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Ho Chi Minh stsrts off the whole conflict by declaring independence. He was backed by Comunist Russia and China.
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National Security Council signs memorandum 64, reccomending action to check the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia.
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The 17th parallel is established as a demilitarized zone. Minh agrees to withdraw north; the French agree to withdraw south. Both sides agree to hold an election in 2 years.
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U.S. Army Special Forces, train the Loation Army and begin combat operations against the North Vietnamese Army. US forces deployed with DOD ID cards and civilian clothes. These opperations were clandestine under supervision from the CIA.
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Combat opperations began in Southeast Asia in 1961, although the US will not become seriously involved for a few more years.
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This was an attempt of US military forces to "issolate" the south vietnamese from the dangers of Communism by fortifying their remote villages.
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At this poin in the conflict, there anr 19,600 troops in Vietnam, but only 70 casualties. Some claim that this murder, and Johnson becoming president, is the reason US involvement in Vietnam escalated.
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A series of off shore conflicts provokes President Johnson to issue the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which athorized direct military involvement in Vietnam. Only one attack actually happened, the others were either faked or over reactions to phantoms.
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The first group of American grround troops officially depploy to Vietnam.
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52 American POWs, battered and beaten, are marched through the streets of Hanoi. This recieves widespread attention and American support for combat opperations.
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Just south of the DMZ, the hills of Khe Sanh were a tactical position the North Vietnamese Army dearly wanted. By defending it, the US forces were able to tie up large amounts of NVA forces and deny them a position to launch raids from.
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This was a defining battle of the war: 300 KIA Americans and allied troops versus 10-15,000 Vietnamese.
The NVA launched mortars at the American position for 77 days. Although the American forces successfully defended the position, it was abandoned a few months later. -
This month long house series of house to house fighting was part of the Tet Offensive. US victory here prevents further spread of communism in veitnam, but is seen by the Aerican public as evidence that the war is not anywhere close to over.
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Massive NVA campaign, although ultimately unsucessful, it was a psycological victory because it managed to errode American confidence in the conflict. American's began calling for a scaling back of US involement.
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Nixon addressed the nation, asking for the "silent majority" to support him and the American forign policy. He promised to seek peace, but not at the expense of admiting defeat.
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The resolution to seek all necessary action in Vietnam was repealed.
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This agreement to end the conflict, enact a cease fire, return POWs, and withdraw US forces within 60days was not worth the paper it was printed on. North and South Vietnamese armies blatently violated all the terms of the agreement.
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Congress cut all combat fundingfor southeast Asia. This is the end of US Air Operations in Laos and Cambodia.
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Over a presidential veto, Congress passed the War Powers Act (or Resolution), which drastically limited presidential authority to commit troops.
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Shortly after the American Evacuation was concluded, Saigon fell to NVA and the Repulic of Vietnam's President surrendered to communist forces.
