Members of the 101st Airborne land on Hill 937, aka "Hamburger Hill." Many LZ's (landing zones) like this one were under constant fire from PAVN positions. (Je Me Souviens) On this day in 1969, American UH-1 "Huey" helicopters began landing in the A Sầu Valley, a remote, densely-jungled region of Vietnam close to the Laotian…
Tag: Vietnam War
04/07 – Domino Theory
Communist guerillas of the Vietcong, or Viet Minh, on the Saigon river. The presence of this irregular but formidable force in Vietnam caused untold anxiety in Washington - and resulted in millions of deaths in the region. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1954, American president Dwight D. Eisenhower - a war hero and mastermind…
01/02 – Ấp Bắc
M113s like the ones pictured above were lightly armoured but struggled to manoeuvre in the dense, difficult terrain of Vietnam. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1963, the Battle of Ấp Bắc took place in Vietnam's Định Tường province. ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) troops from South Vietnam had detected a large force…
12/18 – Linebacker II
A bombing run by a B-52 as seen from the air. (National Air Force Museum) On this day in 1972, American president Richard B. Nixon announced a renewed Christmas bombing campaign of North Vietnam: a massive aerial strike of civilian and military targets by B-52 strategic bombers codenamed Operation Linebacker II. The previous iteration of…
The Siege of Huế
An M48 tank fires over the citadel's wall at VC positions. (MC.GR) By the end of 1967, Americans had been fighting the Vietnam War for nearly three years. Joined by allies from Australia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, US forces under American General Westmoreland had had some success in battling the communist Viet Cong…
11/20 – My Lai
American troops in Vietnam. My Lai destroyed the credibility of the US mission and resulted in poor treatment for many returning veterans. (source: VOA News) On this day in 1969 The Plain Dealer, an Ohio-based US newspaper, published imagery taken from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. United States soldiers from the 23rd "Americal" Infantry…