Monday, March 31, 1975. Resupply and luck.

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Frederick C. Weyand was in South Vietnam and determined that: "It is possible that with abundant resupply and a great deal of luck, the GVN [Government of South Vietnam] could survive...It is extremely doubtful that it could withstand an offensive involving the commitment of three additional Communist divisions...without U.S. strategic air support."

Colonel William Le Gro of the U.S. Embassy said that without U.S. strategic bombing of North Vietnamese forces, South Vietnam would be defeated within 90 days, which proved to be an overestimate of the time the South could hold out.

Gro would later write a book about the fall of South Vietnam.

North Vietnamese General Dung, was instructed to  "liberate Saigon before the rainy season [mid-May]" rather than the original plan of taking the city in 1976.

Technicians from the United States Atomic Energy Commission escorted by Navy SEALS removed the fuel rods from the nuclear research reactor at Dalat University (Đại học Đà Lạt) in Đà Lạt, capital of Lâm Đồng Province, Vietnam. and flew them to Johnston Atoll.  It was a Catholic institution at that time.  It still exists, but of course is no longer a Catholic university.

Last edition:

Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Catholic, Da Nang, Growing up in the 1970s, Korean War, Pusan Perimeter, religion, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975.

It was Easter.

In 1975 I'm not sure if we would have gone to Mass the prior night, or on Easter Sunday itself.  Probably the prior night.  My father would have bought some Easter chocolates, but we wouldn't have done the Easter Egg thing.  One thing about being an only child is that you grow up quickly in a lot of ways.

Our small family would have had ham for dinner and probably potatoes au gratin, out of the box of course.

Thousands of Vietnamese Catholics were on the road, hoping to escape the advancing communists.

Da Nang was completely in the hands of the NVA.  The defeat there had become a rout, with only South Vietnamese Marines retaining discipline.

It was begging to dawn in the South Vietnamese government that the United States was not going to come to its aid, resulting in real anger in the South.  The withdrawal that had been going on had in mind something like the Pusan Perimeter operation in the Korean War in 1950, in which the United States reversed the course of the Korean War.  Geographically there were real similarities and the strategy made some sense, but only if the US was willing to reenter the war.

Last edition: 

Saturday, March 29, 1975. NVA takes Da Nang.

Labels: 1960s, 1965, 1970s, 1975, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Campaign 275, Da Nang, North Vietnamese Army, United States Marine Corps, Vietnam War

Friday, March 30, 1900. Child and Female Labor.

France, effective on this day, reduced the workday for women and children from 12 hours to 11 hours.

Current American Republicans would likely find that abhorrent.

The law provided further that on April 1, 1902, the workday would go to 101⁄2 hours and to ten hours by April 1, 1904.

Father Leonardo Murialdo, 71, founder of the Congregation of Saint Joseph died.. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on May 3, 1970.

Last edition:

Tuesday, March 27, 1900. Gen. Joubert dies.

Labels: 1900, 1900s, Boer Armies, Boer War, Personalities, South Africa

Saturday, March 29, 1975. NVA takes Da Nang.

World Airlines made its fourth and last refugee evacuation flight from Da Nang.  The flight was designed to take out refugees, but 400 ARVN soldiers forced their way onto the plane.   At the same time, the NVA entered the city center.

Of the ARVN in I Corps, 16,000 of the 160,000 in the area managed to escape.  And of course, while they could not know it, for the most part all of the people escaping would soon simply be further south in the country when the Communist prevailed.

Da Nang had been the site of the first U.S. Marine Corps landings in Vietnam on March 8, 1965.

Last edition:

Friday, March 28, 1975. Managing the defeat.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Cambodia, Campaign 275, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, Nelson Rockefeller, New Zealand, South Vietnam, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War

Friday, March 28, 1975. Managing the defeat.

President Ford and his National Security Council sit under a portrait of Teddy Roosevelt in the Roosevelt room during which President Ford ordered the final withdrawal of Americans from Vietnam.

