1964
Vietnam War Timeline
1964 |
Vietnam War Timeline |
January 1964
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Despite material aid, advisory assistance, and direct support by American
military units, by 1964 the failure of the counterinsurgency struggle in South Vietnam was
apparent. The Communists exploited the crisis with attacks on South Vietnamese regular and
paramilitary forces and with stepped-up infiltration of reinforcements and supplies,
primarily through Laos. To curtail this external direction and armed support, the new
administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson adopted a different strategy. Its intention:
to signal the North Vietnamese leadership, through increasingly severe military pressure
applied in Laos and North Vietnam, that the United States would not abide the Communist
efforts against the South Vietnamese and Laotian governments. Video Duration: 09:16 mins: |
Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, from Maxwell Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "Vietnam and Southeast Asia," 22 January 1964
30 January - .On January 30, 1964, General Nguyen Khanh led a bloodless military coup d'etat replacing Dương Văn Minh as Prime Minister. General Dương Văn Minh was placed under house arrest, but was allowed to remain as a figurehead chief-of-state. General Nguyen Khanh, assumed the leadership from the junta as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council that took over after Ngô Đình Diệm's assassination. During this time, Khanh's regime suffered several military setbacks such as the Battle of Long Dinh.
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AATTV Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/20 - 1 - 31 January 1964, Narrative, Annexes (869.06Kb PDF file)
Document Index
February 1964
Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, from Maxwell Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "Vietnam and Southeast Asia," 22 January 1964
1 February - On recommendation, President Lyndon B. Johnson approves a four month program,
"to convince the North Vietnamese that it was in their self interest to desist from
agression in the south". Operations Plan
34A(OPLAN 34A) is
put into action. The initial measures was a series of maritime harassment operations in
North Vietnam under Covert Operation OPLAN 34A.. South Vietnamese "frogmen" and boat
crews carried out the action using the American PTF motor torpedo boats reactivated or
bought in 1963.
6 February - Five hundred Viet Cong troops cross the border and seize three
strategic hamlets. They are forced to withdraw after a 14 hour gun fight with ARVN (the
South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam). They lose 100 men, while ARVN loses 4.
NATIONAL SECURITY ACTION MEMORANDA, NSAM 280: South Vietnam, 14 February 1964
21 February - The US Joint Chiefs of Staff are asked to examine a series of
actions against North Vietnam designed "to induce that government to terminate its
support and encouragement of the insurrection in South Vietnam and Laos". They report
back on the 2 March that; "the overriding importance to the security interest of the
United States of preventing the loss of South Vietnam. To achieve this they state that the
US ,"should be prepared to to destroy military and industrial targets in North
Vietnam, mine its harbours, and undertake a naval blockade". They also recognise that
China might intervene and this could mean the probability of the use of nuclear weapons
February 26,: The Battle of Long Dinh was a battle of the Vietnam War that involved the Viet Cong and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
On February 26, 1964, three-thousand regular South Vietnamese soldiers encircled the Viet Cong 514th Battalion at Long Dinh. During the 8 hour battle the South Vietnamese army avoided contact with the VC, instead the ARVN commander relied on air and artillery strikes to inflict damage. As a result, the VC 514th Battalion was able to slip through the gaps and successfully withdraw from the area. Due to the incompetence of the ARVN at this battle, General Nguyen Khanh sacked five of his division commanders,
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/21 - 1 - 29 February 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.52Mb PDF file)
Document Index
March 1964
Robert McNamara visits South Vietnam and is convinced that the situation in South Vietnam
is deteriorating and if South Vietnam falls the rest of South East Asia will follow. He
returns to Washington and recommends increased aid to South Vietnam.
14 March : "The military tools and concepts of the GVN-US effort are
generally sound and adequate. . . . Substantial reductions in the number of US
military training personnel should be possible before the end of 1965". Robert McNamara
The
McNamara-Taylor Mission to Vietnam and the McNamara report
TV Interview with President Johnson in which Johnson Endorses the "Domino Theory," 15 March 1964
Memorandum for the President by Robert McNamara, "South Vietnam," 16 March 1964
17 March - US President Johnson orders an increase in US aid to South Vietnam of $60
million. The President also ordersthe US Joint Chiefs of Staff to begin planning
retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam, to be launched on 72 hrs notice.
