Timeline, October 26th

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
October 26, 1965 (Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): Battle of Plei Me Camp: A second major Communist assault is repulsed, and the enemy begins to withdraw toward the Cambodian border.

October 26, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): A mishandled flare on the USS Oriskany ignites other munitions, soon setting the forward half of the carrier ablaze. Twenty-five naval aviators and 19 other officers and men die before the fire can be extinguished, three hours later. Knocked out of action, the Oriskany sails to Subic Bay for personnel replacements and repairs, to be replaced on station by the Coral Sea. Later, the Oriskany will return and serve as a light attack carrier off Vietnam. On June 30, 1975, it will be redesignated as a multi-mission aircraft carrier, but its role will remain the same. Decommissioned to reserve in 1976, it will be the last Essex class carrier in commission as a warship. Stricken for disposal on July 25, 1989, it will be sold for scrapping in 1993, but the scrapper will default and ship will be repossessed without having left Navy custody. Resold for scrapping again in 1995, it will be towed to San Francisco in May 1996 and subsequently moved to Mare Island for scrapping, but the scrap contract will be revoked in 1997.

October 26, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): In South Vietnam, the Communists launch their first major ground assault in a month.

October 26, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Toan Thang II update: An estimated four battalions of NVA regulars launch a suicide attack against FSPB Julie (XT5980) in Binh Long Province. The attack is repelled.

October 1970 (Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Consolidation I): The North Vietnamese Army has deployed the equivalent of three divisions (an estimated 18,000 men), equipped with tanks, artillery and AA batteries, in the central panhandle of Laos. Drawing on their experience with US air attacks in North Vietnam, the North Vietnamese position overlapping fire rings of AA weapons near every potential LZ for US or South Vietnamese troops. In addition, the NVA has activated 70B Corps, which coordinates the bulk of North Vietnamese units in the border area: the 304th, 320th and 308th Infantry Divisions, two artillery regiments and one armored regiment.

October 26, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: MACV reports that Communist forces have initiated the largest number of assaults throughout South Vietnam of any 24-hour period since the 1968 Tet offensive. Anticipating a cease-fire (which fails to materialize), as the Song Mekong floodwaters recede the enemy in the Delta region splits into many small groups to spread control through the region as widely as possible and there is widespread fighting in IV Corps beginning this date. In Thua Thien Province, the effects of Typhoon Della have reduced air support to nothing, and little progress was made by ARVN infantrymen, but still the ARVN this date attack NVA-held Nui Mo Tau, with a secondary effort against elements of the 812th NVA Regiment on Nui Bong.