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Period: to
The Vietnam struggle
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The Beginning of Conflict
The Japanese surrendered in August 1945 and some Vietnamese saw it as an opportunity to free themselves from French colonial rule. The Communist Ho Chi Minh organized a rebellion against the French colonial rule. Ho had asked the United States for help, but they suspected him as a Communist. Ho and his follower Vietminh occupied Hanoi in North Vietnam, which he proclaimed an independent Vietnam. -
Eisenhower cites the Domino Theory
The domino theory controlled most of the US foreign policies in the 50’s. This domino theory said that if a communist nation took over another neighboring country, communism would quickly spread. The US used this theory to support the South Vietnamese. President Eisenhower used this theory to help the world to try and slow down the spread of communism. -
The First Indochina War
The First Indochina War included the Vietminh and the French. This war was fought to see who would rule the country. The first Indochina War was also called the Ant-French War. The cause of this war was that after the Japanese surrendered in 1945 some Vietnamese saw the opportunity to be free. -
Campaign of terror against villages controlled by Diem
In 1959, the movement planned Guerrilla attacks against villages that were controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem. North Vietnamese used secret supply lines to supply the guerrilla attacks. These attacks were planned, because the South Vietnamese didn’t like what Diem was doing. This group later became known as Vietcong. -
Vietcong formed
The peoples liberation armed forces (PLAF) also known as the Vietcong. The North Vietnamese communists created it. In 1964 there numbers escalated to 30,000 people. Their goal was to over throw south Vietnam and take total control of Vietnam. They were so successful because they would do quick hit and run attacks on military installations. They were split into three groups, guerillas, part time self defense militia, and regular forces operating under their leader. -
U.S. begins using Agent Orange
Agent Orange videoAgent Orange was a powerful substance used to clear thick places out of Vietnam’s jungles so the U.S. troops could see what they were up against. The U.S. codenamed it Operation Ranch hand and they sprayed more than 19 million gallons of agent orange on more than 4.5 million acres in Vietnam. Agent Orange was later discovered that it caused cancer, rashes, and birth defects. -
Gulf of Tonkin
In august 1964, reports came in that north Vietnamese had attacked American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. People were not even sure if these attacks happened. President Johnson said that US forces would have air strikes on North Vietnam. Then congress passed The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This event got the US much more involved in the Vietnam war. The US didn’t think much, but after this attack, we were ready to do what we had to do. -
U.S. Aerial Bombing - Operation Rolling Thunder
President Johnson approved Operation Rolling Thunder on February 13, 1965. The Operation Rolling Thunder was a sustained campaign of aerial bombs to use on North Vietnam. After that Operation Steel Tiger was a campaign against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. These campaigns were designed to be to destroy North Vietnamese’s Infrastructures. -
First U.S. Ground troops sent to Vietnam
Vietnam Before the Gulf of Tonkin incident the US tried to send people to give them advice on what to do. But, after the Gulf of Tonkin, The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the president the power to help out in the Vietnam War and help him to send troops to Vietnam to help out the war effort to stop communism. In March 1965 President Johnson ordered the US ground troops in North Vietnam. -
Tet Offensive
About 70,000 North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces started the Tet Offensive on January 31, 1968 (Tet is the name of their lunar new year holiday). Vietnam made the U.S. think that they would stop fighting to celebrate Tet, but they were actually planning an attack that surprised the U.S. Not only did this battle have a heavy toll, but it also showed a failure to create a widespread rebellion against the South Vietnamese. -
Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced
November 3rd 1969 President Nixon released the policy of vietnamization to the public. This policy was a way of trying to wind down the war between Vietnam and the US and finally separate us from the war. The plan was to slowly withdrawal US troops from Vietnam, and to also train and supply South Vietnam with weapons to take over the defense and start defending themselves. -
Kent State incident
On May 4, 1970 an Ohio National Guard fired 62 rounds into a group of demonstrators. Of those 62 shots he killed four people and wounded nine people. The Kent State Incident started a nationwide protest against colleges and universities and they were forced to close. -
Watergate Scandal
On June 17th 1972, burglars were arrested from the office of the democratic national committee in the Watergate building in Washington DC. The burglars were then paid “hush money” to keep quiet about it. Nixon pretended that he knew nothing about this and that he had nothing to do with it. He even tried to stop the FBI from investigating the case. After the tapes of him paying the burglars and making the deal came out to the public, before he could be impeached, president Nixon resigned. -
U.S. Troops withdrawn from vietnam
On January 1, 1973 the U.S. withdrew 25,000 troops in the 9th withdraw. There was 14 other withdraws before the war ended. These withdraw were a sign of disengagement in the war from the United States.