Good Morning RallyPoint on this day, 10 January, 2021, thank you for your service. Here is your history for the Vietnam War on this day 10 January through the years of the war. And I have the honor of introducing RP members to an Army Medal Of Honor recipient due to actions on this day 10 January in Vietnam History. Welcome home all Veterans.. and to those that gave their all, …may you rest in peace...!

Today, 10 January in Vietnam history;

10 January 1962, In Operation RANCH HAND, the United States and South Vietnam spray herbicides over forested regions to deny the Viet Cong jungle cover and food supplies. President Ngo Dinh Diem requests the operation and President Kennedy approves it in 1961. It lasts until 1971, and over nine years aircraft spray some 18 million gallons of chemicals over South Vietnam. The program impacts 20 percent of the nation’s forests. Many people—including veterans—argue that contact with these herbicides, especially one named Agent Orange, causes a range of serious illnesses. The long term effects of herbicides remain controversial, and it is one of the longest lasting legacies of the war. Initial Spray of several miles of Highway 15 leading from the port of Vũng Tàu to Bien Hoa Air Base northeast of Saigon. Although the United States wished to keep the use of defoliants secret, the South Vietnamese government announced publicly that defoliants supplied by the U.S. were being used to kill vegetation near highway routes.

10 January 1964, United States Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. reported to Washington that the new President of South Vietnam Dương Văn Minh told him that he opposed American soldiers going into villages and districts of rural Vietnam as they would be perceived as "more imperialistic than the French" and would give credence to communist propaganda that the Saigon government was a lackey of the United States.

10 January 1964, Pres. Johnson held a meeting with Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara after which he approved covert operations against North Vietnam. Pres. Johnson approved OPLAN 34A-64, calling for stepped up infiltration and covert operations against North Vietnam to be transferred from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the military." To take place 16 January 1964.

10 January 1966, The Georgia House of Representatives votes 184-12 to deny Julian Bond his seat as a result of his opposition to the Vietnam War. (Dennis’s note; The following additional info was supplied by SGT Robert Pryor; The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 9-0 ruling in Bond v Floyd, ruled on December 6, 1966 round that the Georgia state legislature overstepped its authority by barring Julian Bond from his seat by placing higher restrictions on his freedom of speech than applied to all other citizens.

10 January 1966, The first C-130 cargo drop occurs in Vietnam at a SF camp near Dalat.

10 January 1966 – 17 January 1966, Operation: MALLARD, 1/3 Marines, 3/7 Marines, G/2/9 Marines, 1/12 Marines, he operation took place between the Song Vu Gia and Song Thu Bon north west of An Hoa. Arizona Territory', Song Vu Gia, Song ThuBon, Quang Nam Province. Results: 4 enemy killed, 1 US WIA.

10 January 1967, A new CIDG Camp opens at Tra Cu, Long An Province, for detachment A-352. (Dennis' note; the following additional info was sent to me about this CIDG camp by SGT Robert Pryor, "The first PCS Detachment A7/19 set up a staging/training area at Hiep Hoa on April 05, 1966. It closed and the assets were used to establish a camp at Tra Cu, at the intersection of a canal and the Co Dong River in III CTZ. The January 1967 "The Green Beret" magazine had a nice article about the camp under construction, to include a picture of an old friend of mine, Senior Medic SFC Virgil Hammond. My records indicate the camp was officially completed and deemed fully operational on March 1, 1967."

10 January 1967 – President Johnson, in his annual State of the Union message to Congress, asks for enactment of a 6 percent surcharge on personal and corporate income taxes to help support the Vietnam War for two years, or “for as long as the unusual expenditures associated with our efforts continue.” Regarding the war, Johnson said "I wish I could report to you that the conflict is almost over. This I cannot do. We face more cost, more loss, and more agony," and he delivered a record 135-billion dollar federal government budget proposal. Congress delayed for almost a year, but eventually passed the surcharge. The U.S. expenditure in Vietnam for fiscal year 1967 would be $21 billion.

