Timeline, October 25th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
October 25, 1945 (Year of the Rooster [At Dau]): Compagnie Merlet and the naval air commando battalion under Ponchardier, having sailed up the Mekong without incident, take the city of My Tho by surprise and hold it, awaiting the arrival by road of Groupement Massu, the armored group that set out from Saigon on the 15th.

Meanwhile, in Saigon, French troops move into the suburbs, smashing through Binh Xuyen lines, and begin driving them back into the Rung Sat Swamp. Ba Duong leads the amphibious retreat of thousands of Binh Xuyen troops, Avant-Garde Youth, and Japanese deserters deep into the Rung Sat watery maze, leaving behind a network of secret "action committees" (formerly "assassination committees") totaling some 250 men.

October 25, 1949 (Year of the Ox [Ky Suu]): The Lao Issara government-in-exile, in Bangkok, despite protests from its more militant members, dissolves itself. Taking advantage of an offer of amnesty from the Royal Lao Government, right-wing and centrist former LI members (including Prince Souvanna Phouma, Khammao Vilay and Prince Phoui Sananikone) fly back to Vientiane and rejoin the Laotian political system. The ALDL forces on the Thai-Laotian border rejoin the Laotian armed forces, and become part of the new Royal Lao Army. The militants, (princes Phetsarat and Souphanouvong, Kaysone Phomvihane and others) refuse to accept the amnesty and denounce those who have as traitors. Nouhak Phoumsavanh, leader of the ALDL on the Vietnamese border, also refuses to give up. With the new Thai government increasingly hostile toward them, the exiled nationalists head back to northeast Laos to continue the struggle there.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 25, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Battle of Plei Me SF Camp: At 1700, ARVN relief forces, consisting of the 3rd ARVN Cavalry Squadron, the 1/42nd ARVN Infantry Regiment and an ARVN Ranger Battalion (there is some discrepancy as to whether it was the 21st or the 22nd ARVN Rangers), break through to the Plei Me camp.

October 25, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): A CIDG company is ambushed in a rubber plantation near Minh Thanh.

October 25, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Thayer II begins in western Binh Dinh Province.

October 25, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Sea Dragon, a naval operation against enemy junks delivering supplies to the south, begins. Operations are limited to below 17 degrees 20 minutes North and the rules of engagement prohibit engaging vessels involved in non-military activities. Shore bombardment is authorized only in self defense.

October 25, 1967 (Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): USAF planes again attack the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi.

October 25, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Phu Vang II begins in Thua Thien Province.

October 25, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): An F4 pilot downed in North Vietnam is rescued by the Jolly Greens.

October 25, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Vernon Lake begins in the Song Ve Valley.

October 25, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Eager Hunter begins southeast of Da Nang.

October 25, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): C Company 3 RAR begins Operation Harvest.

October 25-26, 1969 (Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): The Panthers cover the insertion and then the forced extraction of a 30-man Special Forces-led platoon in Kontum Province.