault the enemy position.

May 2, 1967 (23rd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Khe Sanh: Lt. Col. Wilder's 3/3 seizes Hill 881S after four days of heavy fighting.

May 2, 1968 (6th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): In the morning, Special Forces Staff Sgt. Roy Benavidez hears the cry "get us out of here" over his unit's radio while at his base in Loc Ninh, as well as "so much shooting, it sounded like a popcorn machine." He jumps aboard an evacuation helicopter that is flying to the scene.

May 1 1968 (5th day of the 4th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase IV): Battle of Dong Ha update: After a night of attacks and probes by the enemy, US Marines are reinforced in the morning and launch a renewed assault through Dai Do on the village of Dinh To, to which the enemy responds with a massive counterattack resulting in hand-to-hand combat. With the assistance of another company of Marines, this enemy attack is stopped.

May 2, 1970 (27th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Sanctuary Counteroffensive): About 400 US jets attack military targets, mostly missile sites and support installations, inside North Vietnam in one of the largest "protective reaction" operations of the war.

May 2, 1970 (27th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat] (US Sanctuary Counteroffensive): Operation Toan Thang 44 update: South Vietnamese forces and their American advisers in the Parrot's Beak start conducting extensive search and sweep operation on both sides of Route 1. Opposition is almost nonexistent as the VC have withdrawn their units deeper into Cambodia. The South Vietnamese start finding tons of supplies and military equipment.

May 2, 1972 (19th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Easter Offensive: By mid-day, heavy fire from the armor accompanying the South Vietnamese 147th Marine Brigade as well as from tactical air support forces the NVA to withdraw from Hai Langh and the 147th, followed by tanks and civilians, reaches the defensive line at the My Chanh River, where the 369th Marine Brigade is positioned. The 1st Armor Brigade tries to move south on Route QL-l but comes under heavy and continuous artillery fire, and finally closes on Camp Evans approximately 25 km south during the early afternoon. By early evening, FSB Nancy has to be evacuated. Meanwhile, huge NVA forces are pursuing the 3rd Infantry Division as it starts to flee Quang Tri Province in disarray at noon, and the forces at the My Chanh have to change the direction of defense from west to north while facing enemy infantry and artillery, to prepare for the oncoming assault. They are supported by US Specter C130 gunships and the C47 Fire Dragon as well as naval gunfire from the American 7th Fleet.

Despite the defensive line now positioned north of the city at the My Chanh, the citizens of Hue have lost confidence in I Corps ability to defend them and refugees start leaving for Da Nang in another chaotic exodus, while Hue City fills up with groups of dispirited and unruly ARVN soldiers roaming around and causing trouble.

Meanwhile, NVA attacks-by-fire increase substantially against South Vietnamese ranger border camps that sit atop the NVA supply routes west and northwest of Kontum, mainly Ben Het and Polei Kieng, because the positions of these two camps obstruct movement of enemy supplies into assembly areas for the attack on Kontum City. In spite of recent setbacks at Tan Canh, Dak To and Vo Dinh which have affected the morale of all ARVN troops in the Kontum area, these isolated border camps hold fast with USAF support.

BORDER CLASHES - OTHER May 2, 1975 (22nd day of the 3rd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): Evacuation after fall of Saigon: When the flood of refugees finally stops in the evening, Task Force 76, carrying 6,000 passengers; the MSC flotilla of Sgt Truman Kimbro, Sgt Andrew Miller, Greenville Victory, Pioneer Contender, Pioneer Commander, Green Forest, Green Port, American Challenger, and Boo Heung Pioneer, with 44,000 refugees; and the Vietnamese Navy group leave Vietnamese waters and set sail for reception centers in the Philippines and Guam.
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