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30 January 1968 - 1 April 1968 | |||||||||
29-30 Jan 68
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In violation of the Tet Truce, Phu
My District Hqs receives mortar fire and limited ground probes, as does
the 41st ARVN Regimental HQ at LZ Crystal. At 1045 on 30 January, the
1/50 (M) Infantry Battalion was notified that due to enemy action, the
Tet Truce was terminated effective 0945.
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31 Jan 68
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84,000 Viet Cong guerrillas aided by NVA troops launch
the Tet Offensive attacking a hundred cities and towns throughout South
Vietnam. The surprise offensive is closely observed by American TV news
crews in Vietnam which film the U.S. embassy in Saigon being attacked
by 17 Viet Cong commandos, along with bloody scenes from battle areas
showing American soldiers under fire, dead and wounded. The graphic color
film footage is then quickly relayed back to the states for broadcast
on nightly news programs. Americans at home thus have a front row seat
in their living rooms to the Viet Cong/NVA assaults against their fathers,
sons and brothers, ten thousand miles away.
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31 Jan 68
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The 1/50(M) battles NVA enemy which
had moved in force during the Tet Truce to within striking distance on
three sides of the Phu My District Headquarters. 0850 Popular Forces patrol
in contact N.E. of Phu My at Tan An BR928691. B and D Companies 1/50 were
directed to immediately move to the contact area. Both companies were
in position by 1100 north and south of Phu My on Hwy 1. At 1105 D Co.
was directed to move east to the northern edge of Tan An, and to sweep
S.W. to fix the rear of the enemy force gathered to attaack Phu My. D
Co. made contaact with an estimated enemy company. A Co.was released from
base defense at LZ Uplift , and joined D Co.s right flank. B Co. 1/50
moved to the south side of Binh Tri (BR 912678) where contact was also
made immediately. A & D 1/50 launched a simultanous attack on the
estimated enemy battalion. Co. D attacking on the left continued to encounter
stiff enemy resistance from a well entranched enemy armed with many automatic
and antitank weapons. D Co. eliminated the enemy resistance and later
moved to LZ Uplift for base security. A & B 1/50 stayed for the night
at the contact area.
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31 Jan 68 |
During the Tet ceasefire, 35 NVA and Viet Cong battalions
launch a surprise attack on Saigon and surrounding facilities. Unbeknownst
to the enemy, LTG Fred C. Weyand, a veteran of World War II in the Pacific,
had sensed the coming attackand positioned 50 battalions of American and
Allied troops to protect the city on a hunch.
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31 Jan-2 Mar 68 |
In the Battle for Hue during Tet, 12,000 NVA and Viet
Cong troops storm the lightly defended historical city, then begin systematic
executions of over 3,000 "enemies of the people" including South Vietnamese
government officials, captured South Vietnamese officers, and Catholic
priests.
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1 Feb 68 |
LTG Fred C. Weyand launches a decisive counter-attack
against the Viet Cong at Tan Son Nhut airport thus protecting nearby MACV
and South Vietnamese military headquarters from possible capture.
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1 Feb 68 |
The final
attack on Binh Tri by A & B 1/50 and C 2/5 Cav. met only with sporadic
fire. The enemy lost 42 soldiers KIA in this encounter. We lost one soldier
KIA and seven wounded. 29 weapons were captured.
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1 Feb 68 |
In Saigon, a suspected Viet Cong guerrilla is shot in
the head by South Vietnam's police chief Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan on film
and still cameras from American newsmen. The haunting AP photo taken by
Eddie Adams appears on the front page of most American newspapers the
next morning. Americans also observe the filmed execution on NBC TV.
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2 Feb 68 |
President Johnson labels the Tet Offensive "a complete
failure." For the North Vietnamese, the Tet Offensive is both a military
and political failure in Vietnam. The "general uprising" they had hoped
to ignite among South Vietnamese peasants against the Saigon government
never materialized. Viet Cong had also come out of hiding to do most of
the actual fighting, suffered devastating losses, and never regained their
former strength. As a result, most of the fighting will be taken over
by North Vietnamese regulars fighting a conventional war
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2 Feb 68 |
Ironically, the only success of the Tet Offensive for
the North Vietnamese was the unexpected loss of support in Congress and
the American public because of the prejudicial news coverage.
