The following lists events that happened during 1966 in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Incumbents

*President:

Hồ Chí Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), ('Father of the Nation, Old father of the people') and by other Pseudonym, aliases, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnam ...

*Prime Minister:

Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...

(south)

Events

*April 1 - General Pham Xuan Chieu, sent by Vietnam's prime minister

to seek support for the Saigon junta from General

Nguyen Chanh Thi Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

, commander of I Corps, is ambushed by a group of anti-Ky students, who capture him and transport him around the city in a

cycle rickshaw The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, ...

before releasing him. *April 5 – Prime minister

personally attempted to lead the capture of the restive city of

Đà Nẵng Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is on ...

before backing down. *April 8 - Buddhists in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for

free elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

. *April 9 - Buddhist Uprising: In Vietnam, Pro-Struggle Movement ARVN Colonel Dam Quang Yeu orders a convoy of infantry, tanks and artillery to proceed north from Hoi An to Da Nang. The Americans finally take action in the dispute when Major General

Wood B. Kyle Wood Barbee Kyle (March 3, 1915 – October 25, 2000) was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general. Kyle received two Silver Stars for gallantry in action during Pacific Campaign in World War II ...

, commanding officer of the

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with th ...

, orders the 9th Regiment to block Route 1 and stop the convoy. *April 14 - The

ese government promises free elections in 3–5 months. *April 29 - The total number of U.S. troops in

reaches 250,000. *May 15 - The

ese army besieges

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

. *June 13 -

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

: Operation Kansas - A thirteen-man reconnaissance team is landed by helicopter in the middle of the Que Son Valley on the small mountain of Nui Loc Son. In the next 24 hours, six more recon assets are deployed in different strategic sites, ringing the valley. This enabled the teams to report on enemy activity and forward observe for ordnance payload delivery. One team works its way south of Hiep Duc after they set up positions along the heavily wooded Hill 555. They spot several groups of NVA forces of varying size that appear to be training in the area.Edward F. Murphy, "Semper Fi—Vietnam; From Da Nang to the DMZ: Marine Corps Campaigns, 1965—1975", (New York City, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1997). *June 14 - Vietnam War: Operation Kansas - An enemy scout dog scents US Marines and the team's leader calls for an extraction. The team is safely flown back to Chu Lai by helicopter. *June 15 - Vietnam War:

Battle of Hill 488 The Battle of Hill 488 was a military engagement of the Vietnam War that took place on the night of 15–16 June 1966. A small United States Marine Corps (USMC) reconnaissance platoon inflicted large casualties on regular People's Army of Vietn ...

- A small

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

reconnaissance

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

inflicts large casualties on regular

North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...

and

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

fighters before withdrawing with fourteen dead. *June 16 - Vietnam War: The first phase of Operation Kansas ends. *June 29 -

: U.S. planes begin bombing

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

and

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

Births

Deaths

References

{{Year in Asia, 1966 1960s in Vietnam