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The Vietnam War
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The Geneva conference
The 17th parallel division between the communist North and democratic South Vietnam was created in the Geneva Confernce of 1954 which ended the French war in Vietnam. this event was a predecessor to the Vietnam War which America would later take part in since it set's up the two sides that will be fighting. -
Battle of Ia Drang Valley
This is a series of battles between the US first calvary division and the North Vietnamese Army and is considered to be the first battle in Vietnam. -
Vietnam War Begins
The Vietnam War officially begins at this date, but American involvement is small at the time. It will not be until the Golf of Tonkin Resolution that President Johnson has the authority to bring peace to Vietnam by whatever means necessary. -
creation of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam
In december, the NLF of SV, also known as the Viet Cong was formed. These people opposed the Diem and US interferance and would later being fightin against American troops. -
JFK and Ngo Dinh Diem meet
Following a meeting between South Vietnam's President Diem and Kennedy, the United States agrees to increase the number of American advisors in Vietnam from 340 to 805. The commitment places the prestige of the Kennedy Adminstration behind the efforts in Vietnam. -
Operation Chopper
U.S. helicopters carried 100 South Vietnamese soldiers to a Viet Cong base near Saigon. It is America's first combat mission against the Viet Cong. -
Ngo Dinh Diem is overthrown
South Vietnam's President Diem is overthrown in a military coup that had implied United States approval. Diem was killed during the coup, despite assurances that he wouldn't be. The United States had hoped that by overthrowing the unpopular Diem, it could strengthen the opposition to the communist Viet Cong. -
Reinforcement of the Air Force
The U.S. air force was greatly reinforced in response to a North Vietnamese offense in Laos. America was getting prepared to use what advantages it had, such as air supremacy, to fight the North Vietnamese. -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
After U.S.S. Maddox reported that it had been fired at by the North Vietnamese Navy, Congress decided to grant President Johnson the right to bring peace to Southeast Asia by whatever means necessary. American involvement in the war would escalate dramatically after this resolution. -
50,000 U.S. Troops in Vietnam
The number of soldiers is sharply increasing. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
This is a long lasting U.S. bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese government. The intention of the strategic bombing was to target the Ho Chi Minh trail and Northern Cities and stop the Viet Cong from tunnelling out of North Vietnam. The bombing raid had limited success. -
180,000 U.S. Troops in Vietnam
The war was escalating as the Viet Cong proved to be more difficult to defeat than previously perceived. The number of U.S. troops increases by a factor of 3.6 as a result. -
500,000 U.S. Troops in Vietnam
The number of U.S. troops continued to rise as no end of the conflict was in sight. -
The Tet Offensive
84,000 Communist troops seized hundreds of towns and cities. The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon was overunn and the Viet Cong even threatened the U.S. Embassy briefly. The U.S. forces did manage to recapture every lost town, but the public perception was that the Tet Offensive was a U.S. loss. -
My Lai Massacre
American soldiers traveled to My Lai on a "search and destroy" mission to find the 48th Viet Cong batallion, they met no opposing force in the village but then spent over 3 hours killing up to 504 vietnamese and had to be stopped by other american troops. -
Bombing of Cambodia
In 1968 US forces began chasing the North Vietnamese Army into Cambodia. In 1969 they escalaed the Vietnam war wih the widespread carpet bombing of vietnamese targes in the country.