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2 Feb 68
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Frantic Battle Saves U.S. Embassy | ||||||||
2 Feb 68
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Total For 54 Hours - 5,000 Reds Die in Raids | ||||||||
2 Feb 68
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80,000 Stage Anti-Red Rally in Seoul | ||||||||
3 Feb 68
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4 Feb 68
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D/1/50 sent in to support A/1/50.
Coordinated attack by the three companies, all three companies came under
heavy direct and indirect fire. At 1106, a 1/9 Cav gunhip was shot down
by enemy fire. A Co. APCs rushed across the open paddy to rescue the crew
of the stricken helicopter. Seconds after the crew was picked up, the
helicopter burst into flames. Co. A and D 1/50 were directed to again
attack NW through the town, then to cartwheel right and continue to the
north. This manauver was flawlessly executed by the two companies and
An Lac Dong (4) had fallen to the 1/50 by 1525.
Enemy losses were 76 KIA and eleven weapons captured. No friendly losses in this encouter but 32 U.S. personnel were wounded. Total U.S. losses for all three encounters 3-4 Feb 68 were 2 KIA and 40 WIA, while total enemy losses were 139 KIA, 19 CIA, 57 S/A and 9 C/S weapons captured. |
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5 Feb 68
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In successive battles, the 1st Battalion
(Mechanized), 50th Infantry, 1st Cav Division had leaned on the enemy
and completely defeated elements of the 22nd NVA Regiment and the 2nd
VC Regiment.
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7 Feb 68
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Reds Open Up on Khe Sanh | ||||||||
7 Feb 68
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U.S. Balks at Apology Over Pueblo | ||||||||
8 Feb 68 |
21 U.S. Marines die at Khe Sanh.
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8 Feb 68
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8 Americans Killed, 62 Hurt in Vietnam | ||||||||
8 Feb 68
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86 Killed As Chilean Plane Plows Into Andes Peak | ||||||||
8 Feb 68
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Kosygin Vows to Back Hanoi | ||||||||
18 Feb 68
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Trowbridge Quits - L.B.J. Raps Move to Oust Westy | ||||||||
18 Feb 68
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3 U.S. Pilots Released By Hanoi | ||||||||
19-27 Feb 68 |
Last of the 2nd Bde, Ist Cav DIv.
leave the Binh Dinh area. 1/50 is left to take care of the Bong Son/LZ
Uplift AO. Contacts with the enemy are at a minimum, and the enemy was
reduced to harassment by snipers while they were (probably) attempting
to replenish their ranks with new personnel and weapons. Captured enemy
documents show that the enemy was under orders to destroy the APC's at
any cost, so they can operate more freely in Binh Dinh Province.
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24 Feb 68 |
U.S. Marines occupy the Imperial Palace in the heart of
the citadel and defeat the North Vietnamese in the Battle of Hue. American
losses are 142 Marines killed and 857 wounded, 74 U.S. Army killed and
507 wounded. South Vietnamese suffer 384 killed and 1,830 wounded. Over
5,000 NVA are killed.
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24 Feb 68
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Senate Probers Bare Secret Message on Tonkin Incident | ||||||||
24 Feb 68
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Old Glory Keeps Flying High Off Hue | ||||||||
26 Feb 68
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Certain Reds Struck First in Tonkin, McNamara Says | ||||||||
26 Feb 68
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Allies Mopping Up in Hue | ||||||||
26 Feb 68
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Thant Convinced Peace Talks Would Follow Bombing Halt | ||||||||
27 Feb 68 |
Influential CBS TV news anchorman Walter Cronkite, who
just returned from Saigon, tells Americans during his CBS Evening News
broadcast that he is certain "the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end
in a stalemate." February 28, 1968 -
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28 Feb 68 |
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Wheeler, at the behest of Gen.
Westmoreland, asks President Johnson for an additional 206,000 soldiers
and mobilization of reserve units in the U.S.
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30 Feb 68 |
Operation Pershing II ends. The
operation lasted 39 days and employed 9 battalions. 1,801 VC/NVA were
killed at a cost of 21 U.S. KIA.
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1 Mar 68 |
March 1, 1968 - Clark Clifford, renowned Washington lawyer
and an old friend of the President, becomes the new U.S. Secretary of
Defense. For the next few days, Clifford conducts an intensive study of
the entire situation in Vietnam, discovers there is no concept or overall
plan anywhere in Washington for achieving victory in Vietnam, then reports
to President Johnson that the United States should not escalate the war.
