U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announces plans to build an electronic anti-infiltration barrier to block communist flow of arms and troops into South Vietnam from the north at the eastern end of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The "McNamra Line," as it became known, would employ state-of-the-art, high-tech listening devices to alert U.S. forces when North Vietnamese troops and supplies were moving south so that air and artillery strikes could be brought to bear on them. It was estimated that the cost of completing and maintaining the project would be more than $800 million per year. Construction on the barrier line, initially code named "Practice Nine" and later changed to "Dye Marker," began almost at once. But in the end, the concept proved impractical as the North Vietnamese just shifted their infiltration routes to other areas.
Also on This Day
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- United States nicknamed Uncle Sam, 1813
- American Revolution
- World's first submarine attack, 1776
- Automotive
- Electric car wins the first auto race in the United States, 1896
- Civil War
- Atlanta is evacuated, 1864
- Cold War
- United Nations defeats Soviet motion, 1950
- Crime
- Tupac Shakur is shot, 1996
- Disaster
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- General Interest
- Panama to control canal, 1977
- Tutu becomes archbishop, 1986
- Hollywood
- Julie Kavner, voice of Marge Simpson, is born, 1950
- Literary
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- Music
- Buddy Holly is born, 1936
- Old West
- Minnesotans nearly wipeout the James-Younger Gang, 1876
- Presidential
- Carter agrees to transfer Panama Canal to Panama, 1977
- Sports
- Maureen Connolly wins U.S. Open, 1953
- Vietnam War
- Marines launch Operation Piranha, 1965
- McNamara Line announced, 1967
- World War I
- British commander Sir John French issues first dispatch , 1914
- World War II
- The Blitz begins, 1940
Sep 7, 1967:
McNamara Line announced
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This Week in History, Sep 7 - Sep 13
- Sep 07, 1965
- Marines launch Operation Piranha
- Sep 07, 1967
- McNamara Line announced
- Sep 08, 1954
- SEATO established
- Sep 08, 1968
- ARVN general killed
- Sep 09, 1967
- Hackney receives Medal of Honor
- Sep 09, 1969
- Ho Chi Minh buried in Hanoi
- Sep 09, 1972
- DeBellevue becomes leading American Ace
- Sep 10, 1963
- President Kennedy gets mixed signals
- Sep 10, 1964
- President Johnson sends signal to both North and South Vietnamese
- Sep 11, 1965
- 1st Cavalry Division arrives in country
- Sep 11, 1968
- Heavy fighting rages in Tay Ninh
- Sep 12, 1959
- Situation deteriorates in South Vietnam
- Sep 12, 1972
- U.S. intelligence agencies report 100,000 troops in the South
- Sep 13, 1945
- British troops arrive to disarm the Japanese
- Sep 13, 1964
- Attempted coup against Khanh government fails
- Sep 13, 1968
- Large operation begins in the DMZ
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