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Vietnam Declares independence
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French warships opened fire on the port city of Haiphong, killing some 6,000 Vietnamese civilians
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Thousands of U.S. soldiers died in Korea attempt to end the spread of Communism
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The french and Viet Minh signed the Geneva Accords to stop the fighting and Vietnam was split temporarily along the 17th parallel.
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The United States was paying 80% of the cost of the war in Indochina.
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Viet Minh launched a surprise attack on a large French military base at Dien Bien Phu, in the mountains of northern Vietnam. They soon had the base surrounded
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Eisenhower warned that if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of Southeast Asia would topple like a row of dominoes even japan, he said, would be lost.
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Viet Minh finally overran the French base, ending the battle of Dien Bien Phu and shattering french morale.
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The United States used its influence to put an anticommunist South Vietnamese leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, in charge.
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Diem began returning land to wealthy landlords and drafting young men from the countryside into his army.
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Viet Minh formed a group called the National Liberation Front and invited all opponents of Diem to join
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Kennedy became president of the United States and he sent an inspection team to the South Vietnam to evaluate the situation
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The number of military advisers had soared to around 9,000.
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Buddhist rally opposing Diem's policies, South Vietnamese police killed nine demonstrators
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He expressed his ambivalent feelings about Vietnam to advisers. "I don't think it's worth fighting for," he said, "and I don't think we can get out."