17 March : We seek an independent non-Communist Vietnam. . . . Unless
we can achieve this objective in South Vietnam, almost all of Southeast Asia
will probably fall under Communist dominance (all of Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia), accommodate to Communism so as to remove effective U.S. and
anti-Communist influence (Burma), or fall under the domination of forces not now
explicitly Communist but likely then to become so (Indonesia taking over
Malaysia). Thailand might hold for a period without help, but would become
shaky, and the threat to India on the West, Australia and New Zealand to the
South, and Taiwan, Korea, and Japan to the North would be greatly increased. --NATIONAL SECURITY ACTION MEMORANDA, NSAM 288: Implementation of South Vietnam Programs, 17 March 1964
Telegram from President Kennedy to Ambassador Lodge, State 1484, 20 March 1964
Was Kennedy Planning to Pull Out of Vietnam? Oral History Interview with Bobby Kennedy, April 1964
"United States Policy in Vietnam," by Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense, 26 March 1964, Department of State Bulletin, 13 April 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/22 - 1 - 31 March 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.41Mb PDF file)
Document Index
Aprl 1964
SEATO Council meeting in Manilla calls for all SEATO members to fulfill their duty under
the agreement. The US is seeking further support in Vietnam.
The Rusk Mission to Vietnam, April 17-19, and planning for pressures against the North, April 4-May.
Aprl 27 - May 27. Operation Quyet Thang 202 was a major operation of the Vietnam War carried out by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam with US support.. The one month-long operation ended with heavy damages to the Viet Cong's communication line that linked with other VC-occupied provinces.
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/23 - 1 - 30 April 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.05Mb PDF file)
Document Index
May 1964
Alan Renouf, Australian Minister in Washington
"Our objective should be....to achieve such an habitual closeness of relations...
and sense of mutual alliance that in our time of need ... the United States would have
little option but to respond as we would want. The problem of Vietnam is one ... where we
could without disproportionate expenditure pick up a lot of credit with the United
States".
See that "disproportionate expenditure" here.
The second McNamara-Taylor Mission to Vietnam and planning discussions, May 8-26
15 May. - The CIA report to the President that the situation in Vietnam remains
extremely fragile and that the Viet Cong continue to erode the SVN Government's authority
throughout South Vietnam. Unless the tide is arrested by the end of the year, the position
in South Vietnam is likely to become untenable.CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate on possible North Vietnamese responses to U.S. actions, May 1964
19 May - Operation "Yankee Team". Air recon of Laos.
Summary of JCSM-426-64, "North Vietnam Operations," 19 May 1964
21 May - Two Chance-Vought RF-8A Crusader photo reconnaissance planes
from Kitty Hawk (CVA 63) discover a Communist military presence in the Plain of
Jars region, from both a photographic record and direct hit on one plane by antiaircraft
fire. Between 21 May and 9 June, 130 Navy and Air Force flights over Laos confirmed the
existence of a North Vietnamese infiltration system in the southern panhandle.
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. The system provided support, in the form of manpower and materiel, to the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF or derogatively, Viet Cong) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) during the Vietnam War (1960-1975).
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The trail was not a single route, but rather a complex maze of truck routes, paths for foot and bicycle traffic, and river transportation systems. The name, taken from North Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh, is of American origin. Within North Vietnam, it was called the Truong Son Road, after the mountain range in central Vietnam through which it passed.] According to the U.S. National Security Agency's official history of the war, the Trail system was "one of the great achievements of military engineering of the 20th century." |
Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and Senator Richard Russell, Washington, May 27, 1964, 10:55 p.m.
Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and the President's Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) Washington, May 27, 1964, 11:24 a.m.
