Timeline, March 25th

[David]

HISTORICAL:
March 25, 1898: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt proposes Navy investigate military application of Samuel Langley's flying machine, beginning naval aviation. In Southeast Asia during one month (February 1966), the US Navy's A1 flew a total of 893 attack and combat sorties; the A3, 55; the A4, 3572; the A6, 155; the C1, 27; the E1, 101; the E2, 73; the EA1, 110; the EA3, 108; the F4, 1651; the F8, 846; the KA3, 262; the RA3, 48; the RAS 189; and the RF8, 57. Ten naval aviators were lost during the month and the aircraft attrition rate for February was 0.08%.

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
March 25, 1954 (21st day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): Dien Bien Phu: Enemy trenches around Dominique have branched and are so close that D6 has already fallen and been retaken; this date it's further reinforced and a firefight ensues when the Viet Minh attack the French paratroopers who are trying to clear the approaches to D1. To the south of Dominque, the French and their allies with the aid of a tank platoon, are in the process of clearing enemy penetrations from around Eliane 4, while further south, Moroccan troops and a tank platoon finally reopen the road to Isabelle. In the north, an Air Force detachment risks artillery fire to rescue the crew of a transport plane that has been shot down.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
March 25, 1966 (4th day of the 3rd month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): The first Swift boats (PCF's) are scheduled to arrive at the Naval Support Facility at Qui Nhon for Operation Market Time.

March 25, 1968 (27th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): Khe Sanh: 1/9 Cavalry Squadron, 1st ACD begins reconnaissance in force operations east of Khe Sanh in preparation for Operation Pegasus.

March 25, 1968 (27th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): 155th AHC's 1st Platoon has a busy day.

March 25, 1968 (27th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive: Operation Quyet Thang (Resolved to Win) update.

March 25-26, 1968 (27th and 28th days of the 2nd month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Tet Counteroffensive): The Australian 2 RAR and A Company 7 RAR conduct cordon-and-search Operation Ashgrove Tram at Long Hai village in Phuoc Toy Province.

March 25, 1969 (8th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): "It was a fine Spring day at the end of March, 1969 in wonderful downtown Phu Bai."

March 25, 1969 (8th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Tet69/Counteroffensive): In Hau Nghia Province, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry finds an enemy force concealed in protected bunkers and trenches.

March 25, 1970 (18th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): Scouts of the A/7/17th Cavalry find a large complex near An Khe consisting of large buildings, hootches, bunkers, sleeping areas, and a large cammo system for cover. After gunships work over the area, 4 hootches and 7 bunkers are counted as destroyed.

March 25, 1975 (13th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): Ho Chi Minh Campaign: Hue falls to the NVA (per US Navy; IWC gives date as the 26th). Vietnamese troops retreat toward Da Nang, often in disorder. The Vietnamese Navy rescues thousands of men cut off on the coast southeast of Hue, but heavy weather and the general confusion limit the sealift's effectiveness. On the previous day (March 24) government units evacuated Tam Ky and Quang Ngai in southern I Corps. Simultaneously, the navy transported elements of the 2nd Division from Chu Lai to Re Island 20 miles offshore. With five North Vietnamese divisions pressing the remnants of the South Vietnamese armed forces and hundreds of thousands of refugees into Da Nang, order in the city disintegrates. Looting, arson, and riot rule the city as over two million people look for a way out of the ever-closing trap. On March 24, the USN's Military Sealift Command (MSC), dispatched five tugs pulling six barges from Vung Tau toward Da Nang. On the 25th, ten US ships (noncombatants, as required by the Paris Accords) are alerted for imminent evacuation operations in South Vietnam.

March 25, 1975 (13th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): Ho Chi Minh Campaign: The Politburo in Hanoi, having concluded there is an opportunity to end the war quickly, orders General Dung, whose units have been moving north, to reverse direction and advance on Saigon. Speed is important, as the heavy rains will begin in two months.