-
The U.S. Military Assistance Advisor Group (MAAG) assumes responsibility, from French, for training South Vietnamese forces.
-
-
Major Dale R. Buis and Master Sergeant Chester M. Ovnand become the first Americans to die in the Vietnam War when guerillas strike at Bienhoa.
-
Kennedy is elected president. He was the 35th president of the United States. He will be later killed while in office.
-
The U.S. sends in more troops, equipment, and advisors into Vietnam to aid in the fight against the guerrillas.
-
In Operation Chopper US helicopters ferry 1000 South Vietnamese soldiers into a Vietcong stronghold near Saigon. It was America's first combat mission against the Vietcong.
-
U.S. Air Force begins using Agent Orange; a defoliant that came in metal orange containers to expose roads and trails used by Vietcong forces.
-
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas. While in dallas he was shot in the head with his wife sitting right next to him.
-
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President upon John Kennedys' assassination. He will finish out JFK's term and ran for himself. He was the president until 1969.
-
A U.S. helicopter base and advisory compound in the central highlands of South Vietnam is attacked by NLF commandos. Nine Americans are killed and more than 70 are wounded. President Johnson immediately orders U.S. Navy fighter-bombers to attack military targets just inside North Vietnam.
-
Sustained American bombing raids of North Vietnam, dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, begin in February. The nearly continuous air raids would go on for three years.
-
U.S. forces launch Operation Crimp. Deploying nearly 8,000 troops, it is the largest American operation of the war. The goal of the campaign is to capture the Vietcong's headquarters for the Saigon area, which is believed to be located in the district of Chu Chi. Though the area in Chu Chi is razed and repeatedly patrolled, American forces fail to locate any significant Vietcong base.
-
Desperate air battles rage in the skies over Hanoi and Haiphong. America air forces shoot down 26 North Vietnamese jets, destroying half of the North Vietnamese air force.
-
Richard Nixon is elected President of the United States. He will be responsible for many of the upcoming events until he resigns in 1974.
-
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." His aim is to negotiate a settlement that will allow the half million U.S. troops in Vietnam to be withdrawn, while still allowing South Vietnam to survive.
-
The United States begins to withdrawal from Vietnam. The war however will not end for another almost five years.
-
The United States signs to cease fire with North Vietnam and Vietcong
-
Nixon unleashes a "Christmas Bomb" on Vietnam
-
After Nixon resigns Gerald Ford becomes President of the United States. He will be the leader of our country at the end for this long war.
-
Anticipating the fall of Saigon to Communist forces, U.S. President Gerald Ford, speaking in New Orleans, announces that as far as the US is concerned, the Vietnam War is "finished."
