Good RED Friday Morning RallyPoint on this October 30, 2020. Here is your history for the Vietnam War on this day 30 October. Welcome home all Veterans and those that gave their all may you all rest in peace...!


Today, 30 October in Vietnam war History

30 October 1963 Ambassador Lodge responded to Washington's request for more information about coup plans by saying that the U.S. did "not have the power to delay or discourage a coup." He agreed that "a miscalculation could jeopardize" the U.S. position in Southeast Asia but added "We also run tremendous risks by doing nothing." Lodge noted that General Harkins did not concur with his opinion. Harkins had previously expressed opposition to a coup against Diệm. A telegram from Washington to Ambassador Lodge took exception to his view that the U.S. could not delay or discourage a coup, but instructed him to discourage a coup unless in his judgement it had a good chance of success. The instruction stated that "It is not in the interest of USG to be or appear to be either the instrument of the existing government or the instrument of coup...But once a coup under responsible leadership has begun, and within these restrictions, it is in the interest of the U.S. Government that it should succeed.

30 October 1964, After a visit to South Vietnam Leon Gouré of the RAND Corporation reported that U.S. airpower was having a significant impact on the VC and that further unrestrained use could hurt them even more.

30 October1964, Tran Van Huong appointed premier of South Vietnam

30 October 1965, In New York City, 25,000 people marched down Fifth Avenue in support of President Johnson and the Vietnam War. Demonstrations of support took place in other locations in the United States as well. The New York march was sponsored by the New York City Council, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

30 October 1965, The VC attack Hill 22 south of the Túy Loan River occupied by Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines partially overrunning the position. Marine reinforcements arrived and drove off the VC killing 57 and capturing one for the loss of 16 Marines killed.


30 October 1965, In New York, five recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor led a parade of 25,000 in support of America's action in Vietnam.

30 October 1965, Just miles from Da Nang, U.S. Marines repel an intense attack by successive waves of Viet Cong troops and kill 56 guerrillas. A search of the dead uncovered a sketch of Marine positions written on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who had been selling drinks to the Marines the previous day. This incident was indicative of the nature of a war in which even the most seemingly innocent child could be the enemy. There were many other instances where South Vietnamese civilians that worked on or near U.S. bases provided information to and participated in attacks alongside the enemy.

30 October 1965, Two USAF A-1 Skyraiders accidentally mistakenly struck the South Vietnamese village of De Duc near Bong Son in Bình Định Province, killing 48 civilians and wounding 55 others. An American civic action team was immediately dispatched to the scene, and a later investigation disclosed that a map-reading error by South Vietnamese officers was responsible.

30 October 1965, In New York City, military veterans lead a parade in support of government policy in Vietnam. Led by five recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, 25,000 people march in support of America’s action in Vietnam.

30 October 1966 – 4 December 1966, Operation Geronimo, Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division search operation, Phú Hiệp, 118 PAVN/VC KIA, 15 Allied KIA.

30 October – 31 October 1966, Operation Bundaberg, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment cordon and search operation, near Hoa Long in Phước Tuy Province.

30 October 1968, A PAVN sapper and mortar attack on Camp Radcliff resulted in two South Vietnamese guards killed, four vehicles destroyed and damage to several buildings. Dennis’ Note: A sapper, also called pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, as well as working on road and airfield construction and repair.

30 October 1970, The PAVN attacked Landing Zone Oasis occupied by the 6th Battalion, 14th Artillery and elements of B Battery, 4th Battalion, 60th Artillery resulting in three U.S. killed

30 October 1970, 1970 – Fighting in the five northern-most provinces of Vietnam comes to a virtual halt as the worst monsoon rains in six years strikes the region. The resultant floods killed 293 people and left more than 200,000 homeless.

30 October 1973 - 10 December 1973, In the Battle of Quang Duc PAVN forces attempted to expand their logistical network from Cambodia into South Vietnam but were eventually force back by the ARVN.

