13th Valley (104 page)

Authors: John M Del Vecchio

BOOK: 13th Valley

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â30 June, US combat strength in Vietnam increased to 285,000.
âSummer-Fall Viet Cong terrorism campaign attempts to disrupt and intimidate South Vietnam voters. Eighty percent of eligible voters cast ballots for 117-seat constitutional assembly.
âEnd of '66, general optimism prevails in US and South Vietnam.
1967	âJuly, Viet Cong surprise attack on US air base at Da Nang, 12 US KIA, 45 US WIA, 25 aircraft destroyed.
âGeneral Nguyen Van Thieu and Premier Ky elected president and VP of South Vietnam.
â13 December, remainder of 101st Airborne Div arrives in Vietnam. At end of year US combat strength in Vietnam reaches 480,000.
1968	â20 Jan, Battle of Khe Sanh begins. Lasts 77 days.
â29-30 Jan, Tet offensive begins. This begins second phase of Second Indochina War which lasts to May 1972. US public shocked by NVA accomplishments. Chasm in US thought widens, great disillusionment will hit Nixon Administration.
â22 March, LBJ replaces Gen. William Westmoreland with Gen. Creighton Abrams as Commander, US Forces, Vietnam.
â31 March, LBJ halts all US bombing above 20th parallel. He announces he will not seek another term as president.
âDr. Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated.
â6 April, US troops break seige at Khe Sanh.
âMay, 1st Cavalry Division and 101st Abn Div begin probing the A Shau Valley.
âJune, Khe Sanh de-activated.
âRobert F. Kennedy assassinated.
âMy Lai massacre.
âSpring-summer, Hanoi insists US stop all bombing of North before Hanoi will negotiate. LBJ halts all bombing of North Vietnam. Hanoi agrees to negotiate shape of conference table.
âOctober, US Marines begin pulling out of Vietnam.
â1 November, bombing of North terminated.
âRichard Nixon narrowly defeats Hubert Humphrey for US presidency.
1969	â101st Abn Div transformed to Airmobile.
â101st moves into A Shau and surrounding mountain areas for 167 days. Much of NVA ability to attack population corridor destroyed. I Corps becomes mostly pacified.
âParis peace talks expand to include VC and Thieu government.
âJuly, first major US troop reduction and withdrawals. Peak strength hit 540,000.
âVC 10-point peace planâunconditional US withdrawal of forces, material and financial support of S. Vietnam. US declines. US counter-proposalâUS and Hanoi each withdraw all forces over next 12 months. Hanoi answers it has no troops in South.
âThieu proposes VC participation in internationally supervised elections. VC decline.
â15 Oct, Massive war moratorium demonstrations in US.
â3 Nov, Nixon announces Vietnamization Plan.
â15 Nov, 250,000 anti-war demonstrators march on capital.
âMy Lai story becomes public knowledge.
1970	âMarch, in Cambodia, Lon Nol deposes Prince Norodom Sihanouk in coup. He demands communists vacate his country. Communists do not leave. Lon Nol requests US assistance (at urging of US).
â30 April, Nixon announces incursion into Cambodian sanctuaries at Fish Hook and Parrot's Beak. Allied forces uncover hundreds of tons of food, weapons and ammunitionâcommunist troops deferâshift west toward Pheom Phen.
âMassive US anti-war demonstrations.
âFour students killed at Kent State.
âTwo students killed at Jackson State College.
â7/402 sweeps Hills 714 and 882 wiping out NVA build-up in central I Corps.
â30 June, All US troops out of Cambodia.
â7/402 battles at Khe Ta Laou.
1971	â4 Feb, NVA/VC close prison camps in S. Vietnam and move North due to ever increasing pressure from US/ARVN forces.
âLam Son 719, ARVN incursion into Laos to cut Ho Chi Minh Trail.
â13 June, New York Times begins publishing The Pentagon Papers .
âEnd of '71, US troop strength in South Vietnam below 160,000.
1972	â30 March, Nixon orders new bombardment of N. Vietnam, plus mining of Haiphong Harbor. Renewed anti-war demonstrations in US.
âNVA invade northern South Vietnam. This marks beginning of Third Indochina War which is ground fought by Vietnamese.
âSpring, Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger secret peace talks. May; US proposes internationally supervised cease-fire, repatriation of all US POWs and withdrawal of US forces.
â1 May, NVA capture Quang Tri City, Quang Tri province and much of Thua Thien Province including all of A Shau and Khe Ta Laou and all firebases west of Hue. During remainder of year ARVN, led by 1st Inf Div (ARVN), recapture most of lost territory and expel NVA from I Corps.
âOct, Hanoi agrees to US peace proposals. US bombing of North halts.
âMid-Dec, peace talks break down.
â18-29 Dec, Around-the-clock surgically precise bombing campaign of Hanoi, Haiphong and other North Vietnam cities. This includes night B-52 raids.
1973	â27 Jan, Paris Peace Agreements signed.
â12 Feb, 1st US POW in North Vietnam released. Remainder released over next month.
â29 March, last US troops leave Vietnam.
1975	âNVA begin offensive which crushes South.
â29-30 April, Saigon falls.
1975	âAnti-communist Popular Liberation Front established.

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