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Vietcong Formed
created by the north vietamese communists to escalate the armed struggle in south vietnam -
Eisenhower Announces Domino Theory
President Dwight D. Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a "domino" effect in Southeast Asia. The so-called "domino theory" dominated U.S. thinking about Vietnam for the next decade. -
Geneva Accords
The Geneva Accords of 1954 were designed to secure peace in Vietnam but would eventually contribute to war. -
JFK Assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave broad congressional approval for expansion of the Vietnam War. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
During the Vietnam War, as part of the strategic bombing campaign known as Operation Rolling Thunder, U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. -
Ia Drang Valley (battle)
In the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S. and North Vietnamese forces, elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fight a pitched battle with Communist main-force units in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands. -
Tet Offensive
On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year holiday called Tet), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. -
My Lai Massacre
In one of the most horrific incidents of violence against civilians during the Vietnam War, a company of American soldiers brutally killed the majority of the population of the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai in March 1968. -
Richard Nixon Elected
Winning one of the closest elections in U.S. history, Republican challenger Richard Nixon defeats Vice President Hubert Humphrey. -
vietnamization announced
Upon taking office in 1969, U.S. President Richard Nixon (1913-94) introduced a new strategy called Vietnamization that was aimed at ending American involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75) by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. -
Kent State Incident
On May 4, l970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. -
Cease-Fire Signed
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War Powers Act
War Powers Act, War Powers Act, law passed by the U.S. Congress, over the veto of Pres. Richard Nixon. -
Nixon Resigns
Richard Milhous Nixon announced last night that he will resign as the 37th President of the United States at noon today -
Fall of Saigon
Saigon, capital city of South Vietnam, fell to North Vietnamese forces on April 30th 1975. The fall of Saigon (now Ho Chin Minh City) effectively marked the end of the Vietnam War.
