កម្ពុជា ១៩៧៥

1975-1979 Chronology Of Cambodia History

• Jan. 1, 1975: Khmer Rouge launches final offensive against the capital, Phnom Penh.
• Jan. 11, 1975: US steps up airlift to Phnom Penh in light of increased insurgent attacks on the Mekong River town of Neak Luong.
• Jan. 14, 1975: Khmer Republic and the US exchanged notes amending the Agreement of Aug. 10, 1974 relating to the sale of agricultural commodities.
• Jan. 26, 1975: Last Mekong convoy reach the besieged Phnom Penh, leaving city dependent on massive airlift.
  
• Jan. 23, 1975: Under heavy enemy fire, two ammunition barges reach the blockaded Phnom Penh from South Vietnam.
• Jan. 29, 1975:  US Pres. Ford, in a cabinet meeting, stresses that "the Cabinet and Administration must pledge its total support to this bill". The Administration submits to Congress a supplemental aid bill of $300 million for Vietnam and $222 for Cambodia. "It is vital and it is right; and we will stand behind it 100%". [Minute of the meeting] ……….. Khmer Rouge sink two South Korean fuel tankers and set ablaze five miles from the Neak Luong naval base.
• Feb. 2, 1975: Heavy Khmer Rouge attacks in and around Phnom Penh, killing 18.
• Feb. 5, 1975: The Communists close the Mekong River, preventing any convoys of food, fuel or ammunition from reaching besieged Phnom Penh.
• Feb. 6, 1975: US Members of Congress for Peace through law wrote a letter to Pres. Gerald R. Ford concerning the extent and direction of the continuing US involvement in Indochina……….Ambassador John Dean’s cable to the Department of State concerning the Cambodia settlement……… Eighteen schoolchildren are among 22 person killed when a rebel rocket strikes a school in downtown Phnom Penh.
• Feb. 12, 1975: US doubles its arm and ammunitions airlift from Thailand to Phnom Penh because of an intensified rebel blockade of the Mekong.
• Feb. 15, 1975: US airlift from Thailand to Phnom Penh is expanded with the use of C-130 cargo planes carrying 270 tones of ammunition.
• Feb. 17, 1975: FANK retreat after failing to break the Khmer Rouge hold on several Mekong river points outside of Phnom Penh.
• Feb. 20, 1975: Cambodia's last land link to the outside world was severed when the Khmer Rouge ambushes a govt. train near the Thai border, killing 31 soldiers and civilians and wounding some 40 others.
• Feb. 21, 1975: Student anti-Chinese protesters rioted in Phnom Penh and Battambang City.
• Feb. 22, 1975: Khmer Rouge attacked a refugee camp in Kompong Chhnang Province, killing 20 civilians and abducting 40 others.
• Feb. 23, 1975: US Secretary of Defense Schlesinger, in an interview with ABC television program ‘Issues and Answers’, warned that Cambodia would fall without the assistance, and that the fall of Cambodia would be a US foreign policy disaster.
• Feb. 24, 1975: FANK Brig. Gen. Hem Pao is killed in a rebel ambush 24 miles east of Phnom Penh……….An eight-members of US congressional fact-finding team visited South Vietnam and Cambodia at the request of Pres. Ford in order to assess his request of $522 million of supplemental economic and military aid for the two countries.
• Feb. 25, 1975: Pres. Ford and senior Cabinet members warned Congress of the eminent collapse of Lon Nol's govt. if the Administration's request for $222 million in supplemental aid is not approved. In a letter to House Speaker Carl Albert, Pres. Ford said that an independent Cambodia would not survive unless Congress acted very soon to provide supplemental military and economic assistance.  The Cambodians, who had less than a month supply of ammunition, would have to surrender to the Khmer Rouge unless aid were forthcoming.
• Feb. 26, 1975: PNLAFK (Khmer Rouge) recaptured Oudong……….US Sec. Of Def. Schlesinger, in testimony before the House Appropriation Committee, said the probability was extremely high that Cambodia could survive if more aid were forthcoming but added there was no such thing as guarantee.
• Feb. 27, 1975: The US launched a 30-day emergency airlift of 17,500 tons of rice and kerosene from Saigon to Phnom Penh, a move to relieve the capital, which was under a tightening Khmer Rouge siege.
