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Detroit Race Riot (1967) (Largest uprising of the 1960s)
During a party in an unliscenced bar with 82 people celebrating the return of two black men from Vietnam, officers raided the bar and arrested all. Shortly thereafter, police were rumored to have used excessive force and objects were thrown at police cars the next day. Firemen were attacked while fighting the quickly-growing blaze. Thousands of Michigan National Guardsmen and paratroopers were sent in. Multiple sniper reports were made. 7,200 arrests and 33 blacks and 10 whites died. -
Tet Offensive
Ho Chi Minh was dying and his generals knew that an all out effort had to be made or else they could not withstand the massive losses, so 85,000 Vietcong and North Vietnam Army soldiers attacked hamlets, towns, and cities throughout South Vietnam. This was a turning point in the war, despite being a milatary failure. American morale was devistated. The US and allied forces were caught off-guard Hue was nearly wiped away and thousands of civilians were executed. The US Embassy was breached. -
MLK assassination
Martin Luther King was standing on the balcony of his motel room when the 227th most wanted man on the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives list. James Earl Ray claimed to be the victim of a governemtn conspiracy and King's family called for a reopening of the case, as government reports alone claimed Ray was the lone gunman. -
DNC Antiwar Vietnam Protests
Tens of thousands of people fought police. The Democratic party fell apart due to internal disagreements and controversies over the Vietnam War. -
Nixon Invades Cambodia
Nixon announced that the Vietminh troops were using the Ho Chi Minh trail to move through Cambodia and attack South Vietnam. Nixon betrayed many of the people who voted for him in 1968 by breaking his campaign promise to remove the U.S. from the Vietnam War. -
Kent State
ROTC building on Kent State burned the day before. Four student protesters shot and killed. Nine were injured. Some of the Ohio National Guardsmen conspired to avoid charges. No guardsmen were charged. Most people blamed it all on the protesters. -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon was surrounded after a string of losses of South Vietnamese cities around Saigon and the North Vietnam Army was just at the outskirts. An airlift operation called "White Christmas" was the massive evacuation of nearly 7000 South Vietnamese citizens and over 1000 Americans by helicopter to ships. More than 100 US-supplied helicopters (given to South Vietnam) were pushed into the ocean to make room for more refugees. On the second day, the final marines at the US Embassy left.