29 May. - The Australian Cabinet agrees that the Australian Army Training Team(AATTV) should be increased.
CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate on possible North Vietnamese responses to U.S. actions, May 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/24 - 1 - 31 May 1964, Narrative, Annexes (881.29Kb PDF file)
Document Index
2 June 1964
At a conference in Honolulu major U.S. policymakers discuss obtaining a Congressional Resolution on Vietnam
June 8 - The Australian Army Training Team(AATTV) is increased to 80
advisers and their role is changed to operational employment at battalion and lower
levels.
The RAAF will deploy an air transport flight of Caribou aircraft .
"U.S. Calls for Frontier Patrol to He!p Prevent Border Incidents Between Cambodia and Vietnam." Statement by Adlai Stevenson to Security Council, 21 May 1964, Department of State Bulletin, 8 June 1964
9 June 1964: A formal question Lyndon B. Johnson submitted
to the C.I.A. in June also indicated what was on his mind. "Would the rest
of Southeast Asia necessarily fall if Laos and South Vietnam came under North
Vietnamese control?" he asked. The agency's reply on June 9 challenged the
domino theory, widely believed in one form or another within the Administration.
"With the possible exception of Cambodia," the C.I.A. memorandum said,
"it is likely that no nation in the area would quickly succumb to Communism
as a result of the fall of Laos and Vietnam. Furthermore, a continuation of the
spread of Communism in the area would not be inexorable, and any spread which
did occur would take time--time in which the total situation might change in any
number of ways unfavorable to the Communist cause." The C.I.A. analysis
conceded that the loss of South Vietnam and Laos "would be profoundly
damaging to the U.S. position in the Far East" and would raise the prestige
of China "as a leader of world Communism" at the expense of a more
moderate Soviet Union. But the analysis argued that so long as the United States
could retain its island bases, such as those on Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines
and Japan, it could wield enough military power in Asia to deter China and North
Vietnam from overt military aggression against Southeast Asia in general. Even
in the "worst case," if South Vietnam and Laos were to fall through
"a clear-cut Communist victory," the United States would still retain
some leverage to affect the final outcome in Southeast Asia, according to the
analysis. It said that "the extent to which individual countries would move
away from the U.S. towards the Communists would be significantly affected by the
substance and manner of U.S. policy in the period following the loss of Laos and
South Vietnam." -- Pentagon Papers
Taylor's first month as
US Ambassador; the increase in U.S. Advisory Forces in Vietnam, June 25-July 31
Lt. General William Westmoreland is appointed Deputy Commander of Military_Assistance_Command (MACV), assuming command from General Paul D. Harkins
"President Outlines Basic Themes of U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia," Statement by President Johnson at his News Conference on June 2, 1964, Department of State Bulletin, 22 June 1964
NATIONAL SECURITY ACTION MEMORANDA, NSAM 308: Designation of Robert J. Manning to Disseminate Facts on Southeast Asia, 22 June 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/25 - 1 - 30 June 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.08Mb PDF file)
July
The Battle of Nam Dong was fought on July 6, 1964, when the Viet Cong attacked the Nam Dong CIDG camp in an attempt to overrun it. Nam Dong is situated 32 miles west of Da Nang in a valley near the Laotian border; it was manned by South Vietnamese personnel with American and Australian advisors. For his actions at Nam Dong, Captain R. C. Donlon was the first American to receive the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. The Viet Cong struck at the camp at 2:30AM to achieve the element of surprise, and reached the outer perimeter where South Vietnamese special forces managed to hold out. The battle lasted for five hours when the VC decided to abort the mission. At 9:45AM six USMC helicopers arrived to extract the special forces. A the end of the battle, a total of 372 allies (12 American Green Berets, 300 South Vietnamese, and 60 Nung soldiers) held of deadly attacks against 900 Viet Cong. Own Forces: 57 KIA 40 WIA . VC 47 Killed.