• Feb. 28, 1975: Khmer Rouge overrun Toul Leap, 12 miles west of Phnom Penh and Prek Luong, less than five miles from the center of the city.
• March 3, 1975: Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh, killing 19 and wounding 25………..The congressional fact-finding delegation, which just returned from a weeklong assessment trip to South Vietnam and Cambodia, recommended congressional approval of $75 million in emergency economic assistance to Cambodia and a still undetermined amount for medical aid.  The delegation, however, were divided on the granting of military assistance to Cambodia, with the majority endorsing a 75-days emergency supply of arm and ammunition to Phnom Penh.
• March 5, 1975: PNLAFK advance brought Pochentong Airport into artillery range.
• March 6, 1975: FANK evacuate a beachhead 10 miles south of Neak Loung, their last position on the Mekong river, running between Phnom Penh and South Vietnamese border.
• March 10, 1975: US Senate passes a resolution S.RES.94 relating to food assistance for Cambodia.
• March 11, 1975: Pres. Lon Nol orders PM Long Boret to form a new cabinet and eliminates the post commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
• March 12, 1975: Gen. Sak Sutsakhan replaced Gen. Fernandez as FANK commander……….US Pres. Ford, in a cabinet meeting, asked Secretary Schlesinger for an update on the Southeast Asia situation. [Minute of the meeting]
• March 15, 1975: FANK recapture Tuol Leap, five miles from Pochentong airport.
• March 17, 1975: US Embassy staff begins the evacuation of international relief personnel from Phnom Penh……….Nearly the entire French Embassy staff leave Phnom Penh for Bangkok.
• March 19, 1975: University students in Phnom Penh demonstrate against further US military assistance and call on the Lon Nol govt. to resign.
• March 23, 1975; US indefinitely suspends its airlift of supplies to Phnom Penh after Khmer Rouge shelled the airport.
• March 28, 1975: US National Security Council met to discuss the Middle East and Southeast Asia. [Minute of the meeting]
• April 1, 1975: Lon Nol departed Cambodia; Saukham Khoy, the Senate Pres., became acting pres. of the Khmer Republic……….PNLAFK (Khmer Rouge) captured Neak Luong.
• April 4-10, 1975: Fixed-wing aircraft began evacuation of US Embassy personnel from Pochentong airport.
• April 7, 1975: Khmer Rouge overrun FANK outposts four miles north of Pochentong airport
• April 8, 1975: PM Long Boret held an unsuccessful peace talks with Khmer Rouge representatives in Bangkok.
• April 9, 1975: US National Security Council meeting concerning Indochina. [Minute of the meeting]
• April 12, 1975: Operation Eagle Pull evacuated the last US Embassy personnel and Acting Khmer Republic Pres. Saukham Khoy……….The Council of Ministers met at 8:30 am which decided to convoked a sort of general assembly that consist of the highest functionaries and military leaders, members of the Cabinet, the Pres. of the Senate par interim (Mr. Tep Hun), the Pres. of the National Assembly (Ung Bun Hor), the representative of the Republican Party (Op Kim Ang).  The Assembly voted unanimously at 11:00 pm to create a Supreme Committee to run the country.  The committee consist of (1) Lt. Gen. Sak Sutsakhan, (2) Maj. Gen. Thong Van Fanmuong, (3) Rear Adm. Vong Sarendy, (4) Brig. Gen. Ea Chhong, (5) Prime Minister Long Boret, (6) Vice-Premier Hang Thun Hak, and (6) Representative of the Republican Party Op Kim Ang.
• April 13, 1975: Gen. Sak Sutsakhan was named Supreme Committee president; peace offer was made to Prince Sihanouk……….. US planes begin to drop supplies to FANK defending Phnom Penh.
• April 14, 1975: Aerial assassination attempt against Khmer cabinet; a T-28 flew over FANK headquarters and dropped four 250-pound bombs. Two detonated about sixty feet from the office where Gen. Sak Sutsakhan was chairing a cabinet meeting. Seven soldiers were killed and twenty others were injured; the intended target was untouched.
• April 15, 1975: PNLAFK (Khmer Rouge) overran Phnom Penh's last major defense lines, the town of Takhmau, the air base at Pochentong, and the dike running east/west to the north of Phnom Penh.