10 January1967 – 28 January 1967, Operation Wollongong, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 1st APC Squadron and 3 Squadron, SAS search and destroy and security operation, Phước Tuy Province. 1 Enemy KIA,. (Dennis’ note, SAS is The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army.

10 January, 1967, Operation Glen Burnie, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and ARVN 52nd Rangers operation, Binh Loc hamlet, Long Khánh Province

10 January 1968, VC sappers penetrate the perimeter of Kontum Airfield and destroyed several helicopters with Satchel charges, killing 7 Americans and wounding 25. An estimated 16 VC were killed in the attack.

10 January 1968 – 21 January 1968, Operation Duntroon, 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and 3rd Cavalry Regiment search and destroy operation in conjunction with 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division Operation Akron V, Phước Tuy Province

10 January 1969, Operation Treasure Island, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment cordon and search operation, Bình Dương Province
1970 Operation menu, Operation Menu was a covert United States Strategic Air Command (SAC) tactical bombing campaign conducted in eastern Cambodia from 18 March 1969 until 26 May 1970 as part of both the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War. The targets of these attacks were sanctuaries and Base Areas of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN — commonly referred to during the Vietnam War as the North Vietnamese Army [NVA]) and forces of the Viet Cong (VC), which utilized them for resupply, training, and resting between campaigns across the border in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The impact of the bombing campaign on the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, the PAVN, and Cambodian civilians in the bombed areas is disputed by historians.
An official United States Air Force record of U.S. bombing activity over Indochina from 1964 to 1973 was declassified by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000. The report gives details of the extent of the bombing of Cambodia, as well as of Laos and Vietnam. According to the data, the Air Force began bombing the rural regions of Cambodia along its South Vietnam border in 1965 under the Johnson administration; this was four years earlier than previously believed. The Menu bombings were an escalation of what had previously been tactical air attacks. Newly inaugurated President Richard Nixon authorized for the first time use of long-range Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers to carpet bomb Cambodia. Operation Freedom Deal immediately followed Operation Menu. Under Freedom Deal, B-52 bombing was expanded to a much larger area of Cambodia and continued until August 1973.

10 January 1970 – 10 March, 1970, Operation Napier, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment/Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (ANZAC) cordon and search and reconnaissance and ambush operation, Ngãi Giao, Đồng Nai Province

1972, Operation Seahawk, US search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, on the gun line off the coast, coming under enemy fire on 15 occasions, Gulf of Tonkin.

10 January 1972, The Cambodian Khmer National Army (ANK) withdrew from the town of Ponhea Kraek (Krek) near the Fishhook abandoning the last remaining road link between Cambodia and South Vietnam. Further south in the Parrot's Beak the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) began Operation Prek Ta against the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in that area of Cambodia. The objective of the offensive was to disrupt the preparations of the North Vietnamese for an anticipated offensive on Tết, 15 February.


Today is 10 January 2021
Vietnam War Memorial facts
168 Names on the wall were born on 10 January
159 Names on the wall died on 10 January
245 men earned the Medal Of Honor in the Vietnam war and 160 of those men are listed on the wall

Other wall information/quotes;

Hart’s sculpture, Three Soldiers, is nine feet high, larger than life-size but not overwhelming. The men appear to have just completed a mission or patrol; their weapons are carried casually, but the center figure has neither weapon nor helmet. One man’s ammunition belt is upside down. The group includes a white soldier and an African-American one; the third soldier’s ethnicity remains ambiguous, though Hart’s written description informs us that he is Hispanic. Not since Saint-Gaudens’s Robert Gould Shaw memorial was unveiled in 1897 has a public sculpture shown Americans of different races collaborating on a joint enterprise; it may be the first that shows them as equals.