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It was at this contact that the Australian member of the Australian Army Training Team(AATTV), Warrant Officer Kevin Conway, was cited by Colonel Francis Philip (Ted) Serong for a Victoria Cross, the highest gallantry award for Australian service personnel, which he never received.. He was the first Australian killed in action(KIA) in the Vietnam war. Col Serong inspects the mortar pit the following day. M/Sgt Alamo was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Photo Courtesy of AWM ID No: P00963.055
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AATTV - Commander's Diary - AAATTV Commnader's Diary (includes entries on WO2 Conway) AWM95, 1/2/26 - 1 - 31 July 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.43Mb PDF file)
Telegram from Saigon Embassy to the State Department on "Marching North." 25 July 1964
Telegram from the State Department to the Embassy in Laos Regarding Proposed Bombing in Laos, 26 July 1964
Telegram (Vientiane 170) from the Embassy in Laos to the State Department Regarding Proposed Bombing in Laos (Deptel 89) , 27 July 1964
27 - The US government announces that 5,000 additional troops are being
sent to Vietnam
30 - South Vietnamese patrols boats attack two North Vietnamese
islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. This is a Covert Operation
OPLAN 34A. mission.
NATIONAL SECURITY ACTION MEMORANDA, NSAM 313: Re SEA stories (ref: NSAM 308), 31 July 1964
Document Index
August 1964
2 August -"Tonkin Gulf Incident" . North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the USS Maddox conducting secret electronic warfare support measures mission (codenamed Desoto) in
the Gulf of Tonkin. This attack may have been provoked by recent SVN commando raids
into North Vietnam and the attack on the 30 July by SVN patrol boats. Plan DESOTO
was part of a system of global reconnaissance carried out by specially equipped US
ships in international waters and included intelligence gathering off North Vietnam
waters. This was the closest the the US came to declaring war and was seen by many as the
turning point of the war. An excuse had presented itself for escalation. Some critics saw
the Johnson administration as having deliberately provoked the action in order to justify
an escalation of the war and to obtain congressional authority for any escalation. This
was denied by the administration. Gulf of Tonkin Signals Intercepts
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2 August -"Tonkin Gulf Incident" . North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the USS Maddox conducting secret electronic warfare support measures mission (codenamed Desoto) in
the Gulf of Tonkin. This attack may have been provoked by recent SVN commando raids
into North Vietnam and the attack on the 30 July by SVN patrol boats. Plan DESOTO
was part of a system of global reconnaissance carried out by specially equipped US
ships in international waters and included intelligence gathering off North Vietnam
waters. This was the closest the the US came to declaring war and was seen by many as the
turning point of the war. An excuse had presented itself for escalation. Some critics saw
the Johnson administration as having deliberately provoked the action in order to justify
an escalation of the war and to obtain congressional authority for any escalation. This
was denied by the administration. Video Duration: 05:36 mins |
4 August - The USS C. Turner Joy reports a similar incident. There was some question is to the validity of this second attack. North Vietnamese Defence Minister,
General Vo
Nguyen Giap stated in 1995 that the attack never took place.
US, Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, Volume I, Vietnam, 1964, Part VIII. U.S. Reaction To Events in the Gulf of Tonkin, August 1-10
CIA Director John McCone tells the National Security Counci (lNSC) that the North Vietnamese were reacting defensively to the Operations Plan 34A(OPLAN 34A) attacks. He says "They are responding out of pride and on the basis of defense considerations. The attack is a signal to us that the North Vietnamese have the will and determination to continue the war. They are raising the ante."
5 August - U.S.President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered Operation "Pierce Arrow" which was conducted on August 5. The operation consisted of 64 strike sorties from the aircraft carriers Ticonderoga and Constellation against the torpedo boat bases of Hon Gai, Loc Chao, Quang Khe, and Ben Thuy, and the oil storage depot at Vinh. The U.S. lost two aircraft to anti-aircraft fire, with one pilot killed and another, Ensign Everett Alvarez Jr., becoming the first U.S. Prisoner of War in Vietnam. Pilots estimated they destroyed 90 percent of the petroleum storage facility at Vinh together with the destruction of or damage to 25 P-4 torpedo boats.
SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS U.S. CHARGE OF NORTH VIETNAMESE ATTACKS: Statement by Adlai E. Stevenson, U.S.
Representative in the Security Council, August 5, 1964
President Johnson's Address to the Congress, Tonkin Gulf Incident, August 5, 1964
6-7
August - The US Senate debates the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.Defense Secretary Robert McNamara appears before a joint session of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees to testify on the August 2nd and 4th attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin. He states that the Maddox was on a routine patrol and that the North Vietnamese attacks were unprovoked and deliberate.
Telegram from Secretary of State Rusk (State 136) to the Embassy in Laos on Proposed Bombing in Laos, 7 August 1964
Telegram from Secretary of State Rusk Approving Limited Air and Ground Operations in Laos, 9 August 1964
NSA SIGINT Command Center Record of Events, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1 August - 14 August 1964
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8 August - The RAAF Caribou flight (Transport Support Flight) of 3 Caribou aircraft , to be known as "Wallaby Airlines", arrives at Vung Tau and is to operate throughout South Vietnam. The flight is to have 7 aircraft by May 1965. Later renamed as No. 35 Squadron RAAF[
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10 August
U.S. Congress unanimously passes the Tonkin Gulf Incident, enabling the President to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The resolution (H.J. RES 1445) also passes the Senate, with only two dissenting votes.
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11 Agust - President Johnson signs the South East Asia (Gulf of Tonkin) Resolution giving President Johnson the power to take whatever actions he sees necessary to defend southeast Asia. |
Ambassador Taylor's Situation Report on the Republic of Vietnam, 10 August 1964
W.P. Bundy, Second Draft of "Next Courses of Action in Southeast Asia," 11 August 1964
Letter from McNaughton to W.P. Bundy Requesting Clarifications and Changes in the Rules of Engagement, 11 August 1964
Memorandum From the President's Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to the President, Third Draft, "Next Courses of Action in Southeast Asia," Washington, August 13, 1964.
CAPT J.J. Herrick, USN, "Chronological Sequence of Events USS Maddox aand USS Turner Joy Action of 4 August 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin,"14 August 1964
Cable from State to Saigon, Vientiane, CINCPAC, giving Key Points to a Tentative High Level Paper on Next Courses of Action in Southeast Asia, 14 August 1964
Cable from the Joint Chiefs of Staff Revising the Rules of Engagement (JCS 7947), 15 August 1964
Cable from COMUSMACV to CINCPAC on Cross Border Operations, 16 August 1964
Cable from US Embassy in Laos to the State Department on Proposal to Initiate Bombing in Laos, 17 August 1964
Cable from CINCPAC to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Proposal for "Next Courses of Action in Southeast Asia," 17 August 1964
Extract: Memo for Secretary of Defense from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "Combat Air Capability in North Vietnam" 17 AUG 64 (JCSM-707-64)
Cable from The US Embassy in South Vietnam to the State Department Suggesting a New Paper on Possible Courses of Action in Southeast Asia, (State 465) 18 August 1964
Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense from the Assistant Defense Secretary (Comptroller), Charles J. Hitch, Suggesting that the Use of Air Power Might Not Be Decisive in Southeast Asia, 24 August 1964
Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Curtis LeMay, Acting Chairman) on the Proposal on "Recommended Courses of Action--Southeast Asia," (JCSM-746-64) 26 August 1964
Cable from Secretary Rusk on Importance of Air America Missions, 26 August 1964
Memorandum from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Bundy and McNaughton on Operational Plans for September 1964, 27 August 1964
Lawrence Levinson, Chronology of Events - Tuesday, August 4 and Wednesday, August 5 1964 Tonkin Gulf Strike; 28 August 1964
Memorandum from McNaughton to McNamara on JCS Targeting Study, 29 August 1964
In August 1964, General Nguyen Khanh was faced with an attempted coup, rioting and demonstrations in the northern provinces, a massive labor strike in Saigon, and an armed revolt by Montagnards.