"The time has come to decide where we go from here," he tells Johnson.
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2 Mar 68 |
1250: B Co., 1/50 requested a Dust
Off for 1 US WIA from sniper fire vic Bridge 91 (9211182). Dust Off was
complete at 1319. Enemy fire came from 917165. 1345: 1/B/1-50 Mech vic
917165 detained 2VN Individuals wre trying to exit area of sniper fire.
Both had ID cards and were evac to B/1/50 Mech CP. B 1/50 Mech swept the
area where sniper fire had been received along Hwy 1 with negative result.
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2 Mar 68 |
48 U.S. Army soldiers are killed during an ambush at Tan
Son Nhut airport in Saigon.
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2 Mar 68 |
Hue is retaken after a month of fighting by South Vietnamese
troops and three U.S. Marine battalions in the heaviest fighting of the
entire Tet Offensive. They retake the old imperial city, house by house,
street by street, aided by American air and artillery strikes.
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3 Mar 68
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Attack in Fog - Khe Sanh Raid Fails | ||||||||
3 Mar 68
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Hundreds Injured in Rome As Students Battle Police | ||||||||
3 Mar 68
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Clifford Takes Oath | ||||||||
3 Mar 68 |
Intell Report received by 1/50 Mech Infantry: In view of the fact that 3 March 68 is the anniversary of the founding of the Lao Dong Party and other indications of impending enemy activity in the I and II Corps Tactical Zones, a widespread coordinated country-wide attack will occur within the next 24-36 hours. (Classified Confidential at the time) |
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7 Mar 68 |
The Battle of Saigon finishes as a resounding defeat for
the communists.
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9 Mar 68 |
0335:D Co. 1/50 was attacked by
an estimated enemy battalion at LZ Litz. A coordinated attack by the enemy
with 82mm mortars, B-40 rockets and automatic weapons killed 4 U.S. soldiers
and wounded 16. CO CPT. Bruce Braun and FO "Sea Dog 89" were
wounded when an 82 mm hit their track. Another soldier was killed when
a mortar hit his tent. The radios in the command track to were damaged,
so LTs Schroeder and Blochberger communicated with LZ Uplift with platoon
radios. Requests for arty and Medevacs were relayed from LZ Uplift to
LZ English (4th Inf DIv) for approval.
0340: D/1/50 received 25-30 82 mm mortar rounds. 2nd Platoon and Delta Mortar tracks facing west were each hit two or three times with B-40 rockets, and the 2/2/D APC driver was killed by a B40 which damaged the 50 Cal and one M-60. 0345:The APC to the left of 2/2/D takes B40 hit and starts exploding and burning. Driver shot trying to tries to get out of hatch, three others from the burning track are rescued and taken in by 2/2/D. 0348: Enemy seen with the light of burning track trying to infiltrate perimeter, repulsed with grenades and small arms by 2nd Plt. and Delta Mortars firing 50s a 60s. Unable to get accurate artillary support, the Mortar Plt. fired illumination rounds. CS grenades were lobbed at the enemy. Medevacs unable to support Delta Co. Although many APCs facing west were hit with several B-40 rockets, troopers continued firing and kept the enemy at bay. A relief force from LZ Uplift was turned back when an enemy radio message was intercepted that the enemy was going to attack LZ Uplift. The enemy did not attack LZ Uplift. 0426: Enemy contact began to taper off. Wounded were taken to LZ for dustoff. 0430: Dustoff helicopter lands but one skid lands in hole or small trench in the ground so chopper lifts up to land in another level spot amd is shot down by enemy fire. Several 1/50 troopers rescue crew. 0445: Enemy Contact broken. The enemy lost 38 KIA. Friendly losses were 4 KIA and 16 WIA. |
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10 Mar 68 |
A helicopter from the 61st AHC used
on illumination missions crashes and burns at LZ Uplift. All pilots and
crew were killed.
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10 Mar 68 |
The New York Times breaks the news of Westmoreland's 206,000
troop request. The Times story is denied by the White House. Secretary
of State Dean Rusk is then called before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and grilled for two days on live TV about the troop request
and the overall effectiveness of Johnson's war strategy.