30 October 1975, James Lewis a CIA agent captured near Phan Rang Air Base on 16 April 1975 and 13 other US prisoners captured during the 1975 Spring Offensive were transported by a UN-chartered C-47 from Hanoi to Vientiane, Laos and then on to Bangkok, Thailand.



Today is October 30, 2020
Vietnam War memorial facts
166 Names on the wall were born on 30 October
125 Names on the wall died on 30 October
245 men earned the Medal Of Honor in the Vietnam war and 160 of those men are listed on the wall

WHO DESIGNED THE SCULPTURE? In July 1982, VVMF selected Washington sculptor Frederic Hart, born in 1943, Atlanta, Georgia. He was the highest ranking sculptor in the design competition. His sculpture depicts "Three Servicemen" (also referred to as "Three Fighting Men" or "Three Infantrymen"). Mr. Hart's slightly larger than life-size sculpture was cast in bronze by Joel Meisner and Company Foundry during the summer of 1984. A process called 'patina' produced a rich variety of subtle color variations. The figures are young, wear uniforms, and carry the equipment of war. The statues show the men as "emerging out of the woods, looking vulnerable and alone". They look directly towards the apex of the wall, located approximately 150 feet away. The figures were unveiled on November 8, 1984. Mr. Hart received $330,000 for his work.


Other facts/items of interest:

Week of October 25–31, 2020
On the afternoon of October 27, 1968, U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Robert C. Edmunds, Jr., lifted off the tarmac at Korat Royal Thai Air Base in his F-105D Thunderchief and headed northeast toward North Vietnam. He never returned. Edmunds’s aircraft was shot down over his target in Quang Binh Province. Listed as missing in action, he became the last pilot to be killed or listed as missing during Operation ROLLING THUNDER, one of the longest and most significant bombing operations in history. The four-year air campaign ended officially four days after he crashed. Edmunds’s remains were not recovered and identified until 20 years later.

United States armed forces Casualties as of 26 July 2019:
- 8,318 KIA or non-combat deaths (including the missing and deaths in captivity)
- 153,372 WIA (excluding 150,332 persons not requiring hospital care)
- 1,586 MIA (originally 2,646) 28 Civilians
- 766–778 POW (652–662 freed/escaped*, 114–116 died in captivity)
Note: *One escapee died of wounds sustained during his rescue 15 days later


During the Vietnam War, 30% of wounded service members died of their wounds. 30–35% of American deaths in the war were non-combat or friendly fire deaths; the largest causes of death in the U.S. armed forces were small arms fire (31.8%), booby traps including mines and frags (27.4%), and aircraft crashes.

The ARVN suffered 254,256 recorded combat deaths between 1960 and 1974, with the highest number of recorded deaths being in 1972, with 39,587 combat deaths. According to Guenter Lewy, the ARVN suffered between 171,331 and 220,357 deaths during the war. R.J. Rummel estimated that ARVN suffered between 219,000 and 313,000 deaths during the war including in 1975 and prior to 1960.

The Phoenix Program, a counterinsurgency program executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus, killed 26,369 suspected of being VC operatives and informants.


Vietnam war quotes:

I would have made a good Pope. - Richard M. Nixon

One of the lessons learned during the Vietnam War was that the depiction of wounded soldiers, of coffins stacked higher than their living guards, had a negative effect on the viewing public. The military in Iraq specifically banned the photographing of wounded soldiers and coffins, thus sanitizing this terrible and bloody conflict. Walter Dean Myers

World War II brought the Greatest Generation together. Vietnam tore the Baby Boomers apart. Jim Webb

Thank you for the sacrifices you and your families are making. Our Vietnam Veterans have taught us that no matter what are positions may be on policy, as Americans and patriots, we must support all of our soldiers with our thoughts and our prayers. Zack Wamp

"Before closing my eyes to Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngo Dinh Diem, asking him to be kind and tolerant toward his people and to enforce a policy of religious equality."
- The last written words of Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death to protest the regime in South Vietnam, 1963

"I had prayed to God that this thing was fiction." - Colonel William Wilson, a combat veteran who conducted an investigation into the massacre at My Lai