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/27 - 1 - 31 August 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.8Mb PDF file)
September
State/Defense Message to Saigon, Vientiane, Bangkok on Laos Corridor Operations, 9 September 1964
Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense on "Courses of Action for South Vietnam" by Earle Wheeler, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 9 September 1964
Joint Chiefs of Staff, "Rules of Engagement, De Soto Patrol," 9 September 1964
National Security Action Memorandum No. 314, 10 September 1964
Ambassador Taylor's visit to Washington, September 6-10
10 September: Senator Wayne Morse: Is it
presently contemplated as you survey the problems of the next 6 to 12 months
that it will be necessary to send additional military personnel to South
Vietnam? Gen. Maxwell Taylor: The present
authorized strength is about 20,000, which, in General Westmoreland's
estimate, would last him. He foresaw no requirement beyond that in the
coming year.
September 13, 1964, the South Vietnamese Air Force, under the leadership of Air Marshall Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, crushed a coup plot against General Nguyễn Khánh. Nguyễn Cao Kỳ's political star began to rise.
19 September - Montagnard tribesmen in SVN's Central Highlands attempt to secede in order to
create an autonomous state free from discrimination from their lowland neighbours. A
battle is averted by US Advisors.
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3 more Australian Caribou aircraft join the RAAF flight at Vung Tau, now totalling 6 aircraft. A seventh aircraft is added in May 1965
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Cable, Saigon 913 to State, Summary of Conclusions of Meeting of Three Embassies Held in Saigon on 11 September to Review Air and Ground Operations in the Lao Corridor, 19 September 1964
Cable, CINCPAC to Joint Chiefs of Staff on De Soto Patrols, 21 September 1964
Cable, CINCPAC to Joint Chiefs of Staff on Planning for Future Contingencies, 25 September 1964
September 26, 1964, the Vietnamese Revolutionary Council elected Phan Khắc Sửu as Chief of State and the former mayor of Saigon, Trần Văn Hương, as Premier, but General Nguyen Khanh retained real power under the title of commander in chief of the armed forces.
Cable, Joint Chiefs of Staff to CINCPAC, Definitive Rules of Engagement Applying to Laos," 28 September 1964
Cold War International History Project, Mao Zedong and Cambodian Prince Sihanouk, Beijing, 28 September 1964
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Canungra, Qld. 29 September 1964. A simulated Vietnamese village complete with occupants, provides realistic training for soldiers at the Jungle Training Centre in Canungra, Qld. All soldiers posted to Vietnam were required to undergo Jungle Warfare Training and to pass a battle efficiency course conducted at the Jungle Training Centre(JTC), Canungra, Queensland. Photo Courtesy of the AWM ID No: ELL/64/2150/NC |
"Progress and Problems in East Asia: An American Viewpoint," by William P. Bundy, Assistant Secretary for Far Eastern Affairs, Address made before the Research Institute of Japan at Tokyo, 29 September 1964, Department of State Bulletin, 19 October 1964
Memorandum for Mr. McNaughton from Cyrus Vance on Maritime Operations, 30 September 1964
Questions and Answers on Covert Activities, Questions by John T. McNaughton, Answers by JCS and ISA, Sept. 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/28 - 1 - 30 September 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.51Mb PDF file)
October
SNIE 53-2-64, "The Situation in South Vietnam," 1 October 1964
Cable From CINCPAC to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Use of Thai-based US Air Force, 2 October 1964
Cable From Ambassador Taylor to Secretary Rusk, 3 October 1964
Mao Zedong and Pham Van Dong, Hoang Van Hoan; Beijing, 5 October 1964
Cable From Secretary Rusk to US Embassy in Laos on Air Attacks in Laos, 6 October 1964
Cable From Secretary Rusk to Ambassador Taylor in Saigon, 7 October 1964
Cable From Ambassador Taylor in Saigon to the State Department on Air War in Laos, 7 October 1964
Cable From Ambassador Taylor in Saigon to the State Department on the Terms of Reference for the Air War in Laos, 7 October 1964
Memorandum for Joseph Califano (author unknown) Reporting that the Lao Deputy Prime Minister Would Like to Expand Military Operations in the North, early October 1964
On October 11, 1964, key political and military leaders in Hanoi ordered the National Liberation Front to carry out a series of offensives during the winter and spring of 1965. To help the southern guerillas carry out their offensive, General Nguyen Chi Thanh was appointed the commander of military operations in the South, while other officers such as Major-General Le Trong Tan were responsible for military preparations which began in earnest in November.