A disgrace.

Kissinger later asserted that President Ford needed to decide on a plan to evacuate Americans and some Vietnamese allies within a week. Vice President Rockefeller feared that because the mob would be so unruly during the evacuation, that Marines would have to shoot refugees. 

The situation in Cambodia was also discussed.

Ford authorized the use of U.S. Navy vessels to assist in the evacuation of South Vietnamese cities.

The New Zealand surgical team was evacuated from Qui Nhơn ending a twelve year mission there.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 27, 1975. NVA at Chơn Thành Camp reinforced, Construction of Alaska Pipeline comLabels: 1970s, 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive, 1975, Alaska, Alaska Pipeline, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Campaign 275, Central Highlands Campaign, Music, North Vietnamese Army, Petroleummences.

Thursday, March 27, 1975. NVA at Chơn Thành Camp reinforced, Construction of Alaska Pipeline commences.

Construction began on the Alaska Pipeline.

TAPS Throwback, March 27, 1975: First pipe installed at Tonsina River

I remember this well from grade school. The nation was going to build the pipeline and drill our way out of the Oil Crisis of the 70s.  It was a monumental accomplishment, and it changed Alaska forever.

Map showing location of the camp.  This map depicts attacks in the 1972 Easter Offensive.

The NVA 273d Regiment was sent to reinforce the 9th Division for its ongoing assault on Chơn Thành Camp.  Further attacks on that day, however, failed.

Stacy Ferguson, "Fergie", was born.

Linda Ronstadt appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and was interviewed in the magazine.

Related threads:

Before the Oil. And after it? The economies of Wyoming and Alaska.

Last edition: 

Wednesday, March 26, 1975. A new king.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, 1975 at the movies, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Campaign 275, Colorado, Colorado (Boulder), Diplomacy, homosexuality, Marriage, Monarchy, North Vietnamese Army, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam War

Wednesday, March 26, 1975. A new king.

The 9th NVA Division attacked again at Chơn Thành Camp, apparently trying to retrieve disabled tanks, but was repulsed again by ARVN defenders.

Kissinger spoke to the press.

A Henry Kissinger Press Conference – March 26, 1975 – Past Daily Reference Room

Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, the Crown Prince and the younger half-brother of King Faisal, was crowned as the new King of Saudi Arabia.

Clela Rorex, the County Clerk for Boulder County, Colorado. issued a marriage license to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora who had consulted with the county's District Attorney who decided that there was nothing in Colorado's law that prohibited same sex marriage.

It was the first same sex marriage license issued in the US.

On April 24, Colorado State Attorney General Joyce Murdoch invalidated the license, as well as five others issued by Rorex.

Jaws premiered in an advance screening.

The Biological Weapons Convention banning the production or use of biologcial weapons, entered into force by its own terms.

Last edition:

Tuesday, March 25, 1975. A murdered king and evacuations.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Campaign 275, Crime, Da Nang, Hue–Da Nang Campaign, Music, Saudi Arabia, Tin-Ngai Campaign, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War

M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

M38A1 with a recoilless rifle.

The first automobile I ever owned was a M38A1.

The prototype for the modern Jeep, basically, it entered civilian use as the CJ5, after entering military use in 1952.  Doubtless examples are still in use, and civilians varians are still produced by Roxor in India.

 Last edition:

M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 4x4, Automobiles, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Radio, Trucks, Wyoming (Dubois)

M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The M151 "Mutt" entered service in 1959 and carried on into the 1990s.  It had fantastic off road capabilities, and was also fantastically dangerous, given its independent wheel suspension system.

The last Jeep to see general use in the U.S. military, it was replaced by HumVeh's, although speciality vehicles, and even modern commercial Jeeps, continue to see some use.  In these examples, the radio mount for a period radio is displayed.

I personally have a lot of experience from the 1980s, with both the M151, and this model of military radio.