• April 16, 1975: Khmer Republic govt. made final peace offer and prepared to move the govt. seat to northwestern Cambodia……….Secretary Jim Schlesinger reported to Pres. Ford, in a Cabinet meeting, that Operation Eagle Pull was very successful. However, the Operation had met some delay because of some last minute alterations in the plan and that many Cambodians decided at the last minute to stay behind even though they have been marked on the death list. [Minute of the Meeting]
• April 17, 1975: Khmer Rouge captured the capital Phnom Penh and began the evacuation of its inhabitants.
• April 22, 1975: Deputy PM Khieu Samphan declares Cambodia's neutrality and nonalignment.
• April 23, 1975: Thailand reinforces its border with Cambodia to stem the tide of refugees and weapons into the country.
• April 25, 1975: GRUNK announces that it will designate Prince Sihanouk as Chief of State for life.
• April 29, 1975: French govt. reported that all foreigners, who had taken refuge in its embassy in Phnom Penh after the fall of the capital, had been ordered expelled.  There was a shortage of food, water and medical supplies at the embassy and many were ill.  Paris had insisted that a plane it held in Vientiane, Laos, for evacuation of the sick be allowed to land in Phnom Penh.  The Khmer Rouge ignored the request despite a French govt. protest sent to Prince Sihanouk, Chief of State, who still remained in Beijing.
• April 30, 1975: North Vietnamese capture Saigon……….Overland evacuation of French Embassy occupants to Thailand begin.  The first group of 585 people, including 515 French citizens, left Phnom Penh in 25 open trucks and arrive at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet three days later………Former Prime Minister Son Ngoc Thanh is arrested in Vietnamese.
• May 1, 1975 Chau Seng, Prince Sihanouk’s Paris representative, accused France of harboring hundred of ‘war criminals’ including former Premier Siri Matak at its embassy in Phnom Penh.  In response, the French Foreign Ministry said that no Cambodians remained in its embassy when radio contact was broken the previous weekend.
• May 4, 1975 Khmer Rouge attacked Vietnamese islands.
• May 5, 1975 US State Dept. spokesman said it was believed the Phnom Penh’s entire two million residents had been forcibly moved out and that at least two other cities, Kompong Chhang and Siem Reap, were virtually emptied.  The Dept. also said it had “reliable information” that “orders were issued by the Khmer Rouge to their out lying commanders to kill top political and military leaders around the country” who had served in the previous govt..
• May 6, 1975 The second group of French Embassy occupants left Phnom Penh in a convoy of 28 trucks, carrying about 550 people, including 230 French citizens and some 220 Pakistanis.
• May 12-15, 1975 Mayaguez incident. Khmer Rough captured US freighter Mayaguez on May 12 in the Gulf of Thailand with 39 crewmen. US Marines launched a rescue operation May 14 with planes from aircraft carriers sinking three Khmer Rouge gunboats. Three US helicopters were lost when Marines landed on Tang Island and came under heavy small-arms fire from a small group of Khmer Rouge stationed on the island. | Chronology of the event | Khmer Rouge communiqué | Pres. Ford's letter to US Congress | ……… Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement in support of US military action to rescue the Mayaguez as "a just action for the rescue of Americans from piracy." Opposition political parties and newspapers, however, are critical of the US action………. US National Security meeting concerning the seizure of Mayaguez. | May 12 minute of the meeting | May 13 minute (in the morning) | May 13 minute (in the evening)  May 14 minute | May 15 minute |………. US House of Representatives, on May 14, 1975, passed a resolution H.RES.462 considering bill H.R.6894 making appropriations for special assistance to refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975………. Japanese Dep. Foreign Minister Fumihiko Togo, in a statement on May 15 regarding to the Mayaguez incident, said the US operation was ‘a just action for the rescue of Americans from piracy.’  Opposition political parties and medias, however, were critical of the US action………… Great Britain reacted favorably to the US operation, but some officials had privately expressed disquiet over what they characterized as a precipitate use of force……….. The Soviet Union withheld comment on the incident, which was reported in the Soviet press on May 15 without criticism.  Tass, the official press agency, however, noted complaints by a number of US senators about the US handling of the operation………. A West German Foreign Ministry official noted May 15 that Bonn had “a certain interest in seeing the American trend to dejection and discouragement in foreign affairs come to an end.”
