This Day in Vietnam 10/29 1963: White house wants Diem coup postponed The Kennedy tape from October 29, 1963 captures the highest-level White House meeting immediately prior to the coup, including the Presidents brother voicing doubts about the policy of support for a coup. Becoming nervous, the White House on October 29th instructs Lodge to postpone the coup. Lodge replies that the coup cannot be stopped without the betrayal of the conspirators. 1965: Operation Lien Ket 10 The 2nd Battalion, of the 4th Marines and the 3d Battalion, 6th Regiment of the ARVN 2nd Division, conducted a search and destroy operation in the hills 12 miles west of Chu Lai in the eastern part of the Viet Congs Do Xa base area. On 29 October, after preparation of the two landing zones by Marine air and artillery, 26 helicopters lifted the two battalions into their respective zones. The Marines encountered no enemy, but did find several deserted huts and a 200-pound rice cache. The second day, 2nd Battalion captured an enemy courier carrying a brief case of documents. There was little doubt that the combined force had entered a recently evacuated VC staging area, but neither 2nd battalion nor the ARVN were able to find the enemy. The operation ended that afternoon when III MAF received warning of an imminent attack on the Chu Lai airfield. 2nd battalion was ordered back to reinforce the TAOR; the attack never materialized. 1966: Operation Pawnee III The 2nd Battalion, of the 26th Marines conducted operations of a search and destroy nature. However, the operation had the additional mission of providing security for the LOCs (Lines Of Communication --roads, bridges, etc.) within the area of operation, working along Route 1 in the Phu Loc District north of the strategic Nai Van Pass with the mission to keep Route 1 open between Da Nang and Phu Bai. This additional mission became of primary importance during December when it became obvious that local Popular and Regional Forces were inadequate for providing security for the many road and rail bridges throughout the area. As a result, the Battalion forces were deployed as security to widely separated bridges. This restricted the offensive capability for the remainder of Operation Pawnee III in Thua Thien Province. 1967: The first battle of Loc Ninh The battle occurred between 29 October and 10 December 1967, fought by the Viet Cong and the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), and ended when Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and United States forces came to the camp. On October 27, a North Vietnamese regiment engaged the command post of a largely outnumbered ARVN battalion in Sông Bé in Phuoc Long Province, but were forced to retreat from well dug-in South Vietnamese defenses. Two days later, in the South Vietnamese-Cambodian border town of Loc Ninh, a Viet Cong force of uncertain numbers of the 273rd Division launched an offensive on the American camp at this town. Opposing them were members of the First Infantry Division composed of two combat battalions and a pair of field artillery batteries by the morning of October 30. Several days later, two more American battalions entered the heat of battle and eventually overwhelmed the NVA and VC. In spite of their rugged Soviet-manufactured equipment consisting of flamethrowers, heavy machine guns, and mortars, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese sustained heavy casualties in which hundreds of their men were killed. Although the communists claimed they had lost 852 men dead, most American commanders believed that the genuine numbers of communist casualties sustained were well over 1,000 dead or wounded. Either way, the first battle of Loc Ninh resulted in perhaps the most lopsided–and clearly definable–U.S. victory of the Vietnam War. 1969: Bobby Seale gagged during his trial Judge orders Chicago Eight defendant Bobby Seale gagged and chained to his chair during his trial. Seale and his seven fellow defendants (David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Thomas Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and John Froines) had been charged with conspiracy to cross state lines with intent to cause a riot during the violent anti-war demonstrations in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Judge Julius Hoffman gave the order to gag Seale after he repeatedly shouted accusations and insults at the judge and prosecution and disrupted the court proceedings. In November, Seales conduct forced the judge to try him separately. Seale was sentenced to 48 months in prison for 16 acts of contempt. Seale was then charged with killing a Black Panther Party informant in New Haven, Connecticut; the contempt charges were eventually dismissed and the murder trial ended with a hung jury. 1971: U.S. troop strength reaches five-year low The total number of U.S. troops remaining in Vietnam drops to 196,700--the lowest level since January 1966. This was a result of the Vietnamization program announced by President Richard Nixon at the June 1969 Midway Conference. U.S. troops were to be withdrawn as the South Vietnamese assumed more responsibility for the war. The first withdrawal included troops from the 9th Infantry Division, who departed in August 1969. The withdrawals continued steadily, and by January 1972 there were less than 75,000 U.S. troops remaining in South Vietnam. 1980: USS Parsons (DDG-33) rescues 110 Vietnamese refugees 330 miles south of Saigon.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 10:04:27 +0000
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