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Period: to
The Vietnam War
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President Kennedy Quote
During his State of the Union address, President Kennedy states, "Few generations in all of history have been granted the role of being the great defender of freedom in its maximum hour of danger. This is our good fortune..." -
Presidential Palace Bombed
The presidential palace in Saigon is bombed by two renegade South Vietnamese pilots flying American-made World War II era fighter planes. President Diem and his brother Nhu escape unharmed. Diem attributes his survival to "divine protection." -
Operation Sunrise
Operation Sunrise begins the Strategic Hamlet resettlement program in which scattered rural populations in South Vietnam are uprooted from their ancestral farmlands and resettled into fortified villages defended by local militias. However, over 50 of the hamlets and are soon infiltrated and easily taken over by Viet Cong who kill or intimidate village leaders. -
Viet Cong Organizes
Viet Cong organize themselves into battalion-sized units operating in central Vietnam. -
"We are Winning the War"
Defense Secretary McNamara visits South Vietnam and reports "we are winning the war." -
Neutrality of Laos
The Declaration on the Neutrality of Laos signed in Geneva by the U.S. and 13 other nations, prohibits U.S. invasion of portions of the Ho Chi Minh trail inside eastern Laos.