page_title: 1967 in the Vietnam War
section_title: December
hierarchical_section_title: 1967 in the Vietnam War / December
caption_attribution_description: English: OPERATION YELLOWSTONE. M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers from Company "A", 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, passes a burnt out area as they travel to a new camp site.
context_page_description: 2 January
  Operation Bolo was a successful combat ruse by the United States Air Force that resulted in the USAF shooting down seven Vietnam People's Air Force MiG-21 interceptors.
  North Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Van Dong signaled in an interview with New York Times correspondent Harrison Salisbury that his nation would begin direct peace talks with the United States if the U.S. maintained an unconditional halt to American bombing, a statement confirmed by President Ho Chi Minh two weeks later.
  6 January
  In the Third Battle of Nakhang Royal Lao Army forces with U.S. air support repulsed a PAVN attack on Lima Site 36 at Na Khang. The PAVN lost an estimated 250 killed and the RLA lost nine killed.
  6–15 January
  Operation Deckhouse Five was conducted by the United States Marine Corps and South Vietnamese Marine Corps forces along the Mekong River Delta. The operation was notable in that it was a sizable, combined USMC and Vietnamese Marine amphibious operation and it was the last Special Landing Force amphibious landing to take place beyond the boundaries of I Corps. The operation resulted in 21 Viet Cong, seven Marines and one ARVN killed.
  8–28 January
context_section_description: 3 December
  The A-7 Corsair II makes its combat debut flying from the USS Ranger.
  4 December
  The U.S. Department of State sent a diplomatic note to Prince Sihanouk, pledging that the U.S. would not cross into Cambodia to pursue PAVN/VC forces fleeing from South Vietnam, and promising to respect "Cambodian neutrality, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."
  4 December – 17 February 1968
  Operation Manchester was a security operation conducted by the U.S. 199th Infantry Brigade in Tân Uyên District. The operation resulted in 456 VC and 37 U.S. killed.
  5 December
  In the Đắk Sơn massacre two VC battalions attacked Đắk Sơn village and killed 114 to 252 Montagnard villagers. 
  6–20 December
  The Battle of Tam Quan was a two-week battle fought when the U.S. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division and 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment disrupted the PAVN 22nd Regiment, which was in the process of preparing to conduct a major attack on ARVN installations at Tam Quan. The battle resulted in 650+ PAVN killed and 31 captured and 58 U.S. and 31 ARVN killed.
  8 December
  ARVN forces trapped two VC battalions in the Mekong Delta at the Kinh O Mon Canal in Chuong Thien Province and killed 365 VC for the loss of 67 ARVN.
  The VC 3rd Battalion, 273rd Regiment, attacked of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment and Battery B, 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery couth of Bo Duc. The attack resulted in 49 VC and four U.S. killed.
  8 December – 24 February 1968
  Operation Yellowstone was a security operation conducted by the 1st and 3rd Brigades, 25th Infantry Division in northeast Tây Ninh Province. The operation resulted in 1,254 PAVN/VC and 81 U.S. killed. 
  8 December – 11 March 1968
  Operation Saratoga was a search and destroy operation conducted by the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in northeastern Hậu Nghĩa, southern Tây Ninh and western Bình Dương Provinces. The operation resulted in 2,043 PAVN/VC killed and 139 captured and 275 U.S. killed.
  15 December
  The South Vietnamese government announced that they and their allies would observe a 24-hours stand-down during Christmas Day; this would be followed by second cease-fire between December 31 and January 2. During the 24-hour Christmas ceasefire aerial photographs would later show that 1,300 trucks would be sent from North Vietnam to resupply PAVN/VC forces in the south.
  18 December
  Operation Eagle Thrust, "the largest and longest military airlift ever attempted into a combat zone", was completed as the last of 10,024 troops from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division arrived at the Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam.  Bringing the troops had required 369 C-141 and 22 C-133 aircraft to fly from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
  18 December – 10 June 1968
  Operation Muscatine was a security operation conducted by the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division and the 23rd Infantry Division in Quảng Ngãi Province. the operation resulted in 645+ VC killed and seven captured and 25 U.S. killed.
  23 December
  President Johnson made an unannounced Christmas visit to American troops in South Vietnam, stopping at the Cam Ranh Base at 08:40 local time on his way back from memorial services for Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt. Johnson was greeted by General Westmoreland and his deputy, General Creighton W. Abrams and Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker. He then conferred briefly with 30 of Westmoreland's field commanders before addressing 2,450 American troops. In a tour of the base hospital, Johnson shook hands with patients and personally presented Purple Heart medals to some of the wounded, then departed at 10:25.
  24–5 December
  At 18:00 a 24-hour ceasefire went into effect and the United States halted aerial bombing and other offensive operations. The VC had announced a 72-hour ceasefire starting at 01:00 on 24 December, but U.S. command noted 56 incidents of gunfire in the first 12 hours, with one American soldier wounded near An Khe and seven PAVN/VC killed. After a ceasefire that lasted for most of Christmas Day, U.S. warplanes resumed bombing operations at 18:00 over North Vietnam, as well as on convoys that w
caption: M113s during Operation Yellowstone
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