• May 16, 1975 Communist China accuses the US of piracy in retaking the Mayaguez, which had been seized in Cambodian territorial waters………The Indian govt. did not comment on the US action, but Indian newspapers attacked the operation and condemned the US firing on Cambodian ships.
• May 19, 1975 Henry Kissinger sends Pres. Ford a memo concerning the debriefing of the Mayaguez captain and crew.
• May 20, 1975 US Defense Dept. announces that a US-made Cambodian sub-chaser with its 40 crewmen turned itself over to Thai authorities.
• May 23, 1975 James M Frey, Assistant Director for Legislative Reference in the Office of Management and Budget wrote a memo to Pres. Ford concerning House of Representative bill 6755 – Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.
• June 11, 1975 US Rep. Harrington introduces H.RES.529
• June 12, 1975 Vietnamese occupies Cambodian islands; Pol Pot was in Hanoi on an unpublicized visit……….Cambodian refugees arriving in Thailand report that the forced evacuation of inhabitants from the capital and other cities to the countryside is complete.
• June 20, 1975 James T. Lynn’s memo to Pres. Ford concerning a status reports on the Indochina Refugee Resettlement Program.
• June 21, 1975 Mao Zedong and Pol Pot meet in Peking.  Pol Pot is told, " You should not completely copy China's experience, and should think for yourself.  According to Marx, his theory is a guideline for action but not a doctrine." [25] ………. US govt. reports fighting between North and South Vietnamese troops and Cambodians at a number of border areas.
• June 25, 1975 UPI reports that thousand of Cambodians may have died on the roads after they were forced to leave the cities for the countryside.
• July 11, 1975 Julia V. Taft, Director of the Interagency Task Force for Indochina, sends memo to Pres. Ford concerning the Status Report on the Indochina Refugee Resettlement Program.
• July 20, 1975 AP reports that during the past two months Khmer Rouge soldiers have shot nearly 300 persons attempting to flee Cambodia into Thailand.
• July 21, 1975 Letter from Robert W. Straus, Governor of the State of Oregon, to Pres. Ford concerning the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.
• July 31, 1975 Letter from George Wallace, Governor of the State of Alabama, to Pres. Ford concerning the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.
• Aug. 18, 1975 China pledged massive economic aid to a visiting Cambodian delegation.
• Sept. 1975 Vietnamese embassy was reopened in Phnom Penh; Mr. Pham Van Bar was ambassador.
• Sept. 9, 1975 Prince Sihanouk and his wife returned to Phnom Penh after a five-year absence.
• Sept. 13, 1975 Letter from Edwin Edwards, Governor of the State of Louisiana, to Pres. Ford concerning the Indochina refugee resettlement program.
• Sept. 22, 1975 Khmer Rouge revealed its policy for strengthening the revolutionary party: no classes - all should be farmer, no religion, bring all party members abroad home, gather as many as possible those intellectuals and former govt. servants from western Europe and America. [Document in Cambodian page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8]
• Sept. 26, 1975 US State Dept. announces that US passports are no longer valid in South Vietnam and Cambodia unless approved by the secretary of state.
• Oct. 12, 1975 Prince Sihanouk's aids in Peking confirm the killing of the Khmer Republic officials by the Khmer Rouge following their victory on April 17.
• Oct. 17, 1975 Prince Sihanouk, in an interview in the Far East Economic Review, states that he was "double-crossed" by the Khmer Rouge.
• Nov. 2, 1975 The Khmer Rouge Standing Committee met to discuss the visit to Thailand, border problems and many other issues. Cambodia sent a delegation to Thailand in seeking for security, recognition of the border, and to show the world community of the new Phnom Penh regime's openness. The Committee also discusses Cambodian eastern border problem.  Many Vietnamese had come to live or station on the Cambodian side of the border, in which many complaints were issued to both the north and south Vietnam. [Document in Cambodian Page 1 - 9] …….. Thailand and Cambodia establish full diplomatic relations.
• Nov. 11, 1975 Chhun (Zone 23) sent telegram to Pol Pot, reporting on the eastern border situation; Vietnamese violations were reported and measure to protect it was taken. [Text in Cambodian Page 1 2 3 4 5]
• Dec. 16, 1975 US Rep. Matsunaga introduces H.RES.934