Vietnam Cong Hoa "Military Forces Day" 1971

VIETNAM CONG HOA on 19 June 1971 issued a First Day Cover stamp set to mark  "Military Forces Day". Various cachets with two stamps were printed. This particular cachet depicts the coast of Vietnam with ships, aircraft, tanks and soldiers, along with the national emblem of the Republic of Vietnam. The cancellation postmark originated from Saigon.

On 19 June 1971, the centre of Saigon became a colourful island when marching and motorised elements of both the Republic of Vietnam and Allied Forces took part in Armed Forces Day 19 June. Barbed wire barricades sealed off the centre of Saigon for nine hours while thousands of troops from Vietnam, the US, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand marched along streets decorated with flags and banners to the Presidential Palace. Before the march past, President Thieu reviewed the Vietnamese Guard of Honour, and troops of all nations by car. The review followed a fly past of more than 100 Vietnamese helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.

Thieu also gave a speech expressing his "Four Nos Policy": no negotiations with the communists; no communist political activities south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ); no coalition government; and no surrender of territory to the North Vietnamese or Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG).

Prior to "Military Forces Day" , in February 1971,  South Vietnamese troops continued operations against the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong (VC) base areas in eastern Cambodia. The ill-conceived and poorly executed Operation Lam Son 719 against PAVN supply lines in eastern Laos showed the weaknesses within the South Vietnamese military command and the limited ability of South Vietnam's armed forces to conduct large-scale combined arms operations. The U.S. continued its unilateral withdrawal from South Vietnam despite the lack of any progress in the Paris Peace Talks and by November U.S. forces had ceased offensive operations. 

Source: Wikipedia