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Hoi Chi Minh organizes a nationalist group called the Vietminh. Hoi Chi was born in 1890 in central Vietnam.
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French troops drive out the Vietminh into hiding. The French officials set up a new government.
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Shortly after the Korean War began, Truman authorized a missive program of military aid to the French forces in Vietnam. Eisenhower continued to support the French campaign in Vietnam.
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The French force at Dien Bien Phu fell to the Vietminh. The defeat convinced the French to make peace and withdraw from Indochina.
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Hoi Chi and his followers organized an new guerilla army known as the Vietcong. By 1961, the Vietcong had assassinated thousands of government officials and established control over much of the countryside.
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Eisenhower increased american aid and sent hundreds of military advisors to train South Vietnam's army.
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Kennedy takes office and continues to with the policy of sending more advisors to Vietnam. Kennedy saw the southeast asian country as vitally important in the battle against communism.
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Diem was overthrown by Vietnamese generals and three weeks later, Kennedy was assassinated. Lyndon Johnson took over.
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NVA torpedo boats fired upon two american destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later the president reported that another similar attack had taken place.
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Johnson insisted that the NVA attacks were unprovoked and immediately ordered American aircraft to attack NVA ships and naval facilities.
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The senate and house passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This authorizes the president to "take all the necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression."
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President Johnson runs a bombing campaign operation named Rolling Thunder. That month Johnson sends in the first combat troops into Vietnam.
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Vietnam was the first "television war" with footage of combat appearing nightly on the evening news.
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Students for a democratic society organized a march on Washington in attempt to not support the war.
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American planes drop napalm to destroy the landscape so they can see through the jungles. They also used Agent Orange, a chemical that strips leaves from trees and shrubs.
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Due to the draft system, many blacks were sent to Vietnam because they couild not afford college. By 1967, blacks accounted for more than 20 percent of american combat deaths.
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By the end of 1966, more than 6,700 american soldiers have been killed.
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The Vietcong and NVA launched a massive surprise attack on all american airbases and many major cities in South Vietnam
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Earl Ray was arrested for shooting MLK at his hotel balcony.
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An american platoon under the command of Lt. Williams massacred more than 200 South Vietnamese civilians at My Lai.
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Two months after MLK was shot, Robert Kennedy was gunned down in a California hotel just after winning the states Democratic primary.
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Nixon defeated Humphrey by more than 100 electoral votes and won the popular vote 43 percent to 42.
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The 26th ammendment was ratified giving citizens of 18 and older to vote.
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American B-52's dropped thousands of tons of bombs on NVA targets for 11 straight days to set the NVA to resume negotiations for peace.
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An agreement is signed to end the war and restore peace in Vietnam.
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Johnson pulls the last of the American troops out of Vietnam. The war cost the nation $170 billion, approximately 58,000 dead and over 300,000 wounded.
