Timeline, January 13th

[David]

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III): Fire support base extraction near Dak To.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Macarthur update: 140 23d ARVN Division troops extracted near Ban Me Thuot.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Heavy fighting in Binh Dinh Province in II Corps.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Heavy fighting for US and ARVN troops in Quang Ngai Province as well as for US troops near the Truong Giang River near Que Son in I Corps.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Operation Yellowstone update: Progress made the 25th Infantry Division in War Zone C in III Corps is described.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Three companies of the 3/503rd Infantry go into a hot landing zone in II Corps.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat) (US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Units of the 2nd Brigade kill two enemy soldiers and detain 11 suspects during an operation in the Mekong Delta. One of the suspects leads a unit of the 3/60th Infantry to 10 pounds of documents and two grenades. In this issue, there is also a photo with the caption "WATER-BORNE" and the narrative reads: A 199th LIB Huey eases onto a specially built floating helipad mounted on a Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM). The LCM, assigned to the 1099th Transportation Company, is equipped with the helipad for use in medical evacuations while operating in the Mekong Delta.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): A battalion commander flying above a search-and-destroy operation near Saigon by elements of his 199th Light Infantry Brigade shoots and kills a VC sniper who, moments earlier, had wounded one of his men on the ground.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Battle near the village of My An in II Corps. "'A tour in Vietnam,' one man said, 'consists of extended periods of boredom punctuated by flashes of sheer terror.'"

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Elements of the Americal Division in Quang Tin Province, I Corps, near Chu Lai, are using artillery to attack the enemy in their formerly inaccessible hideouts in mountain regions.

January 13, 1968 (14th day of the 12th month, Year of the Goat)(US Counteroffensive Phase III) (AR): Two pilots from the 1/9th Air Cavalry, using four different gunships, kill 12 enemy soldiers and pave the way for a successful operation by The Cav's 1st Brigade seven miles north of Bong Son.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI): The Marines, naval fire support ships and elements of the ARVN 23rd Infantry Division start Operation Bold Mariner in Quang Ngai Province, I Corps, the largest amphibious assault of the war. Among the 256 Viet Cong troops identified during the operation is the entire C-95th Sapper Company.

NOTE: Sappers in the NVA (and PAVN today) were special forces soldiers who received special training at a school in Xuan Mai as well as in the field, and who were assigned tasks including long-range reconnaissance, commando raids, demolitions and breaching minefields. By 1969, there even existed an VC Underwater Warfare School in Long An and a Swimmer Sapper School in Kien Hoa, South Vietnam. By 10/69, NVA/VC forces in South Vietnam included one sapper regiment, 47 sapper battalions and 31 independent sapper companies (less the C-95th, of course, unless that had been reformed); 13 infantry units were additionally slated for conversion to sappers.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI)(AR): A Bronze Star, Air medal, and four Army Commendation medals were presented to members of the Americal Division's 26th Engineer Battalion at a recent awards ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the unit's activation in Vietnam.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): A psyops helicopter crew comes to the aid of a downed FAC pilot.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): A 4th Infantry Division engineer convoy thwarts both a fake and real NVA ambush in Pleiku Province.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): The 39th Engineer Battalion 23rd Infantry sees action in LZ Snoopy.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): Twenty new flight control towers are operating in South Vietnam.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): Americal Division soldiers of the 1/52nd Infantry and their air support teams see action near Tam Ky.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI) (AR): The 4th Infantry Division and the C/7 17th Air Cavalry Army units see and engage the enemy, and capture supplies, according to the 1/27 Army Reporter.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI): Elements of the 1/62d Infantry take enemy prisoners and weapons in Quang Tri Province, according to the 1/27 Army Reporter.

January 13, 1969 (25th day of the 11th month, Year of the Monkey)(US Counteroffensive Phase VI): A sniper team from the 2/327th Infantry engages an eight-man rice carrying team nine miles east of Phu Loc, killing three and capturing three weapons. Another battalion element kills one enemy during reconnaissance-in-force operations 15 miles east of Phu Bai, according to the 1/27 Army Reporter.

January 13, 1972 (27th day of the 11th month, Year of the Boar)(US Consolidation II): President Nixon announces that US troops withdrawals will reduce US commitment to 69,000 by May 1.