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Geneva Conference
The Declaration of Neutraliity was in Laos. It was signed at the conference in Geneva. It was for the reestablishment of neutrality in Laos. The Geneva Accords temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
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Monk Sets Himself on Fire
Buddhist Monk Quang Duc sets himself on fire in protest against Diem government policies. -
Diem is Overthrown
South Vietnam's president, Ngo Dinh Diem, is overthrown by a military coup. Diem, along with being overthrown by the coup, was also killed. -
Vietcong Seizes Hamlets
Five hundred Viet Cong troops cross the border and seize three strategic hamlets. They are forced to withdraw after a fourteen hour gunfight with ARVN (the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam). They lose 100 men, while ARVN loses four. -
Tonkin Resolution
The Senate and the House passed the Tonkin Resolution authorizing the president to, "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the Untied States and to prevent further aggression" -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the name given to America’s sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Operation Rolling Thunder was a demonstration of America’s near total air supremacy during the Vietnam War. It was started in an effort to demoralise the North Vietnamese people and to undermine the capacity of the government in North Vietnam to govern. -
First B-52 Raids
The first B-52 raids are launched against Vietcong. -
First Bombing of Haiphong
US aircraft bomb Haiphong for the first time, with 86 planes taking part in the raid. -
Operation Junction City
Operation Junction City, the largest US operation of the war, is launched. Four US divisions, as well as additional brigades, are involved in a massive search and destroy mission along the Cambodian Border. American troops overrun much of the area before encountering resistance. There are three major battles, each initiated by the Viet Cong: the first, at Ap BauBang; the second, at Fire Support Base Gold and the third at Ap Gu. In each battle, the Vietcong attack US forces and are beaten. -
Base Camp at Con Thien Attacked
The US base camp at Con Thein is attacked by the Norht Vietnamese troops. The assault by the North Vietnamese is turned back after forty-four Marines and one hundred seventy-seven North Vietnamese are killed. -
Battle of Que Son
114 men of the US 5th Regiment are killed in a four day battle in the Que Son Valley. -
Tet Offensive
During Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese launched a massive surprise attack. The guerilla fighters attacked all American airbases in South Vietnam and most of the South's mahor cities adn capitals. -
My Lai Massacre
A unit of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 20th Infantry slaughter between 200 and 500 unarmed villagers in the hamlet of My Lai. Led by Lieutenant William Calley, the platoon is ordered to enter the village firing. -
Hamburger Hil
US and South Vietnamese troops in a fierce ten-day battle for the Ap Bia Mountain. After 56 Americans are killed and 420 are wounded, the troops capture the hill and kill 597 Vietnamese.The hill is recorded in history as Hamburger Hill, and the actions there are widely criticized in the US. -
Vietnamization
The gradual withdrawal of US troops while South Vietnam assumed more of the fighting. -
Kent State
<a href=<a href=''http://<iframe width="420" height="315" Ohio National Guard Ohio National Guard soldiers, armed with tear gas and rifles, fired on demonstrators without an order to do so. The soldiers killed four students and wounded atleast nine others. -
Twenty-sixth Amendment
Giving all citizens eighteen and older the right to vote in all state and federal elections. -
US Withdrawal of Troops
By 1971 polls showed that Americans wanted to end the war in Vietnam. In April 1972 President Nixon droppes his insistence that North Vietnam troops had to withdrawal. North Vietnam was allowed to have troops remaing and agreement was signed. -
War Powers Act
Reestablish limits on executive power making it required of the president to inform Congress of any commitment of troops abroad within 48 hours and to withdraw them in 60 to 90 days unless Congress explicitly approved the troop commitment. -
South Vietnam Surrender
North Vietnamese captured Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital, and united Vietnam under Communist rule.
