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The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water off of Vietnam. There was a small skirmish in the Gulf of Tonkin between a US destroyer and three North Vietnamese naval vessels in which the US ship was partially damaged. This led to the United States being more involved (and essentially starting) the Vietnam War. -
US president Lyndon B. Johnson passed a joint 'Gulf of Tonkin' resolution that gave the US authority to be involved in the Vietnam War. This was passed in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where a US destroyer was attacked by the Viet Cong. Note that this was passed without a formal declaration of war from the US. -
An operation in which the US conducted bombings of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War from March 3, 1965 to November 2, 1968. It failed due to the Vietnamese knowing many underground tunnels and bunkers, which they built for such scenarios. The US had to adjust strategies against the North Vietnamese once again.
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Vietnamization was a foreign policy passed by president Richard Nixon in order to equip and train South Vietnamese troops during the war. At the same time, Nixon would decrease the amount of US troops in Vietnam. This failed because the South Vietnamese were inexperienced, and therefore hard to train.
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The attack on the US embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, was executed by the Viet Cong of North Vietnam as part of the Tet Offensive. Viet Cong soldiers infiltrated the embassy and held it for six hours until they were all killed. This attack really woke America up, making many realize this was not like any other war we have fought. -
The Tet Offensive was a series of surprise attacks from the Viet Cong against the South Vietnamese and American troops.The first major Tet Offensive attack was on the US embassy in Saigon. The North Vietnamese were told to "crack the sky" and "shake the Earth," which implies that the Viet Cong would show no mercy toward the enemy.
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The My Lai massacre was the mass killing of over 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians by the US army during the Vietnam War. It sparked a lot of outrage to Americans back at home, which caused many more to protest against being in Vietnam. -
The Kent State University shooting was against a protest against the Vietnam War in Kent, Ohio. It occurred when the Ohio National Guard fired up on the crowd, killing four, two of which were protesting, the other two being bystanders. Surprisingly, the aftermath sparked a national student strike and protests against the war even further, pulling more to the side that was against the war. -
The Paris Peace Accords were the agreements that ended the Vietnam War: a ceasefire and withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. The ceasefire was only between North Vietnam and the US, so the South Vietnamese resistance was still active. Despite this, South Vietnam fell two years later. -
The Fall of Saigon was the official end of the Vietnam War. Saigon, which was the capital of South Vietnam, fell two years later after the US withdrew from the war. Vietnam was United as a whole; one Communist country. The US had failed.