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French resolve to carry on war shattered by this North Vietnamese victory
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North Vietnam creates a supply route for VC
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Kennedy sends 3,000 US advisors to South Vietnam
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Operation with goal of clearing vegetation and incorporating the use of Agent Orange
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Allegedly, the U.S.S. Maddox ship was attacked here. President Johnson in response orders American jets to bomb two naval bases and destroy a major oil facility.
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Unoffical declaration of war- Pres. Johnson is given unlimited power in Southeast Asia in response to Gulf of Tonkin incident
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President Johnson authorizes a long bombing offense to stop Vietminh support of Vietcong Guerrillas
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After failed peace agreement Johnson greatly increases U.S. occupation
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The U.S. offers economic aid in exchange for peace. The offer was initially rejected. President Johnson then sent over 60,000 more troops to Vietnam.
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An imminent attack against the U.S. Marine Base at Chu Lai is revealed from a Vietcong deserter. After, the U.S. launches Operation Starlight. The U.S. won with 700 Vietcong soldiers dead.
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At the end of 1966, American forces reach 385,000 with an additional 60,000 sailors offshore. U.S. death tolls reach 6,000 and 30,000 wounded. Vietcong, however, have an estimated 61,000 deaths with over 210,000 troops.
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The goal of this peration was to destroy Vietcong bases and military headquarters in South Vietnam. One of the largest air-moble assaults and succeded in capturing large quantities of stores, equipment, and weapons.
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The Marine base at Khe Sanh is attacked by Vietcong with 18 dead soldiers instantly and 40 more wounded. Initial attack lasted two days.
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Over 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam shock attacked on the Tet holiday. By the end of the battles, 37,000 Vietcong were dead and many were wounded or captured. The fighting created over half a million refugees and over 2,500 Americans lost.
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U.S. Charlie Company massacres the village of My Lai. Only one member of the company is later found guilty. Brought to light the questionable conduct of the war.
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Operation Rolling Thunder finally ends after three and a half years with 819 pilots dead or missing and hundreds in captivity. 182,000 North Vietnamese civilians and 20,000 Chinese support personnel are dead.
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President Richard M. Nixon takes office as the new President of the United States. With regard to Vietnam, he promises to achieve "Peace With Honor."
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Nixon authorizes Operation Menu, the bombing of North Vietnamese and Vietcong bases within Cambodia.
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After being banned in the late 1960's, Agent Orange use in the war finally stops
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Only 133,000 U.S. servicemen remain in South Vietnam. Two thirds of America's troops have gone in two years. The ground war is now almost exclusively the responsibility of South Vietnam, which has over 1,000,000 men enlisted in its armed forces.
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In Paris, peace talks between the North Vietnamese and the Americans breakdown.
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North Vietnam and the United States resume peace talks in Paris.
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All warring parties in the Vietnam War sign a cease fire.
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Nixon resigns. South Vietnam is left without its strongest advocate.
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At 4:03 a.m., two U.S. Marines are killed in a rocket attack at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport. They are the last Americans to die in the Vietnam War. At dawn, the last Marines of the force guarding the U.S. embassy lift off. Only hours later, looters ransack the embassy, and North Vietnamese tanks role into Saigon, ending the war. In 15 years, nearly a million NVA and Vietcong troops and a quarter of a million South Vietnamese soldiers have died. Hundreds of thousands of civilians had been kille