Of possible interest or Interesting things about Vietnam/Vietnam War/ Vietnam War quotes;

“Killing people is easier than it should be.” Dad put on his beret. “Staying alive is harder.” ― Laurie Halse Anderson

“You can't imagine what the interior of sixteen or eighteen cubic feet is like with all of these people screaming, and yelling, and talking, and howling. [...] Not to mention the radio squealing. And the bullets flying. And explosions going up. You just can't imagine the chaos that goes through your head. And it requires immense concentration, and effort, to focus on what you job is. [Tom Kelley, Vietnam Medic from December 1967-December 1968, speaking about events inside the medevac helicopters]”


Links of interest?

Looking for a Brother or sister you served with? This might help you.
The Viet Nam Veterans Home Page to be quite useful in finding living veterans. They maintain a Lost and Found section http://www.vietvet.org/lostfnd.htm, with listings of people looking for people.

To find information on the availability of U.S. Navy deck logs during the Vietnam war era, check out this link. https://historyhub.history.gov/community/military-records/blog/2020/10/08/update-on-availability-of-vietnam-era-1956-1978-us-navy-deck-logs

Unit Reunions, Homecomings, Gatherings, Newsletters, Etc. can be found at http://www.vietvet.org/unitlist.htm
There are two replica versions of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial that tour the United States regularly. The first of them which is called The Moving Wall, has been traveling the country for almost twenty years. You can find their schedule at http://www.themovingwall.org/
Where can I find the latest information on the status of Prisoners of War and those listed as Missing in Action? A: The Library of Congress maintains POW/MIA information at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html


Quotes;
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” – Ronald Reagan

“I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.” – Ronald Reagan

“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.” – Ronald Reagan

“We the people tell the government what to do. It doesn’t tell us.” – Ronald Reagan



Medal of Honor recipient for actions in the Vietnam War on this day 10 January in Vietnam War history; Specialist Fifth Class (then Pfc.) U.S.Army

Clarence Eugene Sasser (born September 12, 1947) is a former United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Early life and Vietnam War;
Born in Chenango, Texas, Sasser briefly attended the University of Houston as a chemistry major but was forced to drop out due to lack of funds. He was drafted into the United States Army after giving up his college deferment and served as a combat medic during the Vietnam War. Sasser's Vietnam War tour lasted just 51 days. He received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon in 1969 for his actions on January 10, 1968, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam. A member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, he was a private first class attached to the 3rd Battalion's Company A when he earned the medal and was later promoted to specialist five.

Civilian life;
When his military commitment was finished, Sasser enrolled at Texas A&M University as a chemistry student. He then worked at an oil refinery for more than five years before being employed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

SASSER, CLARENCE EUGENE
Rank and organization: Specialist Fifth Class (then Pfc.), U.S. Army, Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Place and date: Ding Tuong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 10 January 1968. Entered service at: Houston, Tex. Born: 12 September 1947, Chenango, Tex.

Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp5c. Sasser distinguished himself while assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion. He was serving as a medical aidman with Company A, 3d Battalion, on a reconnaissance in force operation. His company was making an air assault when suddenly it was taken under heavy small arms, recoilless rifle, machinegun and rocket fire from well fortified enemy positions on 3 sides of the landing zone. During the first few minutes, over 30 casualties were sustained. Without hesitation, Sp5c. Sasser ran across an open rice paddy through a hail of fire to assist the wounded. After helping 1 man to safety, was painfully wounded in the left shoulder by fragments of an exploding rocket. Refusing medical attention, he ran through a barrage of rocket and automatic weapons fire to aid casualties of the initial attack and, after giving them urgently needed treatment, continued to search for other wounded. Despite 2 additional wounds immobilizing his legs, he dragged himself through the mud toward another soldier 100 meters away. Although in agonizing pain and faint from loss of blood, Sp5c. Sasser reached the man, treated him, and proceeded on to encourage another group of soldiers to crawl 200 meters to relative safety. There he attended their wounds for 5 hours until they were evacuated. Sp5c. Sasser’s extraordinary heroism is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.