Timeline, December 22nd

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
December 22, 1944 (Year of the Monkey [Giap Than]): Ho Chi Minh creates the "Propaganda Detachment of the Liberation Army," forerunner of what eventually will be called the Quan Doi Nhan Dan, or People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). The detachment is composed of anywhere from 34 (per Histoire) to 200 (per Osprey) armed followers who have been selected by Vo Nguyen Giap, and Ho is requesting better weapons from the US. Meanwhile, the Japanese, having lost the Philippines and fearing an American invasion, have sent two additional divisions into Indochina.

December 22, 1950 (Year of the Tiger [Canh Dan]): Napalm is used for the first time in Vietnam, against a Viet Minh concentration at Tien Yen.

December 22, 1951 (Year of the Hare [Tan Mao]): Hoa Binh campaign: Commando 35 and the 5th Colonial para's (5 BPC) come under heavy enemy attack at Hills 564 and 82, respectively, and are almost overrun. A recon patrol is ambushed east of Luing Phu and Tach Xa, and the 1st Foreign Legion para's (1 BEP) are ambushed about 3 km south of Xom Bu. It takes two platoons of Sherman tanks and fighter-bomber support before the Legionnaire's can break contact. General Salan reinforces the Black River sector with an airborne task force staff, the 2nd Foreign Legion para's (2 BEP), the 1st Vietnamese Parachute Battalion (1 BPVN), Mobile Group 1, and two additional batteries of artillery.

December 22, 1953 (Year of the Snake [Quy Ti]): Operation Pollux ends as the survivors of the T'ai Mule Company and the 248th T'ai Light Company reach Dien Bien Phu. A total of ten Frenchmen and 175 T'ai are accounted for; almost 2000 native soldiers, two French officers and 14 sergeants, along with several hundred civilian dependents have disappeared along the march. In the process, the Communists have captured enough weapons to arm a regiment.

December 22, 1953 (Year of the Snake [Quy Ti]): Operation Castor update: Operation Ardech/Regate: The Communists are retreating, but the rearguard of 148 Regiment lays an ambush for the Laotians of the Ardeche force as they enter Sop Nao, although the Viet Minh are destroyed by .57mm recoilless rifles and mortars.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
December 22, 1961 (Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): Specialist Fourth Class James T. Davis, along with many of the Vietnamese soldiers he is accompanying, is killed in an ambush, marking the date for many as the beginning of the Second Indochina War.

December 22, 1964 (Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): Saigon, the 'Young Turk' crisis: In response to Ambassador Taylor's suggestion that he consider retirement and exile, General Khanh issues an Order of the Day, declaring that it is "better to live poor but proud as free citizens of an independent country than in ease and shame as slaves of the foreigners and Communists." To compound the insult to the American ambassador, he invites a New York Herald Tribune correspondent to his office and accuses Taylor of activities "beyond imagination as far as an ambassador is concerned."

December 22, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Duck update: A four-man SAS patrol engages a enemy force north of the Nui Dinh hills, killing two VC and wounding another. The patrol withdraws under fire.

December 22, 1966 (Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Australia announces a further increase in its military commitment to Vietnam that will bring the number of Australian troops there to 6,300. The HMAS Hobart is sent in for operations off the coast of Vietnam under the operational control of the US 7th Fleet. The No 2 Squardron, RAAF Canberra Bomber Squadron at Butterworth is to move to Phang Rang, South Vietnam, and the Royal Australian Naval Clearance Diving Team (CDT) and 498 additional Army personnel are also committed.

December 22, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Operation Toan Thang II update: Fire Base Mole City is attacked by the 272 VC Regiment.

December 22, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): "Aviator Flies Beaucoup Hours."

December 22, 1968 (Year of the Monkey [Mau Than]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VI): "Paper Stone Offers Solution."

December 22, 1972 (Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: Operation Linebacker: Day Five. As another change in tactics is incorporated - to stretch the enemy's defenses to the maximum ? the B-52s fly in as if heading for Hanoi, but this time attack rail yards and petroleum storage areas in Haiphong. Using the revised tactics, and in spite of some near misses, the bombers escape damage completely for the second time during the operation thus far.

Jackal 33, an F-111, is downed over North Vietnam, per the SAR log.