Timeline, July 2nd

[David]

PREBELLUM:
July 1942 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Horse [Nham Ngo]): General Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers are reorganized into the China Air Task Force, part of the U.S. Army Air Force. One of CAT's major objectives is to cut the supply lines from Southeast Asia to Japan and prevent Japan from using Vietnam as base for its continued operations in China. General Chennault resists the changeover but eventually agrees to return to active duty; however, as he would later write, "I made it clear to Stilwell that my men would have to speak for themselves." Indeed, many of the Flying Tigers, once the group is reorganized into CAT, refuse to join the Army Air Corps and return to the States.

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1952 (5th month (supplemental) and 6th month, Year of the Dragon [Nham Thin]): France grants the legal status of "veteran" to those who have served in Indochina.

INTERBELLUM:
July 1955 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Goat [At Mui]): Ho Chi Minh visits Moscow and agrees to accept Soviet aid.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 2, 1965 (4th day of the 6th month, Year of the Snake [At Ti]) (US Defense): District HQ at Cheo Reo is evacuated.

July 1966 (5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The presence of Combat Skyspot allows the Third Air Division to place six B-52s on ten-hour alert as a "Quick Reaction Force" to respond to strike requests by field commanders, an improvement over the previous 24-hour advance notice required.

July 1966 (5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): PIRAZ (positive identification radar advisory zone) is established in the Gulf of Tonkin to locate and track all planes over the eastern regions of North Vietnam and the gulf by a positioned surface ship equipped with advanced radar and communications. The unit also vectors naval aircraft to and from their targets and warns them of approaching MiGs.

July 2, 1966 (14th day of the 5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): Operation Henry Clay begins.

July 1966 (5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): The NVA infiltrates elements of the 341 and 324B Divisions directly across the DMZ. Encountering US Marines and massive air strikes, the North Vietnamese are hit hard and withdraw into the DMZ.

July 1966 (5th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II): With the creation of the buffer zone around Nui Dat base and the destruction of the VC fortified village of Long Phouc, the Task Force now turns its attention to battalion operations beyond Line Alpha. Route 2 leading north from Binh Ba and Route 15 connecting Vung Tau with Saigon are to be cleared. Operations are also to be conducted to seek out and draw into battle the D445 provincial mobile battalion. On July 2 (14th day), D Company 5 RAR engages an enemy group of eight VC, killing two and wounding one.

July 2, 1967 (25th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui}) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): The 9th Marines begin Operation Buffalo to counter a North Vietnamese offensive near the Marine base at Con Thien just south of the DMZ. In very intensive fighting with heavy casualties on both sides, the Marines repulse the North Vietnamese, but the North Vietnamese in the eastern DMZ begin to escalate the war in the north and will continue to mount attacks against Con Thien. An enemy attack on Con Thien on July 2-3 costs 51 American dead, 170 wounded and 34 missing, in spite of air and naval gunfire support; VC dead are estimated at 65 or more.

July 2, 1967 (25th day of the 5th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui}) (US Counteroffensive Phase III): A downed US pilot is rescued from a heavily defended area of North Vietnam.

July 2, 1968 (7th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than])(US Counteroffensive Phase V): A wounded pilot is rescued near Dong Ha.

July 2, 1968 (7th day of the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Mau Than])(US Counteroffensive Phase V: A/7/17th Cavalry destroys 34 new camouflaged hootches, killing 1 VC.

July 2, 1970 (29th day of the 5th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): Resupply runs, a CA and a LRRP extraction keep the Gators and Crocs busy.

July 2, 1970 (29th day of the 5th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive, Phase VII): Operation Texas Star update: Firebase Ripcord comes under recoilless rifle fire for the first time. Charlie and Delta companies, 2/506th, conduct ground assaults without results. In the evening, Ripcord starts receiving 120mm mortar fire, the first use of the very large mortars, more accurate than the 12 mm rockets, south of the DMZ.

July 2, 1971 (10th day of the 5th month (supplemental) Year of the Boar [Tan Hoi])(US Consolidation I): From now on the number of US sorties flown in Laos is halved to 11,750, with 70% of them directed to the panhandle and southern Laos in the belief that the North Vietnamese will be feverishly trying to rebuild the Ho Chi Minh trail in both areas after Operation Lam Son 719. This leaves only 32 daily sorties in support of the Royal Laotian Army at Luang Prabang and Vang Pao's guerrillas at Long Tieng. Vang Pao's push into the Plain of Jars is just beginning, with three task forces advancing in an attempt to reach important Communist supply dumps.

July 1973 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Ox [Quy Suu]): Last Australian troops leave Vietnam(Embassy Guard).

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR:
July 1977 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Snake [Dinh Ti]): Relations between Vietnam and Kampuchea worsen; there are severe border clashes throughout the year. The US estimates suggest that possibly 1,200,000 people have died in Kampuchea, many from disease or starvation, since the Communist takeover.

July 1, 1980 (5th and 6th months, Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]): President Carter accelerates delivery of arms and ammunition already ordered by the Thai government.

July 1981 (5th month, Year of the Rooster [Tan Dau]): An international conference is convened by the United Nations to address the evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, but little is achieved, the sticking point being the demand for the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops.

July 1984 (6th and 7th months, Year of the Rat [Giap Ty]): The Vietnamese government returns the remains of eight persons, six of whom are later identified as Americans.

ONGOING OPERATIONS:
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.