May 13

This Day in History

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Lead Story
President Polk declares war on Mexico, 1846
American Revolution
Connecticut Patriot Eliphalet Dyer dies, 1807
Automotive
Autoworkers union head joins Chrysler board, 1980
Civil War
Grant moves on Jackson, Mississippi, 1863
Cold War
Vice President Nixon is attacked, 1958
Crime
Pope John Paul II is shot, 1981
A raid is set for MOVE headquarters, 1985
Disaster
Fire breaks out at club in Japan, 1972
General Interest
Mary Queen of Scots defeated, 1568
Jamestown founded, 1607
Pope John Paul II shot, 1981
Hollywood
Edison sues over new motion-picture technology, 1898
Literary
Daphne Du Maurier, author of Rebecca, is born, 1907
Music
Stevie Wonder comes of age, 1971
Old West
The inventor of western swing dies, 1975
Presidential
Nixon attacked by angry Venezuelans, 1958
Sports
First Battle of the Sexes, 1973
Vietnam War
Paris peace talks at standstill, 1971
Heavy fighting continues at Quang Tri and Kontum, 1972
World War I
Edith Wharton writes of the war's effect on France, 1915
World War II
Churchill announces: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.", 1940

Vietnam War

May 13, 1971:

Paris peace talks at standstill

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Still deadlocked, the Vietnam peace talks in Paris enter their fourth year. The talks had begun with much fanfare in May 1968, but almost immediately were plagued by procedural questions that impeded any meaningful progress. Even the seating arrangement was disputed: South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky refused to consent to any permanent seating plan that would appear to place the National Liberation Front (NLF) on an equal footing with Saigon. North Vietnam and the NLF likewise balked at any arrangement that would effectively recognize the Saigon as the legitimate government of South Vietnam. After much argument and debate, chief U.S. negotiator W. Averell Harriman proposed an arrangement whereby NLF representatives could join the North Vietnamese team but without having to be acknowledged by Saigon's delegates; similarly, South Vietnamese negotiators could sit with their American allies without having to be acknowledged by the North Vietnamese and the NLF representatives. Such seemingly insignificant matters became fodder for many arguments between the delegations at the negotiations and nothing meaningful came from this particular round of the ongoing peace negotiations.

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This Week in History, May 13 - May 19

May 13, 1971
Paris peace talks at standstill
May 13, 1972
Heavy fighting continues at Quang Tri and Kontum
May 14, 1969
President Nixon responds to National Liberation Front proposal
May 14, 1970
South Vietnamese sustain second highest casualties of war
May 15, 1967
U.S. positions south of the DMZ come under heavy fire
May 15, 1970
Air Force sergeant awarded Medal of Honor
May 16, 1965
Accident at Bien Hoa kills 27 U.S. servicemen
May 16, 1968
Navy Corpsman receives Medal of Honor for action
May 16, 1972
U.S. bombing destroys main fuel line
May 17, 1970
Operations continue in Cambodia
May 17, 1972
South Vietnamese reinforcements near An Loc
May 18, 1966
Laird charges
May 18, 1969
Communists attack Xuan Loc
May 19, 1964
U.S. Air Force begins Operation Yankee Team
May 19, 1972
South Vietnamese fight to open road to An Loc

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