Last edition:

M32 Tank Retriever, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Armor, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Tuesday, March 25, 1975. A murdered king and evacuations.

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid.

The motivation for the murder by the US educated prince has never been determined.

The Tin-Ngai Campaign ended with NVA/VC forces in full control of Quảng Tin and Quảng Ngai Provinces.  Da Nang as the only major city in I Corps still held by the South Vietnamese and it was effectively surrounded.

The U.S Air Force organized an airlift to evacuate 10,000 people a day from Da Nang,

Hué's remaining defenders were evacuated by sea.

All of the events above I can recall, particularly the events surrounding the disaster at Da Nang.

The day prior, the ARVN had successfully held an NVA armored attack back at Chơn Thành Camp, destroying 7 T-54s with antitank rockets, recoilless rifles and RVNAF airstrikes. 

Linda Ronstadt released her cover of the Everly Brothers' 1960 song "When Will I Be Loved".

Last edition:

Monday, March 24, 1975. Huế falls to the NVA.

Labels: actors and actresses, Beavers, boxing, Campaign 275, Canada, Huế Vietnam, South Vietnam, Sports, Vietnam, Vietnam War

M24 Chaffee, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Like the M26 Pershing, the M24 Chaffee shows the speed of armor evolution during World War Two.  A much more modern light tank than the M3, it remained in service until 1953 with the U.S. Army, and various other armies long after that.  The tank was heavily, if not terribly successfully, used by the ARVN during the Vietnam War.

M577 and M113. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

M577 Command Post with M113 Armored Personnel Carrier.

 The M577 Command Post is based on the M113 and entered service in 1963.  They remain in use.

Last edition:

M113A1 Fire Support Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: Armor, Australian Army, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Vietnam War, Wyoming (Dubois)

Sunday, March 23, 1975. Advances in the Central Highlands.

Gia Nghĩa and the Khiem Duc District were captured by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong.

French Ambassador to Somalia Jean Gueury was kidnapped as he left Mass.

Last edition:

Friday, March 21, 1975. End of Empire.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Ethiopia, South Africa

Friday, March 21, 1975. End of Empire.

The revolutionary Dergue of Ethiopia announced that it was abolishing the Ethiopian Empire, which had existed since 950.

The Inkatha Freedom Party was founded in South Africa to fight against white minority rule.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 20, 1975. Electrical attack.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, American Terrorist Organizations, California

M60. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The M60 was the great U.S. tank of the Cold War, and continues to be a great tank to this day.

Effectively an improved variant of the M48, so much so that in some armies it would be regarded as a variant of the prior tank, the M60 took all of the improvements to the M26 line of tanks over the decades and more or less perfected them.  Indeed, some of the improvements, such as the 105mm gun, were retrofitted to the prior M48.

M60s remain in use around the world in upgraded versions.

Thursday, March 20, 1975. Electrical attack.

The New World Liberation Front bombed PG&E transmission towers in Oakland and San Mateo, demanding that PG&E cut utility rates in half for the poor.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 19, 1975. Abandoning Huế.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Chinese Civil War, Huế Vietnam, People's Republic of China, Saigon Vietnam, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam War

M48 Patton. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The fourth tank to descend from the M26 Pershing, including the Pershing, the M48 was a long serving and very successful U.S. tank. It entered service in the mid 1952 in the U.S. Army, and it is still in service with various nations, including South Korea and Taiwan.

The M48 was the second of the US Cold War tanks to actually see action in a Cold War war, the M46 being the first in Korea, with the M48 seeing extensive use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in Vietnam.  The tank was already a second class tank in the US military by that time, the M60 having come on, but it was a perfectly modern tank and more than able to take on anything in theater.  The tank was later upgraded to near M60 capabilities with the change from a 90mm gun to a 105.

The M48 entered US service in 1952, and was last used in the National Guard in 1987.

Related Threads:

The M26 and its children

Last edition:

M47 Tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1949, 1950s, 1953, 1955, Armor, Army, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, The Cold War, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)