Lt Col Delmar C. Lang, USAF, "Chronology of Events of 2-5 August 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin," 14 October 1964
First Draft of "Aims and Options in Southeast Asia," by McNaughton, 13 October 1964
Cable from the Siagon Embassy to the Department of State on the Deteriorating Situation in South Vietnam, 14 October 1964
Memorandum from McNaughton to McNamara on US Search and Rescue Operations--Southeast Asia, 23 October 1964
JOINT STATE-DEFENSE MESSAGE, on Search and Rescue Operations and Cross-Border Operations, 26 October 1964
State/Defense Cable to Maxwell Taylor in Saigon on Proposed Expansion of Operations in Southeast Asia, 29 October 1964
State/Defense Cable 937 to Maxwell Taylor in Saigon on Legitimizing the Proposed Expansion of Operations in Southeast Asia, 29 October 1964
Intelligence Study Prepared by Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam /1/, "Infiltration Study, Viet Cong Forces, Republic of Vietnam," 31 October 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/29 - 1 - 31 October 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.44Mb PDF file)
November
November 1 - Tran Van Huong becomes the Premier of South Vietnam.
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Two days before the U.S. presidential election, Vietcong mortars shell Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon. Four Americans are killed, 76 wounded. The deployment of actual combat capable B-57Bs from 8th and 13th Bomb Squadrons to Bien Hoa in August 1964 began with three aircraft lost in collisions on arrival.] An additional five aircraft were destroyed with another 15 damaged by a Viet Cong mortar attack in November of the same year. |
Cable 1451 from the JCS to CINCPAC on Reaction to Bien Hoa Attack, 1 November 1964
Project Outline for Working Group on "Courses of Action in Southeast Asia," 3 November 1964
Ambassador Taylor's Comments on Plans for Action Against North Vietnam, 3 November 1964
Memorandum from Michael Forrestal to William Bundy on "US Objectives and Stakes in South Vietnam and Southeast Asia," 4 November 1964
November 4 - President Johnson is returned to power by 61% of the vote.
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November 10 - The Australian Government introduces
selective National Service , for 20 yr olds. The Australian Ballot System - National Service. Video Duration: 09:16 mins: |
JCS Memorandum to the Secretary of Defense on a Controlled Program of Increased Military Pressure Against North Vietnam, 18 November 1964
Memorandum to the Secretary of Defense on the Resumption of the De Soto Patrols, 18 November 1964
Memorandum to the Secretary of State from Walt Rostow, "Some Observations as We Come to the Crunch in Southeast Asia," 23 November 1964
Memorandum from William Bundy on "Issues Raised by Papers on Southeast Asia," 24 November 1964
NSC Working Group on Vietnam, "Section I: Intelligence Assessment: The Situation in Vietnam," 24 November 1964
Revised Paper by W. P. Bundy and J. McNaughton, "Courses of Action in Southeast Asia," 26 November 1964
Briefing by Ambassador Taylor on the Current Situation in South Vietnam, 27 November 1964
Paper titled "Summary of Recent MACV and CIA Cables on Infiltration," Author Unknown, 27 November 1964
Memorandum of Meeting on Southeast Asia, 27 November 1964
Memorandum for Southeast Asia Principals, "Scenario for Immediate Action Program," William P. Bundy, 28 November 1964
AATTV - Commander's Diary -
AWM95, 1/2/30 - 1 - 30 November 1964, Narrative, Annexes (1.04Mb PDF file)
Document Index
December
December 4 - Meeting in Washington between US Assistant Secretary of State William Bundy
and Australian and New Zealand Ambassadors to discuss a proposal to send combat troops.
