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Until August 1945 Vietnam was part of French Indochina, a French colony.
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Vietnam declared its independence and Japan formally surrendered to the allies.
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French warships opened fire on the port city of Haiphong, killing 6,000 Vietnamese civilians.
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Thousands of U.S. soldiers had already died in Korea trying to stop the spread of communism.
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United States was paying 80 percent of the cost of the war in Indochina.
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The French and Viet Minh signed the Geneva Accords.
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Eisenhower warned if Vietnam fell to communism, South Asia would fall.
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The battle of Dien Bien Phu ended and French morale was shattered.
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Ho Chi Minh declared himself president of South Vietnam.
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National elections to reunify Vietnam were scheduled for 1956.
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Viet Minh formed a group and invited all opponents of Diem to join.
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Kennedy became President
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At a Buddhist rally opposing Diemś policies, South Vietnamese police killed nine demonstrators.
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Johnson approved covert attacks on radar stations along North Vietnamś coast
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In response to the raids, NVA patrol boats struck back.
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Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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About 3,500 U.S. marines waded ashore at a beach near Da Nang South Vietnam
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United States put an anticommunist South Vietnam leader named Ngo Dinh Diem in charge