Cambodian Incursion

The Cambodian campaign (also known as the Cambodian Incursion and the Cambodian Invasion) was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia, a neutral country, during 1970 by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) as an extension of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War.

Firebase Illingworth

April was the deadliest month of 1970 for U.S. troops in Vietnam with 730 deaths. On the first day alone, North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units shelled some 115 targets throughout the country and launched 13 ground assaults. April 1 turned out to be the single deadliest day of the year when 70 GIs perished.

At the center of that day’s carnage stood Fire Support Base (FSB) Illingworth, where 36 percent of the Americans killed died in a matter of two hours.
FSB Illingworth was a hastily constructed firebase built in a dry pond bed only five miles from the Cambodian border in Tay Ninh province. Its 219-yardwide perimeter was protected by Claymore mines dug into a low earthen berm surrounding the base and a few bunkers. No concertina or barbed wire was in place.

Fire Support Base Ripcord

The Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord was a 23-day battle between elements of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and two reinforced divisions of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that took place from 1 to 23 July 1970. It was the last major confrontation between United States ground forces and the PAVN during the Vietnam War. Three Medals of Honor and six Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded to participants for actions during the operations.

Operation Ivory Coast

Operation Ivory Coast was a joint special operations mission executed on November 21, 1970, to liberate American prisoners of war (POW) held at Son Tay, near Hanoi, North Vietnam. The rescue effort, launched from allied air bases in Thailand, was a “mission of mercy,” according to President Richard M. Nixon. If the plan succeeded, Nixon planned to possibly have the freed POWs at the White House for Thanksgiving dinner. A successful raid might also bring hope to the other POWs in North Vietnam and their families back in the U.S. Operation Ivory Coast did not succeed; however, the raid demonstrated that well-trained and rehearsed joint special operations forces could conduct missions deep inside denied areas. American POWs continued to languish in inhumane conditions until the last prisoner was released in April of 1973.

Operation Jefferson Glenn

Operation Jefferson Glenn was the last major operation in which U.S. ground forces participated in Vietnam. This was a joint military operation combining forces of the US 101st Airborne and the 1st Infantry Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). The purpose of this operation was to shield critical installations in Huế and Da Nang by patrolling communist rocket belts along the edge of the mountains.

During the 399 days of operations the Allied troops established multiple firebases throughout Thừa Thiên Province and regularly encountered People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) troops.

Operation Texas Star

This operation exploited the success of Operation Randolph Glen by incorporating the lessons learned during that operation and continuing the cooperation development among all allied elements in the province. The significant difference between the operations was that only one brigade of the 101st ABN DIV had the responsibility for pacification and development support throughout the province, while the other two brigades conducted offensive operations against enemy units in the western portions of Quang Tri and Thua Thien. The division made a smooth transfer of pacification and development tasks to the 2d BDE while the 1st BDE and 3d BDE increased combat support and assistance in combined operations with the 1st INF DIV (ARVN) in locating and defeating the enemy and his logistical support. A large number of casualties during the operation were caused from booby traps and a failure to maintain proper dispersion. The enemy also frequently established ambush positions 20-100 meters from US defensive positions and attacked the units as they were departing night defensive positions.

Miguel Keith

Miguel Keith (June 2, 1951 – May 8, 1970) was a United States Marine who posthumously received the United States’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam in May 1970. Despite being severely wounded, he advanced on enemy attackers, allowing his platoon to rout the attack of a numerically superior enemy force.

A Mexican-American, he was born on June 2, 1951, in San Antonio, Texas. He left North High School in Omaha, Nebraska in December 1968, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Omaha on January 21, 1969. He was discharged from the Reserves on April 30, 1969, and the following day, on May 1, 1969, he enlisted in the regular Marine Corps.

On November 6, 1969, he arrived in the Republic of Vietnam and was assigned as a rifleman with the 1st Combined Action Group, III Marine Amphibious Force. While participating in combat in Quảng Ngãi Province on May 8, 1970, he was mortally wounded in the action for which he received the Medal of Honor.

Apollo 13

At 9:00 p.m. EST on April 13, Apollo 13 was over 200,000 miles from Earth. The crew had just completed a television broadcast and was inspecting Aquarius, the Landing Module (LM). The next day, Apollo 13 was to enter the moon’s orbit. Lovell and Haise were set to become the fifth and sixth men to walk on the moon.

It was not to be. At 9:08 p.m.—about 56 hours into the flight—an explosion rocked the spacecraft. Oxygen tank No. 2 had blown up, disabling the regular supply of oxygen, electricity, light and water. Lovell reported to mission control: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” The Command Module (CM) was leaking oxygen and rapidly losing fuel cells. The moon landing mission was aborted.

Doonesbury

Garry Trudeau’s iconic comic strip, Doonesbury, was born in 1968, during the height of the Vietnam War, when Trudeau was a student at Yale. From the start, that war and its legacy was a part of the comic strip, mainly in the form of two of the main characters, B.D., the Yale football player who had fought in Vietnam, and Mark Slackmeyer, one-time campus radical.

The strip, which began in the Yale student newspaper and then was syndicated in 1970, still appears in tons of newspapers, and Trudeau contributes daily to his web site, www.doonesbury.com

Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental problems, was celebrated in the United States for the first time on April 22, 1970. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches and educational programs across the country.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness. “The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy,” Senator Nelson said, “and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda.”

Kent State

Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War. The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the conflict in Southeast Asia. In its immediate aftermath, a student-led strike forced the temporary closure of colleges and universities across the country. Some political observers believe the events of that day in northeast Ohio tilted public opinion against the war.