Timeline, July 19th

[David]

HISTORICAL:
July 19, 1883: Emperor Tu Duc dies at the age of 54. His nephew and adopted son, Duc Duc, is his heir.

FIRST INDOCHINA WAR:
July 19, 1949 (24th day of the 6th month, Year of the Ox [Ky Suu]): Laos is recognized as an independent state with ties to France.

SECOND INDOCHINA WAR:
July 19, 1962 (18th day of the 6th month, Year of the Tiger [Nham Dan]) (US Advisory): The US Navy's Counterinsurgency Education and Training Program is established and the Navy's major schools start providing orientation courses in the military, economic, political, social, and psychological aspects of Communist revolutionary warfare.

July 19, 1964 (11th day of the 6th month, Year of the Dragon [Giap Thin]) (US Advisory): General Khanh declares at a Saigon rally that North Vietnam is engaged on a full-scale invasion of the country and that the South Vietnamese people demand a "march north" in retaliation. Possibly led on by Khanh's "cheer-leaders," the crowd takes up the chang "To the North! To the North!" The American Mission refutes Khanh's charges, claiming it has no evidence that North Vietnamese troops are fighting as units in South Vietnam.

July 19, 1966 (2nd day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II) : During Operation Kansas, two specially prepared CH-46s lift two 105mm howitzers from Chu Lai to the Tien Phuoc SF camp, a distance of some 30 miles.

July 19, 1966 (2nd day of the 6th month, Year of the Horse [Binh Ngo]) (US Counteroffensive Phase II) : A SAS six-man recon patrol locates an enemy camp of platoon strength (approximately 30). The patrol withdraws to 1,000 meters from the camp and an air strike is put on the position. The patrol moves back to the camp to assess damage and discovers that the bombs have fallen 200 meters west of the target. They move into the camp, killing two VC and wounding another, then immediately withdraw with enemy pursuing them. The patrol extracts from the area the next morning.

July 19, 1967 (12th day of the 6th month, Year of the Goat [Dinh Mui]) (US US Counteroffensive Phase III): Operation Paul Bunyan begins.

July 19, 1969 (6th day of the 6th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): RAAF Bushranger and Dustoff aircraft support C Company 9 RAR, which is in a heavy contact with enemy.

July 15-19, 1969 (2nd through 6th days of the 6th month, Year of the Rooster [Ky Dau]) (US Summer-Fall 1969): Operation Kentucky Jumper update: The platoon of Tiger Force Recon Company E, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, now led by its sergeant after its leader was seriously wounded, continues the attack on the strong enemy position in the A Shau. A small element of the platoon is attacked while reconnoitering, sustaining two wounded, and the sergeant attacks with the rest of his men, driving back the enemy who return some time later and launch an attack against the platoon with automatic weapons, grenades and rockets.

July 19, 1970 (17th day of the 6th month, Year of the Dog [Canh Tuat]) (US Counteroffensive Phase VII): Fire Base Ripcord: By morning, nearby Fire Base Gladiator has been reopened and has one 105mm howitzer battery operational, which will be providing direct support to troops in the field around Ripcord by evening. Five of eight total infantry battalions in the division are now under Col. Harrison's operational control, and all have had some elements in firefights and hot contact with the enemy. Elements of the 66th NVA Regiment have been confirmed present north and west of Ripcord, while the 29th and 803rd NVA Regimens are now located southeast of Ripcord.

July 19, 1972 (9th day of the 6th month, Year of the Rat [Nham Ty]) (US Cease-Fire): Nguyen Hue/Easter Offensive: South Vietnamese troops begin a major counter-offensive against NVA in Binh Dinh Province.

THIRD INDOCHINA WAR - OTHER:
July 19, 1986 (13th day of the 6th month, Year of the Tiger [Binh Dan]): President Reagan thanks the governments of Vietnam and Laos for their renewed efforts to help find MIA remains.

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.