Appendix C

Chronology of Significant Events January 1970-June 1971

1970 6 January An estimated force of 100 VC attacked Fire Support Base Ross, which was then occupied by Companies A and B of the 1st Battal­ion, 7th Marines, the battalion headquarters group, and two ar­tillery batteries. Thirteen Marines were killed and 63 were wounded while the VC left 39 dead behind.

8 January Building on the combined action platoon concept, III MAF formal­ly established the Combined Unit Pacification Program (CUPP). Under the CUPP, Marine rifle companies deployed their squads in hamlets to work with the RFs and PFs much like the CAPs did. The CUPP differed in that the rifle companies were given no spe­cial training, and the Marine units remained under operational control of parent regiments, generally operating within the regi­ment's AO.

11 January III MAF formally activated the Combined Action Force, incorporat­ing the four combined action groups (CAGs) under its own head­quarters rather than through an assistant chief of staff within III MAF. In January the CAP included 42 Marine officers and 2,050 enlisted men, along with 2 naval officers and 126 hospital corps-men. The 20 combined action companies and 114 combined action platoons worked with about 3,000 RFs and PFs at the time.

18 January A North Vietnamese spokesman said that allowing POWs to send a postcard home once a month and to receive packages from home every other month was, in effect, a means of accounting for those captured.

26 January President Nguyen Van Thteu appealed to friendly nations for con­tinued aid, saying he would go his own way if allied policies were not in accord with the South Vietnamese government's.

28 January Troop movement for Keystone BlueJay, the first redeployment of 1970, began and continued until 19 March. Among the ground and aviation units redeployed were 26th Marines, VMAs -223 and -211, VMFA-542, HMH-361, and MAG-12.

31 January Enemy traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in January increased to 10 times what it was in September-October 1969.

31 January III MAF strength in Vietnam was 55,191-

5 February At the Paris peace talks, the enemy produced the first letter of a POW held in South Vietnam by the VC. This act took place in response to heavy pressure from the U.S. and South Vietnamese.

17 February President Nixon said the military aspects of Vietnamizarion were proceeding on schedule.