December 6 - 7 : The Battle of An Lao occurred after the Viet Cong captured the district headquarters of An Lao, about 300 miles from Saigon. The Viet Cong were successful in repeatedly beating back large numbers of counterattacking ARVN troops.
The strength of the Viet Cong attack in northern Binh Dinh Province indicated the changing tactics of the VC, who were prepared to switching from small-scale guerilla actions to mobile warfare.
U.S. response to the governmental crisis in South Vietnam, December 8-31
Operation Barrel Roll was a covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division (later the Seventh Air Force) and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the Kingdom of Laos between 14 December 1964 and 29 March 1973 concurrent with the Vietnam War.
17 - Prime Minister Menzies tells President Johnson.
While US naval forces prepared for extended combat, the Johnson administration
reinvigorated its program to dissuade the North Vietnamese from supporting insurgency in
Southeast Asia and chose Laos as the locus of this effort. As part of this renewed
campaign, on 17 December 1964 A-1H Skyraiders escorted by McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantoms
and followed by RF-8A photo reconnaissance aircraft from Ranger (CVA 61)) conducted
the Navy's first armed reconnaissance mission over eastern Laos. In this joint Navy-Air
Force program, named Barrel Roll, American aircraft flew over likely infiltration routes
and attacked Communist supply vehicles or other targets of opportunity. If none was
sighted, the flight was authorized to strike preselected storage buildings, antiaircraft
emplacements, and related facilities of a military nature. The military objective,
however, was considered secondary to the political one of sending Hanoi a message of U.S.
determination to prevail in Southeast Asia
18 December - In response to requests from the US President and South Vietnam Prime Minister for 200 additional advisers, the Australian Government offers to send ground troops to South Vietnam.
The Battle of Bình Gia (Vietnamese: Trận Bình Giã), which was part of a larger communist campaign, was conducted by the Viet Cong from December 28, 1964, to January 1, 1965, during the Vietnam War in Binh Gia (Vietnamese: Bình Giã), Phuoc Tuy (Vietnamese: Phước Tuy) Province (now part of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province), South Vietnam.
The elements of the Viet Cong 9th Division, led by the 514th Battalion, began their assault during the early morning of December 28, when they overran several outposts and quickly overwhelmed the local militia forces. Later that morning two South Vietnamese Ranger units counterattacked but were unable to clear the enemy from their positions, briefly coming within 300 metres of the village until a Viet Cong Battalion forced them to withdraw.
At 5:55 p.m. on December 24, 1964, Viet Cong terrorists exploded a bomb in the garage area underneath the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam. The hotel, housing 125 military and civilian guests, was being used as officers' billets for U.S. Armed Forces in the Republic of Vietnam. Two Americans were killed, and 107 Americans, Vietnamese, and Australians were injured. Small buildings at the rear of the Brinks Hotel were completely destroyed by the force of the blast. . Maxwell Taylor, the US ambassador to South Vietnam, General William Westmoreland, the US army head in Vietnam and other senior US officers in Saigon and Washington DC urged President Lyndon Baines Johnson to authorise reprisal bombings against North Vietnam. Maxwell stated in a message "Hanoi will get the word that, despite our present tribulations, there is still bite in the tiger they call paper, and the U.S. stock in this part of the world will take sharp rise. Some of out local squabbles will probably disappear in enthusiasm which our action would generate." Johnson declined, stating that an escalation during the Christmas period would be inappropriate as it would damage public morale.
AATTV - Commander's Diary - AWM95, 1/2/31 - 1 - 31 December 1964, Narrative, Annexes (2.9Mb PDF file)
| Troop levels: | |
|---|---|
| South Vietnamese | 514,000 |
| American | 23,300 |
| Australian | 80 |
| New Zealand | 30 |
| South Korea | 200 |
| Philippines | 20 |
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A Type 2 AK-47, the first machined receiver variation.
Copyright © 1997 AUSVETS
Last modified:
January 12, 2009
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