Timeline, July 4th

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 4, 1963 (14th day of the 5th month, Year of the Hare [Quy Mao]) (US Advisory): South Vietnamese General Tran Van Don, a Buddhist, contacts the CIA in Saigon about the possibility of staging a coup against President Diem.

July 4, 1964 (25th day of the 5th month, Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): The Special Forces border camp at Polei Krong is attacked. Two companies of the camp's strike force are on overnight leave, and many of the remaining strikers refuse to fight or are secretly VC themselves. Low on ammunition, the Nungs and American and South Vietnamese SF fight hard but are forced to retreat from the camp.

NOTE: LLDB is an abbreviation for "Luc Luong Dac Biet," the South Vietnamese Special Forces.

July 4, 1966 (15th day of the 5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): The Australians start Operation Sidney 1, a battalion search-and-clear operation in west central Phuoc Tuoy Province to the immediate northwest of 1ATF's TAOR and west of Xa Binh Ba, in an AO (Zone Gold) of approximately 20 square km. It's undulating terrain, except for Nui Nghe (203 m), the area being covered mainly in jungle with some clear forest, where small groups of VC are continuing to move in and adjacent to the TAOR, while VC regular forces are known to be located north and northwest of Xa Binh Ba. Friendly units involved are 5RAR, with direct support from 105 Forward Battery and elements of 1 APC Sqn, in support from 6 July one troop 1 Forward Squadron, one company 6 RAR, one OH-13 of 161 (Indep) Recce Fit, and four UH-1 No 9 Sqn RAAF. Results: Casualties: own: WIA 3; VC: KIA 1, wounded/escaped 4. A number of defensive positions, some company-sized camps and isolated huts are located, as well as over two tons of rice and some weapons.

July 4, 1966 (15th day of the 5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive): Operation Macon begins.

July 4, 1967 (27th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Coronado I update: the battle of Go Cong starts.

July 4, 1967 (27th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): Battle at Nong Son: 1st Platoon, Company F, 2/5th of the 1st marines, is holding a key position at the perimeter until an enemy assault kills four men and seriously wounds the fifth.

July 4, 1968 (9th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than])(US Counteroffensive Phase V): Operation Toan Thang II update: the enemy attacks an American infantry division base camp at Dau Tieng.

July 4, 1968 (9th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than])(US Counteroffensive Phase V): "The 155th Aviation Company unit history states that the VC helped the installation celebrate the 4th of July with a small mortar attack which did little damage to the compound."

July 4, 1969 (20th day of the 5th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau])(US Summer-Fall 1969): The 3rd Marine Division becomes the first US Division to depart Vietnam in accordance with U.S. plans for the eventual withdrawal of American combat units from Vietnam.

July 4, 1970 (2nd day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): In Binh Dinh Province, the Gators launch three-ship combat assaults, do supply runs, and celebrate the 4th of July at the Golf Course.

July 4, 1970 (2nd day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): Operation Texas Star update: At Firebase Ripcord, nightly probing ground attacks continue along the perimeter. D Company, 2/501st, at the base of Hill 805 in the valley below Ripcord, is surrounded, requiring continuous combat air support flights and helicopter flare ships and gunships. FACs remain overhead to prevent D Company from being overrun. All available artillery that's in range, including 105mm, 175mm and eight-inch guns, is used to defend the troops. In the evening of July 4, the NVA masses to attack the command post and 1st and 2nd platoons of Company C, 2/506th, in the valley below Ripcord at midnight. During the attack, the American company commander and seven other GIs are killed, six more are WIA and one man is MIA, believed captured. The NVA leave behind 15 bodies; several more are believed killed or wounded. The platoon medic survives the attack, reorganizes the defensive perimeter with the survivors and calls for artillery and gunships.

July 4, 1972 (24th day of the 5th month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive update: Two ARVN battalions are ambushed in the northern part of the Mekong Delta and suffer heavy casualties.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR -- OTHER:
July 1981 (5th through 7th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): The remains of three Americans are turned over to US officials by the Vietnamese government.

July 1983 (5th through 6th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): The Vietnamese government suspends technical talks on the POW/MIA issue, citing "hostile statements" by senior American officials of the Administration.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1972 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive:
- Operation Lam Son 72 (6/28-9/16/72) (18th day of the 5th month through 9th day of the 8th month): In Thua Thien Province, ARVN 1st Division troops at FSB Checkmate are subjected to heavy enemy attacks during which the fire base is overrun and retaken several times during the month; the South Vietnamese Airborne Division and Marines continue advancing on Quang Tri City; the three provinces south of the Hai Van Pass were able to maintain reasonable control despite the low strength of friendly forces.
- The Chu Pao Pass area is cleared and the highway between Kontum and Pleiku opens to commercial traffic in early July. However, the enemy continues to harass traffic with sporadic attacks by fire and Route QL-14, although open, remains insecure.
- A total of six enemy regiments are reported in northern Dinh Tuong Province, about 65 km southwest of Saigon. After taking Kompong Trabek, NVA forces, probably elements of the 9th Division, supported by local Khmer Rouge units, are tightening control over Route QL-l from the Parrot's Beak area to Neak Luong on the Mekong River. By July 2 (22nd day), only two towns in the area remain under National Khmer control, Neak Luong and Svay Rieng. The series of heavy engagements between the NVA and South Vietnamese troops in the Elephant's Foot area in Military Region 4 continue; NVA continues to put pressure on QL-4, the supply route between the Delta's rice bowl and the nation's capital, while launching a series of coordinated attacks on the towns of Sam Giang, Cai Be and Cai Lay in Dinh Tuong Province from mid-May through mid-July; the attacks are driven back by territorial forces with strong support from U.S. tactical air and helicopter gunships.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1979 (6th month and supplemental month, Year of the Goat (Ky Mui]): The Vietnamese have consolidated control over all major Cambodian towns and cities. PAVN forces in Cambodia reach a high of 224,000 in 1979, and then stabilize at an average of 170,000 to 180,000 troops, including 11 combat divisions. Up to eight divisions operate along the border in the dry season (December to June) and pull back to established garrisons during the rainy season (July to November).

July 1981 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): The beginning of the rainy season forces the Vietnamese to pull back from the border town of Pailin, which they have occupied since May in response to Khmer Rouge advances at Phnom Malai.

July 1982 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dog [Nham Tuat]): Some 20,000 PAVN troops are sent home in the first major troop rotation since 1978. Taking their place are fresh troops, many of them southern draftees sent to complete basic training in the forward bases of understrength divisions.

July 1983 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Boar [Quy Hoi]): The Khmer Rouge increase their attacks on PAVN garrisons during the rainy season.

June-July 1984 (5th, 6th and 7th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): PAVN rotates its troops again, sending home three brigades and replacing these with an estimated 14,000 fresh troops, many of whom are sent to reinforce the weakned 5th Division.

July 1985 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Ox [At Suu]): This year as the rainy season begins ten PAVN combat divisions remain in Cambodia, all of them understrength, some with as few as 5000 troops. Meanwhile, the non-Communist resistance is recovering from PAVN's most recent dry season offensive.

July 1986 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): During this summer, PAVN withdraws Divisional Group 98 from Cambodia, replacing some of the troops with fresh men.

July 1988 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Dragon [Mau Thin]): PAVN has moved the bulk of its combat troops inland, with PRK Cambodian troops increasingly deployed on the border.