Battle of Firebase Mary Ann

The Battle of FSB Mary Ann occurred when Viet Cong (VC) sappers attacked the U.S. firebase located in Quảng Tín Province, South Vietnam early on the morning of 28 March 1971.

Fire support base (FSB) Mary Ann was located to interdict movement of enemy troops and materiel down the K-7 Corridor and Dak Rose Trail (branches of the Ho Chi Minh trail running from Laos to the coast of South Vietnam). Originally intended to be a temporary base, it evolved into a more permanent location garrisoned by at least one U.S. Army company. The base was manned by 231 American soldiers at the time of the attack. Death toll was 33 Americans killed and 83 wounded. Charges were brought against six officers, including the 23rd Division Commander and Assistant Commander.

Operation Dewey Canyon II

Any offensive planning by the U.S. was limited by the passage on 29 December 1970 of the Cooper-Church Amendment, which prohibited U.S. ground forces and advisors from entering Laos.

Dewey Canyon II would, therefore, be conducted within territorial South Vietnam in order to reopen Route 9 all the way to the old Khe Sanh Combat Base, which had been abandoned by U.S. forces in 1968. The base would be reopened and would then serve as the logistical hub and airhead of the ARVN incursion. U.S. combat engineers were tasked with clearing Route 9 and rehabilitating Khe Sanh while infantry and mechanized units secured a line of communications along the length of the road. American artillery units would support the ARVN effort within Laos from the South Vietnamese side of the border while Army logisticians coordinated the entire supply effort for the South Vietnamese. Air support for the incursion would be provided by the aircraft of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, and U.S. Army aviation units were tasked with providing complete helicopter support for the ARVN operation. U.S. forces earmarked for these missions included: four battalions of the 108th Artillery Group; two battalions of the 45th Engineer Group; the 101st Airborne Division; six battalions of the 101st Aviation Group; the 1st Brigade of the 5th Infantry Division (reinforced by two mechanized, one cavalry, one tank, and one airmobile infantry battalions; and the two battalions of the 11th Infantry Brigade of the 23rd Infantry Division.

Operation Proud Deep Alpha

Operation Proud Deep Alpha was a limited aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States (U.S.) Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy against North Vietnam from 26 to 30 December 1971, during the Vietnam War.

1. Destruction of MiGs on the ground and attainment of a level of damage of Bái Thượng and Quang Lang Air Bases sufficient to inhibit further use of these bases by the VPAF for MiG operations against B-52s and gunships in Laos.
2. Destruction of logistical and other military targets in North Vietnam south of the 18th parallel north, with priority on targets of greatest importance to the enemy, such as storage and supply for his logistics system in Laos.

Cooper-Church Amendment

The Cooper–Church Amendment was introduced in the United States Senate during the Vietnam War. The amendment sought to cut off all funding to American war efforts in Cambodia. Its proposal was the first time that Congress had restricted the deployment of troops during a war against the wishes of the president.

1. End funding to retain U.S. ground troops and military advisors in Cambodia and Laos after 30 June 1970
2. Bar air operations in Cambodian airspace in direct support of Cambodian forces without congressional approval
3. End American support for Republic of Vietnam forces outside territorial South Vietnam.

May Day Protests

May Day 1971: 40,000 Shut Down DC to Protest Vietnam War and Largest Mass-Arrest in US History

GJEP Founding Board Member Will Miller was with his Vermont-based affinity group in Washington, DC on May 1, 1971 as part of a national call to shut down Washington in protest of the war in Vietnam. By its end it was the largest mass-arrest in US history.

GJEP co-founder Orin Langelle, who was part of the Youth International Party, was also present at this mass action in DC with his affinity group from St. Louis, MO. He described watching troops in helicopters land in front of the Washington Monument to help put down the protests.

Will, who was a veteran and a member of Veterans for Peace, told the story of his affinity group blockading one of the bridges into DC. They were met with National Guard troops fresh back from Vietnam. Their commander told them to fix bayonets and force the protesters off of the bridge. The soldiers looked at the protesters, and at their commander, put down their weapons and joined the protest.

Pentagon Papers

The Pentagon Papers was the name given to a top-secret Department of Defense study of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. As the Vietnam War dragged on, with more than 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam by 1968, military analyst Daniel Ellsberg—who had worked on the study—came to oppose the war, and decided that the information contained in the Pentagon Papers should be available to the American public. He photocopied the report and in March 1971 gave the copy to The New York Times, which then published a series of scathing articles based on the report’s most damning secrets.