Good Morning RallyPoint on this October 21, 2020. Here is your history for the Vietnam War on this day 21 October. Welcome home all Veterans and those that gave their all may you all rest in peace...!

Today, 21 October in Vietnam war History


21 October 1945, Four days of chaos in Vietnam, Saigon in particular, begins as British General Douglas Gracey declares martial law. The Vietminh, under Ho Chi Minh, are trying to enforce their control, but they are opposed by various nationalist Vietnamese groups, French colonials trying to regain power, and representatives of the French government determined to reassert sovereignty, while thousands of Nationalist Chinese troops are moving into northern Vietnam. Gracey allows Japanese troops to aid his British, Indian, and Ghurka troops, as well as arming 1,400 French troops who had been interred by the Japanese, most of them French Legionnaires, a combination that can have no effect but to ignite the passions of nationalist Vietnamese.

21 October 1957, Major Harry Griffith Cramer, Jr. an American army officer, was killed by a bomb near Nha Trang, South Vietnam. It is unclear whether or not the bomb explosion was purposeful.

21 October 1961, The U.S. Army’s 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, is activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Special Forces were formed to organize and train guerrilla bands behind enemy lines. President John F. Kennedy, a strong believer in the potential of the Special Forces in counterinsurgency operations, visited the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg to review the program and authorized the Special Forces to wear the headgear that became their symbol, the Green Beret. The 5th S.F. Group was sent to Vietnam in October 1964, to assume control of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Prior to this time, Green Berets had been assigned to Vietnam only on temporary duty. The primary function of the Special Forces in Vietnam was to organize the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) among South Vietnam’s Montagnard population. The Montagnards, “mountain people” or “mountaineers,” were a group of indigenous people made up of several tribes, such as the Rhade, Bru, and Jarai, who lived mainly in the highland areas of Vietnam. These forces manned camps along the mountainous border areas to guard against North Vietnamese infiltration. At the height of the war the 5th S.F. controlled 84 CIDG camps with more than 42,000 CIDG strike forces and local militia units. The CIDG program ended in December 1970 with the transfer of troops and mission to the South Vietnamese Border Ranger Command. In February 1971, the 5th Special Forces Group was withdrawn as part of the U.S. troop drawdown.

21 October 1964, At UC Berkeley United Front held its first rally to protest the banning of political advocacy and information tables on campus.

21 October 1965 – 27 October 1965, Operation New One, 173rd Airborne Brigade clear and secure operation, Bình Dương Province

21 October 1965 – 29 October 1965, Operation Dan Thang 21, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment operation, Pleiku Province, 317 VC & PAVN KIA, 11 Allied KIA (Note: For those that want more info on this operation, go to http://www.generalhieu.com/pleime-danthang21-2.htm)

21 October 1966 – 23 October 1966, Operation Madison, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines search and destroy operation, Quảng Nam Province

21 October 1966 – 5 November 1966, Operation Allentown/Lam Son II South, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division search and destroy operation, Biên Hòa, Bình Dương and Gia Định Provinces

21 October 1966 -- 22 October, 1966 In the 1966 Laotian coup forces loyal to Generals Ouane Rattikone and Bounthone Marthepharak defeated a coup led by Royal Lao Air Force commander Brigadier General Thao Ma and forced him to flee into exile in Thailand

21 October 1966, Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower supported Richard Nixon's criticisms of President Johnson for "hesitation, indecision, and even timidity" in South Vietnam

21 October 1967, Life Magazine calls for a bombing pause in a shift in editorial policy.

21 October 1967 – 1 November 1967, Operation Coronado VII, 9th Infantry Division search and destroy operation, III Corps

21 October 1967 – 22 October 1967, A rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial led to thousands of people marching on the Pentagon. As many as 100,000 people stage a protest against the war at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. When it concludes, between 20,000 and 35,000 protesters march across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to continue the protest at the Pentagon. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara stipulates that government personnel should remain respectful of demonstrators’ right to assemble, and he insists that the Pentagon continue operating as normal during the protest. McNamara personally observes the event from the roof. Despite the size of the crowd, the protest remains largely peaceful. There are reports of isolated violent incidents during the demonstrations, including accounts of protestors taunting and throwing objects at marshals and military policemen and marshals striking demonstrators. Some demonstrators remain until the end of the day on October 22. During a two-day period, over 650 people are arrested. Roughly four dozen people, including both civilians and government personnel, are injured

21 October 1969 – 24 October 1969, Operation Cliff Dweller, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division operation, Nui Ba Den (Black Virgin Mountain) in Tây Ninh Province

21 October 1973, The US Senate confirmed Henry Kissinger to be Secretary of State under Pres. Nixon.

21 October 1992, Former defense secretaries Melvin Laird and James R. Schlesinger told a congressional committee the Pentagon had known American airmen were alive in Laos at the end of the Vietnam War and were not returned.



Today is Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Vietnam War memorial facts
170 Names on the wall were born on 21 October
110 Names on the wall died on 21 October
245 men earned the Medal Of Honor in the Vietnam war and 160 of those men are listed on the wall

HOW MANY NAMES HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE THE MEMORIAL WAS DEDICATED?

Nine groups of names have been added since the Memorial was dedicated. In group 1 (1983) there were 68 names added, group 2(1984) 15 names, group 3 (1986) 110 names, group 4 (2001) six names, group 5 (2002) three names, group 6 (2003) six names, group 7 (2004) ten names, group 8 (2005) four names, group 9 (2006) four names, group 10 (2007) three names.


Other facts/items of interest:

The ARVN troops get mixed reviews from the Americans who fought with them. Most judge ARVN units on their leadership, which was definitely mixed. In the end, the South Vietnamese ran out of fuel, ammunition and other supplies because of a lack of support from the U.S. Congress in 1975, while the North Vietnamese were very well supplied by China and the Soviet Union.

Vietnam-era pilot and Hanoi Hilton POW was once asked on a Reddit AMA how good the NVAF fighter pilots were. His response: “The got me, didn’t they?” This is anecdotal evidence, but more exists. The Navy’s Top Gun strike fighter tactics school was founded to respond to the loss rate of 1 aircraft for every thousand sorties during Operation Rolling Thunder, a lot considering the combined 1.8 million sorties flown over Vietnam. At war’s end, the top ace in North Vietnam had nine kills, compared to the U.S.’ top ace, who had six. The U.S. could only boast three aces (ace status requires at least five air-to-air kills), while the NVAF boasted 17.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. - Preamble of the U.S. Constitution


Vietnam war quotes:

"I can now retire from politics after having had "Happy Birthday" sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." - U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in reference to Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday" on May 19, 1962

“For many Americans, the enduring memory of the Vietnam War is of the protests that defined a generation and shattered the illusion of America's purity on the world stage. But for the 3 million men and women who served in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and early 1970s, the memories are more visceral: the fog of combat, the stench of death, the sting of returning to a seemingly ungrateful nation.
EDITOR, "Agent Orange still poisons many Vietnam War veterans", Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 25, 2017

Looking back now on the Vietnam war, I feel nothing but sorrow for my own naivete in believing that the Communists were revolutionaries worthy of support. In fact, they betrayed the Vietnamese people and deceived progressives throughout the world. The responsibility for the tragedies that have engulfed my compatriots is mine. And now I can only bear witness to this truth so that all former supporters of the Vietcong may share their responsibility with me. DOAN VAN TOAI, "A Lament for Vietnam", New York Times Magazine, March 29, 1981