Timeline, March 27th

[David]

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
March 27, 1954 (23rd day of the 2nd month, Year of the Horse [Giap Ngo]): Dien Bien Phu: A full-scale clearing operation from the two northern Huguettes covering the air strip pushes as far north as the ford of Ban Ke Phai on the road to Gabrielle. At 0700, a Dakota successfully takes out a full load of wounded, but when the pilot returns for a second run at 1000, the plane is shot down on its approach across Eliane and the entire crew is killed. At 1750, another Dakota hits the ground west of Claudine, again with the loss of the entire crew. Later in the evening, a transport picks up 19 wounded and takes off in a rain of mortar shells; it will be the last flight to take off safely. At 1900, the fort's commander asks Major Bigeard to "go out and get me that Viet flak out west."

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
March 27, 1961 (11th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Ox [Tan Suu]): Dean Rusk meets with South Vietnam's Secretary of State Thuan in Bangkok.

March 27, 1970 (20th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): South Vietnamese forces, supported by US helicopters, launch their first major attack against the 14 NVA base camps in Cambodia some 35 miles from Saigon, penetrating about two miles beyond the border.

March 27, 1970 (20th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Winter-Spring 1970): The Australian D Company 8 RAR is sent in reaction to an area north east of Xuyen Moc. (OS)

March 27, 1972 (13th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (U.S. Consolidation II): Indirect fire attacks against the ARVN 3rd Division's fire support bases in the DMZ area start to increase.

March 27, 1975 (15th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Hare [At Mao]): Ho Chi Minh Campaign: The first US ship arrives at Da Nang to start the U.S. sea evacuation of I and II Corps. During the next few days, four of the five barge-pulling tugs and three more ships will put in at the port to embark U.S. Consulate, MSC, and other American personnel and thousands of desperate Vietnamese soldiers and civilians.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
March 27, 1979 (30th day of the 2nd month, Year of the Goat [Ky Mui]): PAVN begins a renewed offensive against the Khmer Rouge before the end of the dry season with a Dac Cong commando assault on a suspected Khmer Rouge HQ 10 km south of Pailin. Over the next two months, heavy fighting will occur around Pailin, Poipet and the northern Cardamom Mountains. Although PAVN inflicts heavy losses on the guerrillas, the Khmer Rouge are far from finished.