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11 Mar 68 |
Operation Quyet Thang begins a 28 day offensive by 33
U.S. and South Vietnamese battalions in the Saigon region.
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12 Mar 68 |
Johnson narrowly defeats anti-war Democrat Eugene McCarthy
by 300 votes in the New Hampshire Democratic primary election. This indicates
that political support for Johnson is very weak. Public opinion polls
taken after the Tet Offensive revealed Johnson's overall approval rating
has slipped to 36 percent, while approval of his Vietnam war policy slipped
to 26 percent.
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14 Mar 68 |
Senator Robert F. Kennedy offers President Johnson a confidential
political proposition. Kennedy will agree to stay out of the presidential
race if Johnson will renounce his earlier Vietnam strategy and appoint
a committee, including Kennedy, to chart a new course in Vietnam. Johnson
spurns the offer.
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16 Mar 68 |
Robert F. Kennedy announces his candidacy for the presidency.
Polls indicate Kennedy is now more popular than the President. During
his campaign, Kennedy addresses the issue of his participation in forming
President John F. Kennedy's Vietnam policy by stating, "past error is
no excuse for its own perpetuation."
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16 Mar 68 |
Over 300 Vietnamese civilians are slaughtered in My Lai
hamlet by members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry U.S.
Army, while participating in an airborne assault against suspected Viet
Cong encampments in Quang Ngai Province. Upon entering My Lai and finding
no Viet Cong, the Americans begin killing every civilian in sight, interrupted
only by helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson who lands and begins evacuating
civilians after realizing what is happening.
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18 Mar 68 | D 1/50 sent on a company "stay behind" ambush mission, gets ambushed in 505 Valley. Enemy fire came from all sides. 2 persons killed , and several wounded. Chinook hit by enemy fire several times. | ||||||||
23 Mar 68 |
Gen Wheeler informs Gen. Westmoreland that President Johnson
will approve only 13,500 additional soldiers out of the original 206,000
requested. Gen. Wheeler also instructs Westmoreland to urge the South
Vietnamese to expand their own war effort.
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25 Mar 68 |
Clark Clifford convenes the "Wise Men," a dozen distinguished
elder statesmen and soldiers, including former Secretary of State Dean
Acheson and World War II General Omar Bradley at the State Department
for dinner. They are given a blunt assessment of the situation in Vietnam,
including the widespread corruption of the Saigon government and the unlikely
prospect for military victory "under the present circumstances," seemingly
overlooking the fact that the Viet Cong have been decimated and the North
Vietnamese militarily defeated.
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26 Mar 68 |
The "Wise Men" gather at the White House for lunch with
the President. They now advocate U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, with only
four of those present dissenting from that opinion.
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26 Mar 68 |
1629 Hrs.,Co. A point track hit
a large mine at ZT 033720, three personnel KIA, and 6 WIA evacuated to
Qui Non at 1833 Hrs. APC blown in place by EOD team.
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28 Mar 68 |
The initial report by participants at My Lai states that
69 Viet Cong soldiers were killed and makes no mention of civilian causalities.
The My Lai massacre is successfully concealed for a year, until a series
of letters from Vietnam veteran Ronald Ridenhour spark an official Army
investigation that results in Charlie Company Commander, Capt. Ernest
L. Medina, First Platoon Leader, Lt. William Calley, and 14 others being
brought to trial by the Army. A news photos of the carnage, showing a
mass of dead children, women and old men, remains one of the most enduring
images of America's involvement in Vietnam.
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30 Mar 68 |
Three battalions of the 173rd Airborne
Brigade (Separate) begin Operation Cochise Green in Binh Dinh Province.
The operation ends 31 Jan 1969 with 1,357NVA/VC KIA at a cost of 144 U.S.
KIA.
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31 Mar 68 |
Betrayed by his personal advisors, President Johnson announces
his surprise decision not to seek re-election. He also announces a partial
bombing halt and urges Hanoi to begin peace talks. "We are prepared to
move immediately toward peace through negotiations." As a result, peace
talks soon begin. The bombing halt only affects targets north of the 20th
parallel, including Hanoi.
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1 Apr 68 |
The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) begins Operation
Pegasus to reopen Route 9, the relief route to the besieged Marines at
Khe Sanh.
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