Military History by Month
January
Historian’s Report
Jan 2
1967: In just one day, Col. Robin Olds' 8th Tactical Fighter Wing - the "Wolfpack" – wipes out half of North Vietnam's MiG 21 fighter fleet in Operation "Bolo". Olds' advanced F-4C "Phantoms" tricked Communist intelligence into thinking the advanced fighters were just another easy target of F-105 "Thunderchief' fighter bombers by flying at altitudes, speeds, routes, and using radio callsigns typical to the less maneuverable F-105s. When the MiGs flew into Olds' ambush, seven "Fishbeds" are shot down in 12 minutes. Col. Olds scores one of the victories, making him the only Air Force ace with kills in both World War II and Vietnam.
Jan 5
1970: Staff Sgt. Franklin D. Miller
(http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/01/franklin-d-miller-medal-ofhonor-citation/) was leading a long range patrol of Special Forces soldiers and Montagnards in Laos when a booby trap wounded several members. A firefight ensued, wounding the entire patrol. Despite a serious chest wound, Miller is the last man standing and keeps up the fight for several hours, holding off repeated enemy assaults against their position. That evening, as he is about to exhaust his ammunition, a team arrives to relieve the Green Berets. Miller would serve over six years in Southeast Asia. When asked by Richard
Nixon upon awarding Miller the Medal of Honor, the president asks him where he wanted to be assigned next. Miller's answer: "Vietnam."
Jan 6
Medal of Honor: 44 years ago in South Vietnam, Army helicopter pilot Maj.Patrick H. Brady (http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2000/01/patrick-hbrady-medal-of-honor-citation/) conducted multiple medical evacuation missions in dense fog and in the face of heavy enemy fire. Over the course of
the day, he rescued 51 soldiers and 400 bullet holes were counted in the three helicopters he flew.
Jan 8
1967: 16,000 U.S. and 14,000 South Vietnamese troops enter the "Iron Triangle," a major Viet Cong stronghold near Saigon, on a massive search and destroy mission. The Viet Cong largely avoided contact with the large force, withdrawing to Cambodia or hiding in tunnels. Operation "Cedar Falls" was the largest ground operation of the Vietnam War and marked the first time "tunnel rats" were used.
1973: An Air Force F-4D "Phantom" flown by Capt. Paul D. Howman and 1st Lt. Lawrence W. Kullman shoots down an enemy MiG - the last aerial victory of the Vietnam War.
Jan 11
1969: While leading an armored convoy down a highway in Vietnam's Binh Long Province, 1st Lt. Harold A. Fritz's formation is ambushed. Surrounded on all sides and in danger of being overrun, Fritz — who had been wounded in the initial moments disregards his injuries and heavy enemy fire, leaping from his vehicle to rally his men, directing them to reposition and shift their fire. As the battle wore on, a group of enemy soldiers closed in on the unit. Fritz, armed with just a pistol and bayonet, and some of his fellow men defeat
the infiltrating force. Upon arrival of the relief force, Fritz again braves incoming fire to direct the unit. Today, Fritz is one of only 71 surviving Medal of Honor recipients.
Jan 12
1962: Ten miles west of Saigon, U.S. Army H-21 "flying banana" helicopters ferry South Vietnamese paratroopers into battle - the first major American combat operation in what will become the Vietnam War.
Also on this date, the U.S. military begins defoliation operations to deny the Viet Cong use of jungle cover for their movements. Over nine years, Operation "Ranch Hand pilots," whose motto was "Only you can prevent forests," would fly 19,000 sorties and drop an estimated 20 million gallons of defoliant. 10 percent of the vegetation in South Vietnam is destroyed.
1973: An F-4 "Phantom" flown by U.S. Navy Lieutenants Vic Kovaleski and Jim Wise splash a MiG-17, making it the Navy's final air-to-air kill and the last aerial-combat kill of the war.
Jan 19
Act of valor: On this day in 1967, A-4 "Skyhawk" pilot Capt. Michael J. Estocin (USN) earned the Distinguished Flying Cross during aerial combat over North Vietnam. His citation states: "As the leader of three Shrike-configured aircraft, Captain Estocin was responsible for providing warning, detection, and suppression of hostile surface-to-air missile activity directed at elements of the main strike group conducting a coordinated attack against the Dong Phong Thuong Railroad Bridge north of Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam. He lured the opposing missile sites to direct their fire toward his widely dispersed position by deploying the Shrike aircraft well ahead of the main strike group. During the course of the mission, Captain Estocin broadcast timely and
accurate warning of enemy missile firings and personally took under fire two enemy missile site, destroying one and causing significant damage to the radar facilities of the other. He was subjected to heavy and accurate enemy antiaircraft fire throughout the execution of these attacks. After exhausting his ordnance and at great personal peril, Captain Estocin remained on station to act as a lure in drawing any missile fire away from the remaining strike group. Only when assured that the main strike group was clear of the missile threat did Captain Estocin leave the hostile area." In April, Estocin will earn the Medal of Honor (posthumously) for two daring attacks against enemy surface-to-air missile sites.
Jan. 20
1968: North Vietnamese Army tries - and fails - to overrun Marines patrolling hills surrounding the Combat Outpost Khe Sanh. The Battle of Khe Sanh begins, and for the next 77 days, the heavily outnumbered and besieged Marines fought off their attackers, shattering two enemy divisions.
Jan 22
1968: With aerial photographs, ground reconnaissance reports, and a massive array of electronic sensors indicating that some 20,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers surround the Khe Sanh Combat Base, Operation "Niagara", is underway. The massive air campaign, dubbed "the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare," will rain down nearly 100,000 tons of bombs - and eight times that amount of artillery shells - on the enemy. Meanwhile, transport planes ferry supplies to the besieged Marines in the largest aerial supply operation since the Berlin Airlift.
1969: Operation "Dewey Canyon", the Marine Corps' last major offensive of the Vietnam War, begins. Marines under the command of Col. Robert H. Barrow will spend 56 days clearing out the North Vietnamese Army's
stronghold near the A Shau Valley.
Jan 28
1966: Marines hit the beaches of the South Vietnam's Quang Ngai province in the first amphibious landing since Korea. The Americans meet little resistance as they head inland, then move to cut off retreating North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces.
1973: B-52s carried out their final combat sortie in Southeast Asia – striking targets in South Vietnam. Operation ARC LIGHT had started in 1965.
Jan 30
1968: (Featured image) At 2:45 in the morning, a 19-man Viet Cong suicide squad blows a hole in the wall of the U.S. Embassy at Saigon, managing to hold the courtyard for six hours until paratroopers can retake the compound. 10,000 North Vietnamese soldiers take the city of Hue, triggering a grueling house-to-house battle with U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers. Meanwhile, virtually all of South Vietnam's major urban areas and bases are under attack.
The Vietnamese Tet Offensive launched by over 70,000 jointly operating North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces — has kicked off across South Vietnam. The Communists trade their typical guerilla tactics for a risky, more conventional strategy intended to weaken the government in Saigon and inspire a revolutionary uprising. Militarily speaking, the Communists are shattered, with an estimated 50,000 killed, wounded or captured. But in the United States, the psychological effect of Tet playing out in the media drains
the resolve of the American public thanks to the negative reporting of Walter Cronkite.